9 Romantic Comedy Tropes That Never Get Old

I watch rom-coms for their clichés. It is one genre that has proudly withstood the test of time, through evolving audience tastes, changing social norms, and intellectual progress, riding on its established tropes without ever caring much about change.

Come at me if you will, but I feel that rom-coms mustn’t be critiqued too much for repeating their tropes over and over again (as long as it’s not one of the regressive ones, such as the “makeover” or “women as rehabilitation for toxic men”).

They’re the only genre of movies that actively reassure the audience. Rom-coms make you believe that everything will fall into place at the end, and the universe has a way of taking care of you—and that’s something we surely need in these times.

It’s exactly why, even though you’re drinking an old wine from a newly labeled bottle, you do not mind as much, as you know you’re basically walking toward a dose of dopamine and oxytocin! What’s not to like?

In this article, we’re looking at some of the most common rom-com tropes. We’ve seen them countless times, yet we never seem to get over them.

9 Rom-Com Tropes That We Love

1. The Classic Meet-Cute

Movies: Notting Hill (1999), Serendipity (2001), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Love stories are all about two potential paramours meeting, and boom! They fall in love. It’s mainly the rom-coms that make a big deal about first meetings, and boy, do I love the spectacle.

There are countless ways that cinema has romanticized the first meeting in a rom-com: the nerdy meet-cute at the library, the clumsy meet-cute at the coffee shop (where one spilling hot coffee over the other is mandatory), the iconic “bump into one another,” or that runaway meetup where two people find each other on busy public transport. In Bollywood, the classic meet-cute is the woman’s stole (or “dupatta”) getting stuck in the leading man’s watch as she passes by him.

The list goes on, and so does our love for them!

2. From Fakers to Lovers

Movies: The Proposal (2009), The Perfect Date (2019), To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)

This classic rom-com trope is a testament to how a story controls our lives more than we can imagine. Two people fake being each other’s lovers, until one of them slips and falls in love.

Then there is the classic conflict of emotions, until they find their way back to each other. That’s some soulmate-level chemistry there!

Even though it’s sort of contrived, it reminds me of days in high school when we would literally set two people up by teasing them incessantly about each other.

‚The Proposal‘Credit: Walt Disney StudiosMotion Pictures

3. Best Friends-to-Lovers

Movies: When Harry Met Sally (1989), Love, Rosie (2014), 13 Going on 30 (2004), My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)

Or as I like to call them, the twin flames: two people who meet each other’s parameters for “the one,” yet refuse to give each other a chance at love.

This is one of those tropes that keeps us on the edge by putting love right under the characters’ noses yet well out of reach. You’re begging them to just consider each other for once, yet they take an entire movie to come around and realize that they were meant to be. It can be frustrating, yet there is a certain hope amid all the conflict that keeps you hooked.

4. The Playboy Falls in Love

Movies: Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), Hitch (2005), 50 First Dates (2004)

Not only does he fall in love, but he also becomes a real gentleman—the ultimate green flag in a relationship! (In our dreams, maybe!)

We agree that this trope is completely uprooted from reality, but watching it in a rom-com gives us a weird kind of bliss. There’s something oddly satisfying about watching a rebel without a cause become an ultimate “pookie” in love, tamed and reformed by a woman. You know that bliss of believing that Santa Claus is real? Same!

5. Enemies-to-Lovers

Movies: You’ve Got Mail (1998), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), 27 Dresses (2008)

In my experience, the enemies-to-lovers trope is one of the most grounded rom-com tropes that always resonates with life (but only if you do it as seamlessly and diligently as Jeffrey Archer in Old Love).

The setup sounds paradoxical, but this does happen in real life, way more than you would think, because too much of any emotion often goes through a metamorphosis when brewed for a significant amount of time. Dedicatedly hating someone will require you to spend as much time thinking about them as you would if you were in love. So, what’s stopping those emotions from betraying you?

‚You’ve Got Mail‘Credit: Warner Bros.

6. The Love Triangle

Movies: Love Actually (2003), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)

One person loves another, but they love someone else.

Love triangles are all about difficult choices and self-discovery. You’ll never know what you really want unless you’re forced to make a choice. When done right, the love triangle trope in rom-coms explores the complexities of romantic attractions and sexual tension, and the reality that timing, circumstances, and reciprocation—all need to align for relationships to work.

These stories remind you that life isn’t fair most of the time, and that’s okay!

7. The Non-Classist Love

Movies: Pretty Woman (1990), Crazy Rich Asians (2018), Notting Hill (1999), Red, White & Royal Blue (2023)

These narratives bring social strata into play by subverting the traditional tropes of classism in love stories. One of the two is obnoxiously rich while the other is just struggling to make ends meet; however, they somehow click.

It’s usually simplicity, resourcefulness, or optimism that attracts the former to the latter, showcasing how money can never compensate for love. These stories also reflect how two people can balance each other while empowering one another.

My favorite are those transformation montages where the affluent one undergoes a complete cultural shock upon exposure to the everyday struggles of an ordinary person and then slowly embraces their true self, leaving materialism behind!

8. Friends with Benefits

Movies: Friends with Benefits (2011), No Strings Attached (2011), Love & Other Drugs (2010), Trainwreck (2015)

This is a newer trope, a level up on the fake lovers trope. Two people who are sexually attracted to each other but are commitment-phobic end up cutting a deal: sex, but no strings attached.

Soon, they become possessive and obsessed with each other, and by the end, realize how they are actually in love. They’re suddenly ready to commit.

It’s a humorous trope to see full-grown adults behaving like teenagers, massaging their egos before they can actually admit they have feelings for each other.

9. The Grand Gesture of Love

Movies: Love Actually (2003), Say Anything… (1989), Serendipity (2001), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

If it’s kind of absent in real life, at least I’d love the rom-coms that I’m watching to have plenty of grand gestures of love! Just the idea that someone would do something outrageous just to prove their love for you is definitely thrilling, no denying that. So, I’m all for them. (I’m just manifesting!)

Let us know in the comments below which of these tropes you love, and which you’re tired of!