Latest / Mini Scroll / Gen Z & The Rom-Com Renaissance: The Rise, Fall & Resurgence of The Film Genre

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Gen Z & The Rom-Com Renaissance: The Rise, Fall & Resurgence of The Film Genre · Mini Scroll

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In 2023, a new movie became the center of a global media storm.
0:34
The film spawned countless headlines, TikTok breakdowns,
0:38
and blog posts covering the goings on behind the scenes of
0:42
the film and the seemingly undeniable chemistry between its
0:46
starring actors. Before barely anyone had even
0:49
seen it, the film was Anyone But You, starring Sidney Sweeney and
0:54
Glenn Powell. From cozy pictures to
0:56
flirtatious press tour interviews, the actors leaned so
0:59
hard into their on screen chemistry that it fueled off
1:03
screen romance rumors. While it was later revealed to
1:06
be a PR stunt, it worked. What could have just been
1:09
another ROM com quietly released into theaters instead became the
1:14
highest grossing romantic comedy in years.
1:17
But Anyone But You wasn't just a financial success, the film's
1:20
impact led to something bigger, the official return of the ROM
1:24
com to the cultural mainstream. Whether it's a guilty pleasure
1:27
or your favorite genre, everyone has sat down to watch a ROM com
1:31
at one point or another. Sometimes it's with a group of
1:34
friends, other times it might be in a theater, or if you're Jen
1:38
Zed, quite possibly through clips on TikTok.
1:41
Over the years, countless quality ROM coms have been
1:44
released, from Crazy Stupid Love to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
1:48
to Clueless, cementing the ROM com as a formidable genre.
1:53
But after the ROM coms popularity waned through the 20
1:56
tens, Gen. Zed seems to be bringing the
1:58
genre back. So why now?
2:01
And what does this revival reveal about how young people
2:05
see dating, romance, and relationships today?
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3:01
Many of us may associate the ROM com with 90s or early 2000's pop
3:05
culture, but this genre has been around far longer than that.
3:09
Although identifying the first ever ROM com is a little tricky.
3:13
Film has changed a lot over the years from the media to the
3:16
messaging and so have the genres.
3:19
But if we boil it down down, there are some common
3:21
characteristics across ROM coms and their various sub genres
3:25
throughout history. ROM coms are typically hopeful,
3:28
carefree, or optimistic stories exploring love and relationships
3:32
through a specific couple and their experience.
3:34
These couples may be in a slow burn relationship experiencing
3:38
the enemies to lovers arc, or it could be a love at first sight
3:42
moment before being put to the test against various, often
3:46
unusual obstacles. Whatever the trope, aspects of
3:49
romance are juxtaposed against a comical or unserious plot.
3:53
That's not to say that there aren't genuine lessons to be
3:56
learned from these films, There definitely are, but they're
3:59
often delivered in a more untraditional or indirect
4:02
format. When reflecting on the history
4:04
of ROM coms, many experts, commentators, and journalists
4:08
point to It Happened One Night from 19 34 as one of the first
4:12
films to fall into this category.
4:14
Specifically, this film was considered a screwball comedy, a
4:18
sub genre of romantic comedies that gained popularity during
4:21
the Great Depression. The plot of It happened one
4:23
night season heiress fall in love with a struggling reporter,
4:26
a scenario that would have been quite controversial and even
4:29
humorous for the 1930's. The film went on to win the Big
4:32
5 at the Academy Awards in 1934. Best picture, Best director,
4:37
Best actor, Best actress and best writing.
4:40
While screw all comedies were phased out by the late 1940s,
4:43
this genre paved the way for other romantic comedies that
4:46
followed similar themes and the style.
4:48
In fact, upon the release of a Nora last year, film critic
4:51
Justin Chang described this film as a quote contemporary return
4:55
to screwball tradition in a piece for The New Yorker.
4:58
That being said, other film sub genres also came to define the
5:02
ROM com as we know it. The next one worth discussing is
5:05
sex comedies. As pointed out by Shanna Yellen
5:07
in a piece for Glamour, these films often had the oh so common
5:11
battle of the sexist element. Here you may see two colleagues
5:14
compete with one another before falling in love, or perhaps 2
5:17
characters who simply cannot stand one another.
