All right, rom-com stans, let’s line up the meet-cute cliches: The literal bumping into a stranger, the rescue from a social mess, the hate-at-first-sight, the mix-up, the one where she falls harder for his brother, the two wildly disparate leads reaching for the same book in the shop, the strangers on a journey.
A meet cute, defined by the late film critic Roger Ebert, is “a comic situation contrived entirely for the purpose of bringing a man and a woman together, after which they can work out their destinies for the remainder of the film”. It’s more diverse than boy-meets-girl these days. And in the world of romantic comedies, when all plots lead to happily ever after, it’s the opening moment that often packs in the most creativity. There’s something irresistible about the idea of a serendipitous encounter, when all the stars align towards love. It’s pure squealing, giggling, kicking-heels-up wish fulfilment at its most precise and potent. It’s hope.
And it’s been around for longer than we imagine. It was used on screen as far back as 1938 in the film Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife. What was the meet-cute? Two characters meet while shopping for pyjamas—one wants the top; the other the bottoms. Match made in heaven, right? Some 68 year later, another romantic comedy, The Holiday (2006), references the same moment, when Arthur and Iris meet for the first time.
Any fan of rom-coms knows that a good meet-cute can make or break the tale. It needs to be just plausible enough (major movie stars do walk into Notting Hill bookshops) and fizzy enough (maids in Manhattan do get to flirt with VIP guests). It can’t seem contrived (would the US President’s son ever brawl with a Prince and topple a wedding cake?). It must sparkle (sorry, Irish Wish, the chemistry was off from the start).
{{/usCountry}}Any fan of rom-coms knows that a good meet-cute can make or break the tale. It needs to be just plausible enough (major movie stars do walk into Notting Hill bookshops) and fizzy enough (maids in Manhattan do get to flirt with VIP guests). It can’t seem contrived (would the US President’s son ever brawl with a Prince and topple a wedding cake?). It must sparkle (sorry, Irish Wish, the chemistry was off from the start).
{{/usCountry}}And a good meet-cute is almost never love at first sight — where’s the fun in that? Glen Powell knows this well. His character helps a woman out in Anyone But You (2023), pretending to be her partner at a cafe just so she can use the restroom. Aww! In Set it Up (2018) he plays a harried assistant who teams up with another PA so their bosses can hook up and give the underlings a break. It’s the assistants who end up in love, quietly, amidst all the scheming and scheduling.
High school rom-coms are paying attention to that first meeting anew. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2021) got everything right, down to high-schoolers discovering each other for the first time, via an admission of a secret crush. Baby Reindeer (2024) certainly not a rom-com (What is it really, though?) breaks the moment down too — why would a bartender offer a chubby, awkward, lonely woman a free drink?
And why would films and shows persist in playing up that first magical moment? Could it be because real-life dating is rarely as exciting? Because swiping is not as fun as it seems, after all? Follow @nycmeetcutes, which asks actual couples on the street how they met, and it becomes evident that falling in love is the most powerful magic there is. Why not celebrate it?
From HT Brunch, June 08, 2024
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