Why do comedy films need romance?

[kaedesmith]

Just exactly as the title says, why do all the comedy films need to have a romance in them?
I personally feel that alot of comedies are spoilled by this as I hate the "boy gets the girl" cliche at the end. I don't know about anyone else but I could happily watch a comedy about two guys trying to get through high school, for example, and enjoy it without it having to have a romantic interest in it.
Does anyone think it's because they think that if they don't include this, they feel they will alienate female viewers?

Just wanted other people's views on this because it really annoys me. And if anyone can recommend any good comedies that don't involve romance, they will be gratefully received!

[cagedwisdom]

I don't think the issue is alienating female viewers as much as it is the fact that films with a romantic subplot just draw more viewers overall. It's just a major interest in most people, at least within the demographic of most comedy films (which could be said to be from teens through the 20s, depending on the film). It's not a major factor for me, and I don't really mind it unless it's badly written. If a romance subplot is well written I don't mind if it's a bit clichéd, as long as it's believable it's fine by me. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, for instance, is a comedy with a main focus on romance but I really love it simply because it's such an honest portrayal (also it's hilarious), even if the end is dully predictable.

Taking a swift look at my rankings (filtering out those Criticker defines as comedies).. Good comedies that don't feature romance:

Adam's Apples
Danish film, a surreally dark comedy that features virtually no romance whatsoever.

Duct Tape Forever
Genius and somehow fully overlooked little Canadian comedy which, to the extent of my memory, doesn't have any romance.

Should also mention Local Hero, though you're more likely to already have seen that and it's not all-comedy, but Criticker listed it as comedy so what the hell.

Hope this helps. Particularly recommend Adam's Apples, it's one of the most hilarious films I've seen in my life.

[PeaceAnarchy]

It has nothing to do with genres, it is virtually impossible to find a narrative film that does not in some way involve death or love/lust. I don't think it has anything to do with female viewers, but rather that these two things are the most universal themes throughout human history.

Now, if you just mean comedies where romance doesn't play a major role there are some, particularly if you look at satires or dark comedies. Dr. Strangelove, The Ruling class, The Exterminating Angel, Dogma, Man Bites Dog, Monty Python films.

[cagedwisdom]

Well, you're right about nearly all films (at least Hollywood ones) having romance subplots but it can't be denied that most comedies (at least these days, and again, at least out of Hollywood) have romance as their primary plot. Which admittedly is very lazy.

[kaedesmith]

You know, I've just realised that I've probably seen quite a few films without romance in them, it just felt like all the recent one's I have seen had it and it was starting to annoy me so I needed a rant

Thanks for the recommendations rufflesack - I haven't seen that one set in Scotland and neither has my boyfriend who is a master of 80's films so I'll definately look into it. Will check out the other two also.

PeaceAnarchy - yeah, satires and that kinda film do tend to stray away from the romace. I should have remembered considering Strangelove is one of my most favourite comedies ever! There's also Hot Fuzz, In Bruges (although not sure that counts as a comedy) etc.

I still think think that nothing ruins a good comedy like a tacked on romance, maybe it's just cos I hate rom-coms with a passion!

[cagedwisdom]

I was about to mention In Bruges, 'cause I really liked that, but it's not mainly a comedy. I totally recommend Local Hero, it's something of a slow-paced charming little film that exists entirely within it's own world. The soundtrack (by Mark Knopfler) is great and the comedy is fresh, although a little too sophisticated for some people I expect..

Adam's Apples is one of my favorite Scandinavian films. It's thoroughly bizarre, really dark, actually pretty profound and also intensely hilarious. Mads Mikkelsen is great.

[coffee]

Comedy films not necessarily need romance but they usually need something. There are action-comedies, horror-comedies, sci-fi comedies, crime-comedies, musical comedies and romance comedies...