5:20
However, they eventually become entangled in a romantic
5:23
relationship. Yellen notes that these sex
5:25
comedies first gained popularity in the mid 20th century,
5:29
attributing the shift towards this genre to the sexual
5:32
revolution of the 1960s. As she explains quote, the
5:35
sexual research done by Alfred Kinsey opened up the
5:38
conversation that women do have sex, drive lives and engage in
5:41
premarital sex. Playboy magazine came out in
5:44
1953, which gave men guides to developing relationships with
5:48
women, and the industry's strict moral production code ended and
5:51
gave way to the rating system, which meant less censorship in
5:55
films. All of these elements coming
5:57
together could easily explain the momentum in the growth of
6:00
sex comedies. Another key subgenre of the ROM
6:03
com worth noting are neo traditional romantic comedies.
6:06
While these emerge later than sex comedies, they veered toward
6:10
conservative leisure. Grindin, in his 2011 book The
6:14
Hollywood Romantic Comedy Conventions History
6:17
Controversies, credited this move to a broader cultural
6:21
change in the 80s, specifically the political ascendancy of
6:24
conservative figures like Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.
6:27
These neo traditional romantic comedies, like When Harry Met
6:31
Sally or Notting Hill, lean into old fashioned romantic tropes
6:35
and messaging. As Grindin explains quote, the
6:38
reaffirmation of romance is a retreat from realism back to
6:42
traditional genre conventions that create a nostalgic mood
6:45
with reference to sentimental romantic dramas.
6:48
Here there is a classic formula. A stereotypical white man meets
6:52
a stereotypical white woman and problems are likely to follow
6:56
before they end up falling in love.
6:57
Often these women in films are seeking romance while striving
7:00
for marriage. They are unlikely to be purely
7:03
seeking a physical relationship. The de emphasis of sex is
7:06
central in the romantic comedies from this period, presenting
7:09
women who are less interested in having sexual, physically
7:12
fulfilling relationships then they are in forming an emotional
7:15
connection with the one Isabel Wright explains for the Her
7:18
Story Project blog. The neo traditional woman
7:21
possesses a certain innocence and conservatism as she desires
7:24
romance, a husband and family just as much as, if not more
7:28
than individual success in life. Ultimately, while ROM coms may
7:32
be dismissed as shallow or stupid chick flicks, which is
7:35
very misogynistic may I add, it is clear that the different eras
7:39
of the ROM com align with the socio political mood at the
7:42
time. With that being said, you
7:44
shouldn't be too quick to dismiss this genre and what it
7:46
says about relationships and society at any given point.
7:50
For many film buffs, the golden age of the ROM com was actually
7:53
the 1990s. Some experts like Scott Maslow,
7:56
author of From Hollywood with Love, the Rise and Fall and Rise
7:59
Again of the romantic comedy, note that When Harry Met Sally
8:03
was the turning point. The 1990s saw some of the most
8:05
iconic ROM coms ever release. I'm talking Pretty Woman,
8:09
Groundhog Day, 10th, Things I hate about you, the list goes
8:12
on. Quote.
8:13
Romantic comedies helped create careers, particularly among
8:16
actresses, and much of the appeal of some of these films
8:20
were recognizable faces on movie posters.
8:22
Stars like Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant would go
8:26
on to have decades long careers, journalist Sam Hart writes for
8:29
Routers. This golden age stretched into
8:32
the early 2000s. In fact, according to IMDb, the
8:35
top three highest grossing ROM coms were all released during
8:39
this period. My Big Fat Greek Wedding in
8:41
2002, at #1, What Women Want in 2000, at #2 and Hitch in 2005.
8:48
Rounding out the top three. During this era, millennials
8:51
were the youth generation driving culture.
8:53
Older millennials were entering adulthood while younger
8:56
millennials were living out their teens and tween years.
8:59
Naturally, the ROM coms pop culture dominance was something
9:02
this generation resonated with, for better or worse.
