Romantic Comedies, Have You Set The Bar Too High?

By Candy

As a little girl, when my parents wanted a little quiet time, instead of popping in a Wee-Sing video they put on Dirty Dancing or Grease. By the time I was eight I could recite every line. And while the abortion references escaped me, the whole good girl can change a bad boy idea did not.

I got older and my favorites gravitated towards Pretty Woman, Cruel Intentions, 10 Things I Hate About You, and as a result, I have suffered a life-long affliction with bad boys.

Not the bad boy in the sense that they served jail time, smacked me around or started bar fights. No, they were bad boys in the sense that they were bad for me, and I stuck around like a barnacle on a humpback trying my best to fix him (you know, just like I learned from Julia, and the rest of the girls..)

It is a classic formula, the one I equate to my relationships: one bad boy with a fatal flaw (every ex I’ve ever had) + one good girl (me) + an undeserving amount of love, support and patience that will change them into the perfect man (the problem) = reality.

Case and point: The cheater, a repeat offender. The boyfriend, did not believe in romance – an obvious problem for a girl who believes the premise of The Notebook is not asking too much. The real bad-boy, with regular altercations with the law and other bad-boys. And, the self-proclaimed “laid back” boyfriend, too laid back for a job or to be counted on.

Talk about unfair. I follow the rom-com directions perfectly, waiting for them to realize that I was putting up with their crap and adoring them, yet they all failed to hold up their end of the bargain and change. It can’t possibly be all my fault either. In fact, I blame guys — for not watching rom-coms and taking serious notes.

I know I am not the only victim of the rom-com, we hopeless romantics are strong in numbers, and strong in our hopes for great romance and love. So I am wondering if perhaps we could use our strength to mandate a law that guys must view movies like Dirty Dancing and 10 Things I Hate About You until they realize that they need to change when a good girl comes along and offers to fix them up.

Whose with me?