The Wedding Season recently dropped on Netflix, adding to the collection of funny and heartwarming romantic comedies that both critics and audiences seem to appreciate so far. Many of these popular romantic comedies are positively rated by the genre's fans and have even been deemed a classic.
However, just because they're beloved doesn't mean they aren't free of problematic themes.Though movies like Never Been Kissed and The Switch are some of the cast ' greatest hits, rom-com fans on Reddit find them and others particularly problematic.
Never Been Kissed (1999)
In this romantic comedy, Drew Barrymore plays Josie, a shy copy editor who is enlisted by her paper to go undercover at a local high school. Along the way, Josie is reminded of her terrible high school years but finds love and friends along the way.
Never Been Kissed is one of the unforgettable movies of the '90s, but some viewers think it's unforgettable for the wrong reasons. Redditor HappyLadyHappy said, "I know she was technically of legal age, but the teacher didn’t know that, so what the hell was doing with his student?" Some viewers thought it was unnerving that the teacher began having feelings for a young woman he thought was an underaged student.
Something Borrowed (2011)
In Something Borrowed, a young woman begins having an affair with her best friend's fiancé as the two begin planning their wedding day. Though the main character feels justified in her actions because her friend knew she liked the man before they even started dating, the whole plotline doesn't sit well with some viewers.
One Reddit said, "Ginnifer Goodwin played that pathetic female trope of "I have no idea why or how things happen to me!"." Though audiences often pity the best friend that always ends up in the shadow of their outspoken friends, they don't feel the actions were justified enough to make this main character likable.
The Ugly Truth (2009)
The Ugly Truth stars Katherine Heigle as a news producer who has to work with a show host (Gerard Butler) that seems to have very low opinions of people when it comes to dating and relationships. Though the film has a good amount of laughs and a love story ending, some fans of rom-coms have serious issues with this premise.
Reddit The Ugly Truth is one film that hasn't aged well, and many modern viewers think the plot would have been salvageable if Butler's character revealed he didn't actually believe all the things he preached.
The Kissing Booth (2018)
In the Netflix original, The Kissing Booth, two high school students plan a kissing booth as a fundraiser for their school's annual carnival. Along the way, the girl has a secret relationship with her best friend's older brother, causing a rift when the secret is revealed.
Joey King has many great movies, but many rom-com fans would agree this isn't one of her best. Reddit mgm2508 said, "it was made and released so recently, and yet managed to be more regressive and stereotypical than many other rom coms I've seen." Though the film has some cute and funny tropes that made it a teen sensation, the plot was pretty obvious and the ending even more so.
The Switch (2010)
When Wally's (Jason Bateman) best friend Kassie (Jennifer Anniston) decides to have a baby via sperm donor, he gets extremely intoxicated at her pregnancy party and accidentally pours the semen she's going to use down the drain in The Switch. To make matters worse, he decides to replace the sample with his own.
Though this film is considered one of Jennifer Aniston's best rom-coms, many viewers disagree with this analysis and find the plot extremely problematic. Reddit trixareforkiddos said, "the premise is so wrong and he violated her by doing that..." The romantic premise behind this film may initially cloud the problematic nature of the storyline, but by switching her sample with one of his own, after he had previously asked her to use his and she refused, Wally crossed a serious boundary set by his friend.
Bride Wars (2009)
Bride Wars features two lifelong best friends who get engaged at the same time and begin planning their weddings in tandem. However, things turn sour when they both yearn for the same location that only has one available date. This leads to an all-out war between the two friends.
Reddit shoup88 said, "Bride Wars was so bad. The pettiness was off the charts." Though the film took a comedic route, the whole plot seemed more sad than funny. The ending had its merits with one bad marriage avoided, and two friends reunited, but the premise behind the conflict was problematic. Rom-coms like this work to reinforce the concept of "bridezillas" and the harmful stereotypes about drama in female friendships.
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
This film starts off with Pat (Bradley Cooper) ending up at his parent's house after getting out of a mental institution. However, things change when he befriends Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who offers to help him win his wife back in exchange for a big favor.
One Reddit said, "The relationship that the two main characters share is breeding grounds for emotional abuse because of their lack of boundaries along with a few other toxic behaviors." While Silver Linings Playbook has been praised for it's "honest" portrayal of bipolar disorder (per The Conversation), and there are plenty of heartwarming scenes as well as a touching ending, the potentially toxic elements of Pat and Tiffany's relationship overshadow the positives for some people.