9:05
Chelsea Fagen, CEO and Co founder of the Financial Diet,
9:09
published a particular really interesting video essay on how
9:13
millennial women were shaped by this genre.
9:15
Millennial women are in many ways in their ROM com era.
9:18
They've basically never left it. But in general, most people
9:21
would agree that the apex of the genre was somewhere between the
9:24
early 90s and the late odds, meaning that millennial women
9:28
were at their most impressionable ages when they
9:30
saw these movies and by extension, learn these.
9:33
At minimum, we can say pretty compromised lessons.
9:36
We weren't adults going to see them with the critical distance
9:39
of knowing that it's obviously a bit of a fairy tale.
9:42
Nor were we too young to not have absorbed them at all.
9:45
We were at the peak ages where pop culture can mold and
9:49
influence your understanding of the world around you and your
9:51
expectations for yourself. As Chelsea points out, ROM coms
9:54
set a variety of expectations for millennial viewers,
9:58
expectations that often looked very different from real life.
10:01
As she highlights in her video, many ROM com protagonists held
10:05
mid level white collar jobs, yet somehow sustained extremely
10:09
lavish lifestyles. This was a very dramatic
10:11
contrast to the world that millennials entered after the
10:14
2008 global financial crisis. Meanwhile, other lessons from
10:18
these films revolved around romance and gender roles, what
10:21
to expect from relationships, and how to navigate them.
10:24
Though many of these narratives may have been unrealistic, the
10:28
ROM com resonated with millennials because of its
10:31
inherent optimism. Hope defined the millennial
10:34
upbringing. This generation was told that
10:36
they could be anyone and do anything.
10:39
It was shaped in part by the rise of feminism, growing
10:42
LGBTQIA, plus visibility, and later the optimism of the Obama
10:47
era. This all led to a broader sense
10:49
of progressivism and possibility among the youth generation.
10:53
Having said that, it's not exactly surprising that the ROM
10:56
com and intrinsically hopeful genre experienced its peak in an
11:01
era defined by millennial optimism.
11:03
However, it would only be a matter of time before the ROM
11:06
com bubble burst. Throughout the 20 tens, a shift
11:10
occurred in the film industry. ROM coms were no longer
11:13
dominating culture, generating buzz and bringing in nearly as
11:16
much money as they once did. There were a couple of reasons
11:20
for this. The first was the way film
11:21
studios moved away from mid budget movies.
11:24
The 20 tens were defined by films with huge budgets,
11:27
spectacle, and franchises. The rise and popularity of the
11:30
Marvel Cinematic Universe beginning in 2008 is a case in
11:34
point. The shift toward action-packed
11:36
blockbusters had unintended consequences for the romantic
11:40
comedy. Many studios ended up investing
11:42
in big budget films because they were far more profitable than
11:46
the mid budget tier. Unfortunately, that's where many
11:48
ROM com sit. This was compounded by the
11:51
rising cost of watching a movie in theaters and the growing
11:54
popularity of streaming. Audiences were increasingly
11:57
reserving theater visits for films that offer a markedly
12:00
different experience on the big screen, waiting for the rest to
12:03
become a available via streaming.
12:05
All of these factors contributed to the decline of the ROM com as
12:08
we once knew it. There is also something to be
12:10
said about the demise of monoculture and in turn, the
12:14
movie star. We often find ourselves
12:16
reflecting on the monoculture era of pop culture on this
12:18
podcast, but for those unfamiliar with the term, it was
12:22
a time when pop culture was viewed through a single lens.
12:25
It was completely monolithic. Music, films, and everything in
12:28
between were entirely dictated by critics, award shows, and
12:32
magazines. Monoculture has completely
12:34
fractured in the digital era. A topic that we did discuss in
12:37
our episode titled Virality is Dead, How Doom Scrolling Killed
12:41
Viral Content. This is due to a variety of
12:43
factors, but perhaps most influential is the algorithm and
12:47
the personalization of pop culture.
12:50
A we consume pop culture now means that everyone is
12:52
essentially on their own side of the Internet.
12:55
We all have our own celebrities and influencers that are a list
12:58
to us, but no one else in our lives knows who they are.
