Why Most Romantic Comedies Suck by Steve Kaplan Video Lecture | Screenwriting: From Beginner to a Pro - Career Development

I thought you were gonna ask me why do
you must rom-com suck and I'll tell you
why must round come suck most rom-com
suck because there's the mistaken belief
that a rom-com is about creating
obstacles for two people to keep them
apart because otherwise the film would
be 12 minutes long but that's not the
way it is in life in life it's not about
keeping you and David apart it's about
figuring out once you're together how
you can possibly stay together without
killing each other so so a rom-com bad
Ron comes focus on stupid stupid events
that arbitrarily keep two people apart
where the best-run comes I just saw I
just saw a heroine Harry Met Sally the
other day cuz it's New Years Eve and
really the the whole film is framed by
these people most of them elderly
recounting how they met the one and
there you see a guy who meets her when
he's 21 and he doesn't realize it so so
it's not about keeping them apart it's
about realizing who you are and who and
what you want and it's it's a wonderful
moment in When Harry Met Sally that they
just don't and they don't hate each
other at first sight in fact they're
kind of attracted to each other but
because they have these masks in front
of them she has the mask of a good girl
he's the mask of a you know a world a
world traveled man what my friend
Michael Haig calls their identity
because they have their so locked into
their identity their masks they can't be
vulnerable enough to see who the other
person really is and it's only when his
wife leaves him when Billy Crystal's
wife leaves him in fact has planted Lee
but because you know as soon as she
tells him the moving guys come up to
move all her stuff out so she can go
live with this accountant she's fallen
in love with that he becomes vulnerable
enough to not always be
condescending to to the girl and and to
pretend that he knows everything it's
when he admits that he doesn't know
everything but he desperately still
wants to be happy that they start to
become friends it's just a wonderful
wonderful rom-com because it doesn't say
love you it's love at first sight
because what you see in the framing
device is you see two people who he was
sure he's gonna marry this woman when he
first saw her you see another couple who
37 years go by and then they meet each
other again and and and this time the
right time is right and hairiness a
leader right in the middle they had to
wait for the time to be right but they
were right for each other so so you know
most rom-coms suck because they're too
busy trying to create op are betrayed
false obstacles and they load their
films with wouldn't it be funny if silly
things that somebody's thinking wouldn't
it be funny if there's a film that I
screened in the workshop we screen a
screen a couple of scenes of a Alex and
Emma Alex and Emma the premise of Alex
and Emma is Alex Luke Wilson is a writer
and he's oh he's also a gambler you know
was the mob a hundred thousand dollars
but he's gonna get one hundred and
twenty five thousand dollars when he
finishes his manuscript but he hasn't
written one word of it and in a you know
in a previous scene the mobsters to
threaten him throw his laptop out the
window and I guess because there's no
other laptops in New York he comes up
with a great idea to hire a stenographer
he's going to dictate an entire novel in
30 days okay you buy the premise you
guys don't buy the premise but it sets
up Kate Hudson comes up she's the
stenographer she's kind of uptight
professional little cautious she goes to
his apartment and he's supposedly this
law firm and he says want to come in she
says I don't want to come in and this
doesn't look like a law firm doesn't
even look like a nice place to live and
so he starts to
Luke Wilson starts to make up a story
about how they're you know they're
between offices and then in a wouldn't
it be funny moment he faints at her feet
and you might think well what wins for
him what what does he really want to do
why doesn't he just say listen I owe I
owe some guys $100,000 I have to dictate
a novel in 30 days and most people will
say well because if he just says that
the movies over but why would the movie
be over why would she say okay and and
what she does is she says you know the
guys lying in her feet and she says oh
here I am with a dead lawyer lying on my
feet and I asked the women Mike in my
workshops well what would you do and
some say I'd run away really good
Samaritans others who would say I you
know knock on some neighbors George all
right call 9-1-1 somebody would say I
check his eye check to see if he's alive
and I'd say if you were cautious and
professional how would you check to see
if he's lively he says well I might you
know just touch his neck or I might you
know kind of tow him see if he moves see
if he's still alive but in the movie
what happens is Kate Hudson after the
line what am I gonna do with a dead
lawyer lying on my foot okay and she
picks him up by the family jewels she
picks up his two legs like a wheelbarrow
and cracking wise the whole time she
drags him into his apartment and it's
like why would you possibly want to do
that how how is that cautious and and
uptight and professional it's just
something that somebody put in there I
don't know whether it's the writers of
director or the actors because that
somebody thought wouldn't it be funny if
but that's a terrible way to to write a
comic screenplay not wouldn't it be
funny it but who are your characters
what do they want what did what are they
what are they willing or able to do to
get what they want and if you simply
follow your characters what Bill Prady
calls who's the executive producer of
The Big Bang Theory who says I don't
even
premises I don't even have situations
III start with a simple situation and
then I just follow my characters and see
what they say like it like like he's a
reporter
writing dictation just figure out what
your characters want because the the
less not realistic but believable the
less believable your characters are if
they give up believability to do
something wouldn't it be funny if then
you're not going to care about them when
you need to care about them
you