Two Readable Rom-Coms

...that really surprised me.

For the past decade, media outlets have proclaimed that the romantic comedy is dead. They said it when The Big Sick garnered an Oscar nod for best original screenplay. And when Crazy Rich Asians shattered numerous box office records. And when Always Be My Maybe took Netflix by storm. And again despite the very inventive Palm Springs.

Now, as everyone seems to be watching I Want You Back, the media is touting the triumphant return of the rom-com. As though it ever left in the first place.

Whether you love them or hate them, rom-coms are an imperfect genre — overwhelmingly heteronormative, littered with tropes, and often promoting the idea that romance will make us feel happy or complete.