13:02
With the oversaturation of content creators and online
13:05
personalities everywhere, the obsession and interest that
13:08
might once have been reserved for movie stars have shifted
13:12
toward more niche figures. We actually explored the decline
13:15
of the traditional movie star in our recent edition of our close
13:18
Friends newsletter. And here's what I wrote.
13:20
Quote. Social media sealed the fate of
13:23
the traditional movie star. Social media offers a direct
13:26
connection to celebrities personal lives.
13:28
This blurs the lines between influencer and A Lister, with
13:31
stars like Sidney Sweeney supplementing their careers
13:34
through brand deals. At the same time, social media
13:37
democratized fame. Anyone can build an audience, so
13:40
being quote UN quote famous is no longer as rare or special.
13:44
As we've touched on already, ROM coms launched many actresses to
13:48
stardom. Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Sandra
13:51
Bullock and more. These starlets also brought in
13:53
substantial profits for producers and studios.
13:56
So if audiences no longer care as much about movie stars, it
14:00
makes sense that the ROM coms influence would wane.
14:02
Looking at the numbers is very telling.
14:05
Take Pretty Woman for example. This film was made with a budget
14:08
of $14 million, which is on the lower end of costs when it comes
14:12
to Hollywood. It then went on to gross $463.4
14:16
million worldwide at the time of its release in 1997.
14:21
In a piece for CNN, journalist Leah Asmilash noticed how much
14:25
things had changed by the 2000 and 10s quote.
14:28
Even as late as 2009, The Proposal, starring Sandra
14:32
Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, was made on a budget of $40 million
14:36
and grossed $317.3 million. World wide, but just one year
14:41
before the smashing success of The Proposal, Fool's Gold
14:45
starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey only grossed 111
14:49
million worldwide on a $70 million budget.
14:52
Aside from financial factors, diversity also played a role in
14:56
the ROM coms demise. Mainstream and studio backed ROM
14:59
coms were overwhelmingly straight and white.
15:01
It should be noted that there was an entire universe
15:04
highlighting Black romance and catering to Black audiences, but
15:08
they rarely entered the mainstream stream like some
15:10
other films that we have already mentioned.
15:12
Unsurprisingly, this is likely due to racial biases.
15:16
Nevertheless, some of the most popular films in this category
15:18
included Brown Sugar from 2002, Love Jones from 1997, and
15:24
Boomerang from 1992. This niche existed largely
15:27
because conventional ROM coms rarely gave Black characters
15:30
genuine character arcs or meaningful romantic connections.
15:34
Many of the most popular ROM coms from the 90s and early
15:37
2000s relied on the Black woman as the funny best friend trope,
15:41
which diluted both the character and the representation of black
15:45
women in mainstream media. Ultimately, many of these
15:48
traditional films wrongfully taught audiences that romance,
15:52
love, and relationships were reserved for white,
15:55
heterosexual, conventionally attractive people.
15:57
That got tired quickly, especially as more diverse
16:00
perspectives began to gain virality and visibility in the
16:04
mainstream media and online through social media platforms.
16:08
All that being said, it is clear there are some problems with the
16:11
genre, some of which led to its cultural demise.
16:14
But Gen. Z is seemingly yearning for ROM
16:16
com renaissance now. It's well established that Gen.
16:20
Z is highly nostalgic generation, often using
16:23
nostalgic as a coping mechanism. Growing up during the Trump era,
16:27
COVID-19, the climate crisis, and witnessing the general
16:31
rollback of minority rights has taken its toll on this
16:34
demographic and their vision of the future.
16:36
So it's not exactly surprising that this generation looks back
16:40
on the content that their predecessors consumed with a
16:43
sense of fondness, albeit to a point.
16:45
We are not trying to excuse any problematic content here.
16:49
Right now, though, we are seeing Gen.
