There is something I’ve noticed
with movies and books coming out labeled as romances. Mostly, they aren’t
romances. Warning: Major spoilers ahead for ‘The World to Come’.
Call me old-fashioned, but I was
brought up to think that in order for something to be called a romance, it had
to have a happy ending. If there wasn’t an HEA, it was a romantic tragedy, a
romantic thriller, or something of the like. Why is it, then, that I was sold
on a movie that claimed to be a romance and ended with a main character dying?
‘The World to Come’ is a period
drama about two women finding love in the 1850’s. Yes, on most sites, it’s
listed as a drama, but on the back of the DVD case (which is all that I checked)
it says that it’s a romance. I trusted that it was a romance. And I felt
deceived.
The women are torn apart once
their love affair is unearthed and then one of the women is murdered for what
she’s done. Top it off with the ending, where the living woman resolves to live
her life, but to always hold on to her lover’s memory in a very unhealthy way,
and this movie had me in tears.
Don’t get me wrong, it was a
fantastic movie. The scenery was unbelievable and it didn’t have a large cast
but was cast well. There were lines of pure poetry that had me hanging onto
every word. I wanted to see how it all unfolded but, because of that little bit
on the back stating that the film’s genre was romance, I was secure in the
belief that they would end up to together.
I know it doesn’t sound like a
big deal and maybe I’m blowing it out of proportion, but it’s been a consistent
happening. I remember when the movie ‘Last Christmas’ came out, advertised as a
rom-com Christmas movie but ended in similar tragedy. The entire romance
community was up in arms for false advertisement, which I whole-heartedly agree
that it was.
And that’s not even to mention
LGBTQ+ movies. Why do they all have to be tragic? More on that in a future post,
but I’d like to know your thoughts!
Romance is a genre meant to make
you feel good. It’s escapism at its finest, intertwining every other genre out
there to create a universe of happy stories. In a sense, our trust has been
betrayed. Our safety stripped from us. This post is simply to call attention to
the problem and see if anyone else agrees. As for me, I can swear to each and
every reader that my books will all contain happily ever after’s or happy for
now’s for my main characters.
Love always,
Lori Fayre
