Rom-Coms..Friend or Foe to the single gal?

As I sorted through all my crap today while cleaning my spaces, I stumbled upon my dvd collection. I realized that my collection can be divided into about 4 sections.

1. Bizarre comedies that no one else seems to like except for me (I'm lookin' at you "Step Brothers"and "Troop Beverly Hills")

2. Sex and the City. All of it. Love it.

3. The Tina Fey Anthology

4. and of course....Romantic Comedies..lots of em.

With further inspection.. my Rom-com habits became quite clear.

Of course we had a very large section of Hugh Grant movies. Yes, this bumbling Brit has captured my heart. The collection includes such classics as "Notting Hill", "Love Actually", "Four Weddings and a Funeral," etc..etc..you get the point..I have a Hugh Grant issue.

Then we went into the realm of British comedies in general. "The Holiday" more "Love Actually"..etc..American classics made an appearance as well. "When Harry Met Sally" and "Dirty Dancing are a must-have in the Rom-Com collection. New classics such as "Down with Love", "The Notebook", and "Devil Wears Prada" don't fail to disappoint.

Then we get into the deeper issue of..."Bridget Jones's Diary"....

To say I love Bridget Jones (both 1 AND 2) would be an understatement. I adore me some BJD. Can you guess why? Well, because I love a story about a girl like me (sappy and corny..I know..stop judging, the lady speaks to me.) Awkward, socially-inappropriate at times, not afraid to share her "wobbly bits" with the world, flawed, but at the end of the day...she's fabulous. St. Frances de Sales said, "Be who you are, and be that well." I don't think he was talking about Bridget Jones, but I think he had the right idea. I couldn't help but wonder (thank you, Carrie Bradshaw) whether this admiration for the romantic comedy was a good or bad thing.

You see, the Rom-Com gives the single girl some hope. Hope that a gorgeous man will see her from across the room at a fabulous party full of fabulous people wearing fabulous clothes and talking to other fabulous people, fall in love with her instantly, disguise himself as an astronaut to get to know her, trick her into falling head over heels for him, fight a man in a fountain to win her heart from that evil two-faced pimp, and through some wonderful twist of fate end up kissing and proposing to her in front of baseball stadium full of people who wait on pins and needles for her answer.

At the end of the day life isn't a romantic comedy... obviously. I can't tell you the last time I met an astronaut at a party, and the last man to cross a room for me was about 55-60 years old and spoke broken English. He was either asking me if I wanted to marry him or if I knew where the bathroom was..I wasn't sure. I think I'm OK with life not being a romantic comedy, but there are always those times in which we sit and wait for the happy ending to slap us in the face. Rom-coms are full of first dates, but in real life...I think going on a "date" has become a thing of the past. No one asks to take you out dancing anymore, they ask you "if you maybe wanna sorta go do somethin' and maybe wanna hang out maybe sorta, but then I gotta go do somethin' with my buddies probs..I think you're pretty-looking".

I think the world could benefit from watching more romantic comedies. Taking some time to study the suave moves of Colin Firth, the charming smile of floppy-haired Hugh Grant, and the stomach-flipping wink of Ewan McGregor would benefit young men today. And ladies, keep up the hope. We deserve to be swept up and sent on a whirlwind of romance. So until then, I'll stick to watching "Troop Beverly Hills".