16:51
Z's nostalgia reach new extremes, with many starting to
16:54
romanticize 2016. That's right, only nine years
16:58
ago. The TikTok For You page is
16:59
filled with content reminiscing and imagining about what it
17:02
would have been like to be a teen in 2016, the era of the
17:06
whip and the Nae Nae King Kylie wire chokers, and the dog
17:10
Snapchat filter. It's a somewhat odd fixation,
17:14
especially given that many Gen. Z members were actually teens or
17:17
tweens at that time. Even though they were
17:19
contributing to culture, 2016 was still an era largely driven
17:24
by millennials. Therefore, you could make the
17:26
claim that Genzed isn't just feeling nostalgic for the 2016
17:29
aesthetic and vibes, but the optimism that underpinned
17:33
millennial culture. Granted, the level of optimism
17:36
had waned by this point, but not at all to the point that Gen.
17:40
Z is familiar with today. In comparison, those years often
17:44
feel like simpler, less cynical times.
17:46
In chasing that millennial optimism, even while labeling it
17:50
cringe in the same breath, it makes sense that ROM coms would
17:53
fall into this category. Unlike the fixation on 2016, a
17:57
period that all Gen. Z actually lived through, the
18:00
renewed interest in the 90s and early 2000s ROM coms is
18:03
especially interesting since young people today did not
18:06
experience dating during that period.
18:08
Dating landscape has also shifted dramatically since then,
18:12
particularly with the rise of online dating.
18:14
You could put down the nostalgia around ROM coms to Gen.
18:17
Z's obsession with all things Y2K, but perhaps more powerful
18:21
is the way that peak era ROM coms function as a form of
18:24
comfort, a throwback to watching them often at too young an age
18:29
with friends, siblings, or family members.
18:31
Though the stories in ROM coms don't fully reflect the
18:33
realities of modern dating, they still provide a sense of
18:36
familiarity. On top of this, it can also be
18:39
fun for this generation to see themselves more directly in the
18:42
genre they grew up watching. That said, we do have to note
18:45
that nostalgia often relies on emotional vulnerability, and it
18:49
can blur facts and reality. To be fair, that might just be
18:53
the point. Many young audiences are seeking
18:56
escapism from today's socio political climate.
18:58
But leaning too far into the nostalgia factor can still leave
19:02
Gen. Z with unrealistic or idealized
19:05
expectations about love and romance, which isn't always
19:08
healthy. While Gen.
19:09
Z has access to far more critical discourse about the
19:12
media they consume than previous generations, they are definitely
19:16
not immune to its influence. Ultimately, though, the Gen.
19:19
Z nostalgia for the ROM com makes sense.
19:21
These films captured A cultural moment through love stories and
19:25
romance, an era of optimism, relatability, and cinematic
19:29
comfort that feels difficult to replicate today.
19:32
But that doesn't mean that Hollywood isn't trying.
19:35
They definitely are. Over the past few years, ROM
19:37
coms have slowly been re entering the zeitgeist.
19:40
Between Netflix hits like To All the Boys I've Loved Before
19:43
franchise and series like Bridgerton, the genre has found
19:47
new life, especially on streaming platforms.
19:49
But in 2023, Anyone But You marked the return of the ROM com
19:54
to the mainstream. And as we mentioned in the
19:56
intro, it was a triumphant return.
19:59
As reported by Variety last year, Quote Anyone But You
20:02
debuted in December with a soft $6 million.
20:05
But managed to remain on box office charts into the new year.
20:09
In that time, ticket sales have climbed to 86.5 million at the
20:13
domestic box office and $112.8 million internationally.
20:18
The film cost $25 million, so it's hugely profitable for Sony
20:23
and a reminder that ROM coms can be financially viable as a
20:28
theatrical genre as long as budgets are kept in check.
20:31
Since anyone but you. Several ROM coms have made their
20:34
way back into namely the Idea of You and Fly Me to the Moon in
20:38
2024 and The Materialists in 2025.
20:42
Between these films, some of the biggest actors in Hollywood have
20:45
embraced the genre, including Pedro Pascal, Dakota Johnson,
20:48
Scarlett Johansson, and Ryan Gosling, reaffirming that the
20:51
ROM com renaissance is afoot. However, this era of the ROM com
20:55
is obviously different from those of decades past.
20:58
There are several reasons for this.
21:00
First, there is a new audience to cater to.
21:02
Hollywood is seemingly trying to capitalize on Gen.
