Genre theory is utilized to explore films and place them into a category, so people are aware of what genre of film it is before seeing it. Genres are classifications based on the tale of the movie. All movies belong to a genre or sub-genre type. One of the better well-known but missed genres is a romantic comedy. The cheesy back-and-forth, clever actions, sexual pressures, good-heartedness soliloquies, and the conflict betwixt the central two people in the film, are why the audience loves this genre. A lot of people view romantic comedies as guilty pleasures. My essay will center on the romantic comedy genre and the film ‘Rocky’ (1976). Even though Sylvester Stallone wrote' Rocky' as a sports film, which is its own genre, it is also a romantic comedy. My paper will look at the distinct standards of this genre.
Romantic comedy movies invoke a comic note through a sequence of clues to the audience. Romantic comedy movies typically have a couple that happens upon each other and falls in love. Sylvester Stallone, who plays the main character Rocky in the movie, meets Adrian at her place of work (a pet shop) and discovers she is a girl he wants to get to know. Rocky is an amateur boxer who wants to become a professional boxer, and his friend from the gym is Adrian’s brother. Immediately upon Rocky eyeing Adrian through the shop window of the pet store, he enters, asking her about buying some fish. Rocky sees his chance to ask her out. Even though Adrian is extremely shy, she agrees to go out with Rocky. Rocky is thrilled and sees Adrian as beautiful, even though she has no self-confidence and sees herself as unattractive. Rocky looks past her oversized glasses and plain clothing to see the beautiful woman standing in front of him. They start seeing each other to the chagrin of Rocky’s friend, who is Adrian’s brother. He does not understand why Rocky would be interested in someone like his sister. But Rocky dismisses his friend’s criticism of the couple, and their relationship blossoms, they fall in love and get married. The love Rocky shows Adrian gives her confidence, and she starts dressing nicer, gets rid of her glasses, and transforms into the beautiful flower Rocky has always seen. Throughout their courtship and marriage, Adrian supports Rocky’s boxing career, never leaving his side. Adrian believes in Rocky’s dream of becoming a professional boxer, and together they make that dream come true.
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The film takes place in the slums of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1976. The treeless streets Rocky walks and the dark and dingy row houses he passes on his way home invite the audience into his world. The neighborhoods are long forgotten, and the people that live there are cast aside by their representatives. The factories that were the backbone of these neighborhoods where an uneducated kid like Rocky could make a decent living are gone. Their jobs shipped overseas, leaving the people very few options for themselves and their families to have any shot at the American Dream. The characters Rocky meets throughout the film are just working-class stiffs eking out a living. Rocky, a native son, a tough kid working as a loan shark trying to make ends meet while pursuing a boxing career, is one of them. With little education to fall back on this working-class Italian American kid, with a soft heart is the quintessential rags-to-riches story Americans love. Rocky’s humble attitude to life and letting life take on a life form a strong connection to his audience. At times resigned to his fate in life, but still holding out hope that he will get his shot at becoming a professional boxer, resonates with the millions of Americans that have dreams too. And the icing on the cake is when Rocky meets a woman from the same broken neighborhood, falls in love, and gets a shot at the title. Together they conquer the world, stumbling along, one foot forward two steps back, but always moving forward. The people of the neighborhood rally around Rocky and Adrian when he gets his shot at the title, living vicariously through them, understanding Rocky’s successes are shared with them.
The movie ‘Rocky’ epitomizes the romantic comedy genre because it identifies all the parts necessary for the audience to understand what they are watching. Starting with the main character Rocky, who is a small-time boxer, uneducated, rough around the edges, is a debt collector for a local loan shark that works for next to nothing, at a crossroads in his life, lives alone in a run-down row house, and is single. Adrian is a single woman who has no self-esteem, dresses in a homely fashion, and lives and takes care of her brother, Paulie. Adrian would be considered a spinster and a wife to Paulie her brother because she does everything for him except sex. Paulie is a friend of Rocky’s, and that is how Rocky meets Adrian. Rocky is smitten with Adrian, but Mickey, who is Rocky’s boxing trainer, tries to squash their relationship after Rocky gets a shot at the title. Both characters are dealing with personal issues, are lonely, and are resigned to their fate until they meet. After meeting each other their lives take on a different meaning one that includes a future together and love. Instead of facing life’s challenges alone, they now have each other to lean on. Strewn throughout the film are jokes and one-liners delivered beautifully where the audience laughs out loud in the movie theater: “Adrian: ‘Rocky, why do you fight?’. Rocky Balboa: ‘Because I cannot sing and dance’”, “C’mon, champ, hit me in the face! My mom hits harder than you!”, “Yeah, to you it’s Thanksgiving; to me, it’s Thursday”, “How ’bout I stay here, and you fight?”, and “You know I couldn’t have done nothing without you… Yo Adrian we did it…” (Rocky Balboa, 1976). I will end with that last quote because that is what the romantic comedy genre is all about a boy meets a girl, falls in love, and lives happily ever after.
Romantic genres have been around since the 1890s. The beginning would be silent films. As time went on the producers wanted their films to appeal to a wider audience, not just women, so that is when the sub-genres were introduced to their films. The movie ‘Rocky’ is a prime example of melding genres together: romantic comedy and sports film, appealing to both men and women.
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