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On Screen: Deconstructing the Teen Rom-Com in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) — The Vault of Culture

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Romantic comedies are infamous for their rigid structure. Almost every rom-com follows the same pattern, to the point that Masterclass breaks the genre down into six basic beats: introductions, the meeting moment (or meet-cute), falling in love, turning point, break up, and happy ending. While individual films can, of course, vary in their details, most follow this formula, including classics such as When Harry Met Sally… (dir. Rob Reiner, 1989), Pretty Woman (dir. Garry Marshall, 1990), Love Actually (dir. Richard Curtis, 2003), and Crazy Rich Asians (dir. Jon M. Chu, 2018) – all of which Masterclass lists as “inspiration” for young screenwriters. Rom-coms also have their obligatory romance tropes and stock characters, such as grand romantic gestures, as in Say Anything… (dir. Cameron Crowe, 1989), the loner who is “saved” by the woman that he loves, in films like A Walk to Remember, dir. Adam Shankman, 2002), the hooker with the heart of gold in Pretty Woman (dir. Garry Marshall, 199

by Rowan Trilling-Hansen View fullsize ▲ 10 Things I Hate About You (dir. Gil Junger, 1999), poster Romantic comedies are infamous for their rigid structure. Almost every rom-com follows the same pattern, to the point that Masterclass breaks the genre down into six basic beats: introductions, the meeting moment (or meet-cute), falling in love, turning point, break up, and happy ending. While individual films can, of course, vary in their details, most follow this formula, including classics such as When Harry Met Sally… (dir. Rob Reiner, 1989), Pretty Woman (dir. Garry Marshall, 1990), Love Ac

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