90’s Rom-Com
WHEN HARRY MET SALLY
Published July 31st, 2023
Let me confess: I love rom-coms with all of my heart.
If you had told me that I would one day admit this out loud, I would have called you a liar! I wasn't like other girls; I hated romance and girly shit. You couldn't have caught me dead watching one of those films. But like most haters, if you had snuck into my room late at night and taken me by surprise, you probably would have seen a rom-com on my TV and found me to be the actual liar.
I've always loved rom-coms, even before puberty hit or I knew what love actually was. They have been there for me during some of the worst moments of my life, never during heartbreak, though; cult documentaries were reserved for that. Rom-coms were for something far worse: sleepless nights.
Like most coming-of-age stories, this one started the summer going into my sophomore year of high school. At the age of fifteen, I began experiencing panic attacks.
On one particular night, I sat in my mother's room watching TV, and while flipping through channels, I landed on a movie. On the screen, a girl and a dollhouse were locked in a closet, trying to escape a birthday party and the embarrassment the popular girls had inflicted. A rom-com was not something I allowed myself to watch in a public setting, nor did I allow myself to enjoy them publicly due to my fear of being labeled as a basic, white girl. But 13 Going on 30 was on, and I needed something to distract myself from my spinning thoughts.
This became a tradition; any time I was stressed, whether it was from studying for the SATs or applying to colleges, I’d pick a rom-com and dedicate it to that specific stressor, allowing myself a quiet moment in time through the soothing tale of a happy ending and upbeat music. To date, I have watched 10 Things I Hate About You over fifty times, leaving a Kat Stratford imprinted on my soul.
Rom-coms have found a place in my heart, even before I started using them as a coping mechanism. One of my favorite movies growing up, and one that also imprinted on me, was The Parent Trap, the Lindsey Lohan version, of course. (Long Live Lindsey Lohan!) I remember one of my moms showing me the movie Legally Blonde in elementary school and saying that if I were to look up to anyone, I should look up to Elle Woods. That statement obviously deeply rooted itself in my brain and resurfaced later in my life.
During my preteen years, I would stay up late, once my parents were asleep, to watch rom-coms on Bravo. I thought I was so sly, recording them on my DVR to watch later at night, then deleting the recording before my parents found it the next day. At twenty-three, I can now acknowledge the resentment I had for rom-coms and the shame I felt from enjoying them as internalized misogyny.
Now that I am older, I can also acknowledge how much these movies impacted my personality and how much I tried to hide that. They helped shape me into who I am today and saved me, so I had time to become this girl.
The most important point of this post, though, is that they don't make rom-coms as they did in the 90s and early 00s.
Petition to bring back the 90s vibe rom-com! I can see them on the horizon, coming back to us! Jenny Han is saving this generation of movies and TV, giving the film industry the inspiration it needs with her books. Also, free advice to all media corporations: American Horror Story TV show format but Sarah Dessen's edition; run me my check later.
But alas, we wait until the break of the rom-com dawn shines on us once again; all we can do is rewatch these masterpieces and bask in the glory that is their fantastic soundtracks, the killer of all great beasts, putting everyone and anyone in a loving, dovey, upbeat mood.
So here is my take on a rom-com soundtrack!
Let's set the mood:
Picture this: you are seventeen (because girls (and boys!) are always seventeen in these things ;)), and it's the last day of your junior year. The halls are louder than usual, everyone is moving a little faster, and there's a faint scent of sunscreen in the air. None of the teachers seem to care that some kid is tossing a football down the hall or that the sports team has taken this opportunity to play tackle football.
You and your friends are headed to someone’s car, chatting about your plans for the last summer before you're senior year. You just got a summer job at the local movie theatre and feel this will be the best summer yet. You all pile in; just before pulling out of the parking lot, your friend plugs her phone into the aux and turns on this playlist. Your rom-com is about to begin.
( Can you tell I wrote fanfiction on Wattpad?)
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