21:05
Z's it's nostalgia for ROM coms and cater to them directly.
21:08
For instance, many of the newly released ROM coms blend classic
21:12
tropes with modern sensibilities such as online dating and social
21:16
media. But of course, whether they do
21:18
this successfully is a separate question altogether.
21:21
From a demographic standpoint, it makes perfect sense for
21:23
Hollywood to engage with this new era of relationships,
21:26
dating, and romance. Using U.S. data as a case study,
21:30
the largest group of single people are under 30, which isn't
21:34
exactly surprising. As the Pew Research Center notes
21:37
quote, 47% of adults under 30 are single, compared with
21:41
smaller shares of those ages 30 to 49, ages 50 to 64, and 65 and
21:48
older. With most millennials now
21:49
falling into the 30 plus bracket, it benefits Hollywood
21:53
to reorient the ROM com toward Gen.
21:55
Z, who dominate today's dating landscape.
21:58
That's not to say that millennials can't enjoy this new
22:00
era of the ROM com, but rather that Gen.
22:03
Z represents an increasingly valuable audience to capture.
22:06
As we've already noted, the genre's quote UN quote golden
22:09
age was overwhelmingly white and heteronormative.
22:13
More recent ROM coms, however, have started to change that,
22:16
featuring more diverse casts and queer love stories while moving
22:20
away from the traditional plot lines of the past.
22:22
One of the most famous examples of this shift is Crazy Rich
22:26
Asians. Released in 2018, it was a big
22:28
budget romantic comedy that placed Asian actors in leading
22:32
non stereotypical roles within the English speaking market.
22:35
While there had been Asian LED films before, such as The Joy
22:39
Luck Club, none had been quite this mainstream.
22:42
There has also been a wave of ROM coms over the past decade
22:45
that reflect the queer experience.
22:48
Love Simon from 2018 is often cited as a turning point, as it
22:52
was the first mainstream studio romantic comedy told from the
22:55
perspective of a gay teenager. Happiest Season from 20/20 was
22:59
another milestone, being the first lesbian Christmas ROM com
23:02
produced by a major Hollywood studio.
23:05
Of course, neither of these was the first queer ROM com by any
23:09
means. I'm a Cheerleader, for instance,
23:11
is an iconic cult classic that was released decades before,
23:14
back in 1999. The key differences in this new
23:17
era ERA of queer ROM coms is that they are becoming
23:20
increasingly mainstream and are supported by major industry
23:24
players. The queer ROM coms today also
23:26
exhibit more diversity. Earlier this year, for example,
23:29
GQ declared that were quote in the season of queer Asian ROM
23:33
coms with the release of films like The Wedding Banquet and A
23:36
Nice Indian Boy over the course of 2025.
23:39
Ultimately, these changes not only reflect the shifts in
23:43
Hollywood that have gone down since the ROM coms golden age,
23:47
but also the importance of diversity to a generation that
23:50
has grown up on social media, constantly being fed content
23:53
that directly reflects them and their life experiences.
23:56
But modern ROM coms are not just an expanding genre, it is
24:00
changing how these films are being marketed.
24:02
In a piece for The Conversation, academic Christina Wilkins
24:05
points to the rise of the male ROM com.
24:08
From her perspective, the male ROM com is an attempt to inject
24:11
some masculinity into the ROM com, seeking to move this genre
24:14
away from its chick flick label. In her piece, she points to
24:18
films like Hitman and the Fall Guy as examples.
24:20
Wilkins claims that quote, these films are not marketed as
24:23
romantic comedies, but as action or comedies, even though romance
24:28
is still central to the plot. Hitman and the Fall Guy are
24:31
examples of what I would call a male ROM com.
24:34
They obstensibly bear the same traits as a ROM com, but their
24:38
stories are told through a more masculine lens, she explains.
24:41
Interestingly, Wilkins also notes a significant quote UN
24:44
quote golf between critic and audience reviews when comparing
24:49
the male ROM com to more conventional formats like Anyone
24:53
But You. In her research, she found a 5
24:55
point difference between the average critic and audience
24:57
ratings on Rotten Tomatoes for both Hitman and the Fall Guy,
25:01
with scores sitting in the 90s and 80s respectively.
25:05
Meanwhile, Anyone But You had an average audience rating of 87%
25:09
compared to just 53% among critics.
25:12
Quote. There is more of a critical bias
25:14
towards films marketed at women and therefore a likelihood of it
25:18
being deemed of lower quality. And despite the male fronted and
25:22
marketed films, including elements of the ROM com, they
25:25
are framed through the more masculine action genre, she
25:29
reflects. It is perhaps unsurprising that
25:32
critics tend to favor the male centric approach.
25:35
After all, media historically treats anything associated with
25:38
women's interests as frivolous. But as Wilkins continues quote,
25:42
the success of these male ROM coms suggests that the romance
25:46
genre can work and even garner critical acclaim if given a more
25:50
masculine Sheen. But it's still the traditional
25:53
ROM com that pulls in audiences. There's a lot to say about how
25:57
Genzed is spearheading the return of the ROM com.
26:00
Much of it is rooted in nostalgia, as we've already
26:02
discussed, but it goes further than just watching old childhood
26:06
favorites. The resurgence of the ROM com
26:08
says a lot about how Genzed feels about the current dating
26:11
scene. Genzed has grown up in a very
26:13
different time than their parents and even older siblings
26:16
when it comes to dating and relationships.
26:18
Often, the examples of romance they've seen, whether in media
26:22
or in real life, feels worlds apart from their own reality.
26:25
There's no question about how this can be demoralizing.
26:28
And the return of the ROM com, with its inherently optimistic
26:32
and hopeful take on love and relationships, suggests that
26:35
Gen. Zed may be yearning for these
26:37
deep emotional experiences and relationships themselves, even
26:40
while navigating situationships and casual dating.
26:43
Gen. Zed are not just watching these
26:45
films for the story, they're locked in because of the
26:47
nostalgia and a sense of hope. These films can be a chance to
26:51
see relationships that feel honest and emotionally
26:53
intentional, even if they are fictional.
26:56
Research from Bumbles for the Love of Love campaign, which
26:59
celebrates the hopeful side of modern dating, reinforces this
27:02
idea. According to Bumble, 43% of
27:05
daters say love means being seen for who they really are, and 40%
27:09
say it's about feeling emotionally safe and understood.
27:12
With a plurality prioritizing authenticity and clear
27:15
intentions, Genzad clearly hopes to show up authentically while
27:19
dating and building relationships.
27:21
Dating apps play a big role in this pursuit, as they're one of
27:24
the main ways, if not the main way, that Genzad navigates
27:28
romance and relationships. As I mentioned in the ad read at
27:31
the top of the episode, these platforms have even started
27:34
offering practical support. For example, Bumble has recently
27:37
rolled out algorithmic improvements to help users find
27:40
a match that suits them, and its coaching hub provides guidance
27:44
and expert tips for anyone navigating the dating world,
27:47
whether they're new to apps or starting fresh.
27:49
New rollouts and features like these have proven to be
27:52
successful with young daters, with 55% of daters believing
27:55
dating apps can lead to real love, according to Bumble.
27:59
Overall, for generation often labeled pessimistic or cynical
28:03
for good reason, the return of the ROM com might be a rare sign
28:07
of optimism within this demographic.
28:09
As we have established by this point, these films tap into a
28:13
multitude of factors, nostalgia, hope, and the desire for
28:17
connection. It suggests that even in a
28:19
complicated dating landscape and world, to be honest, Gen.
28:23
Z are looking for love and comedy to get through it all.
28:26
Of course, the genre isn't perfect and it is constantly
28:30
evolving before a generation navigating political chaos,
28:33
burnout, and just general uncertainty.
28:37
Finding a sense of hope and fun is important, even if it's just
28:41
at the movies. Infinite Scroll is a podcast
28:44
produced, presented and Co written by me, Lauren Meisner
28:47
for Centennial World. This episode was researched and
28:51
Co written by Annabelle Ben David.
28:53
Editing is by Izzy Phillips. Thank you so much for listening.
28:56
I love you guys and I will talk to you next week.
28:59
Bye.