The Allure of the Publishing Rom-Com

Cue montages of glamorous, often overworked women scurrying around A Big City, running errands for their demanding editor-in-chief or doing something kooky for a story while a 90’s hit plays in the background. It’s not only a funny trope, but an extremely persistent one in the romantic comedy genre. 

“Dictator of taste.” This is how Dan Humphrey described Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl and it was then that Blair realized that she wanted to be a fashion magazine editor.  It’s a good phrase to describe the plethora of demanding bosses that reign over the lives of publishing rom-com main characters. The Devil Wears Prada, for example, was famously based off of Anna Wintour’s editorship over Vogue and features Anne Hathaway who plays an aspiring journalist who gets the opportunity to be an assistant to the critical and chic Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep. Through her trials and tribulations in the fashion publishing industry, she gains confidence and unlocks a new part of herself (much to the horror of her lousy friend circle). Even though she decides to leave the job for one that will actually let her write, she retains her new sense of panache. Andie  from How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days was also a writer but wanted to write more than the “fluff” pieces her boss kept insisting she write.  She partakes in a scheme to “lose” a man she’s dating (who of course works in advertising!) for the sake of an article, but finds true love instead and also decides to leave the magazine in pursuit of more serious writing opportunities.

In the classic 13 Going On 30, the lead character does not serve a dictator of taste, but is one herself as an editor of a fashion magazine she’s always adored. During her trippy time jump as a 30 year old, she taps into her inner child and brings a fresh new vision to the publication. The list of rom-coms that exist in the publishing universe goes on: The Proposal, 27 Dresses, Bridget Jones's Diary, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle…etc. And even though these are not “rom-coms”, popular shows like Gilmore Girls, Sex and the City (and the prequel Carrie Diaries), Mad Men...etc all contain lead characters who are writers in some form. We as a society are fixated on them. 

Portraying writers  was a very popular trend in the 90’s and early 2000’s, however it’s clearly not dead. A contemporary example of the “publishing rom-com” that I saw recently is the Netflix original Love Hard. Nina Dobrev plays a girl named Natalie who has consistently bad experiences on dating apps and has made a career writing a column about it under the title “always a bridesmaid” (somewhat of a reference to 27 Dresses perhaps). Her boss, in classic dictator of taste fashion, keeps pushing her to have cringey experiences and tells her: “a disaster for you is a hit for me.” Natalie  flies out to meet someone she met online, only to find out she’s been catfished. A series of chaotic but charming events occur and she not only discovers a healthy relationship, but writes an insightful article at the end of the story. Her boss ends up encouraging her at the end (not all dictators of taste are bad). 

Our screens have been dominated by people who in some way work with words. It’s safe to say that this is one of the most popular fields of work for fictional characters. But why is this?  I suppose it makes sense that script writers would want to write about other writers, adhering to the common saying “write what you know.” Writers come in different forms, ranging from novelists to journalists to editors and copywriters. The most common  writer portrayed on screen is the columnist, however :  someone who has a regular audience and a common theme to which they adhere. They’re the ones who are usually under pressure, either from their editors/bosses and eager audiences, to consistently deliver quality content. Characters whose job it is to do this on a regular basis makes for good story-telling because they end up in interesting, often humorous situations involving other people (eg. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Love Hard). The kinds of writers featured in these films are appealing to show in action because they have to have one foot in both worlds of introversion and extroversion so to speak. They have to go out into the world to gain experiences and interact with others, and then retreat back inside and write about what they went through or learned as a result. 

Since writers are so prevalent in feel-good rom-coms specifically, it can definitely be said that there is something about writing jobs that lend themselves to glamorization. Whether the characters in these stories like their specific jobs or their bosses is one thing, but their zest for the written word is made clear. They go out of their way to follow their dreams and and also end up thriving under the pressure of their unique circumstances, because it is in the face of true challenge that genius is often awakened. Writing is creation after all, and like all creative processes, it forces you to look deep within yourself and take risks, whether it’s mentally or physically.  Most importantly, their jobs become their life. There is no work-life separation for characters who are writers, because everything they experience can become fodder for their work. It’s like Henry David Thoreu said: “How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.” The line between “work” and writing becomes blurred, which is why these characters' work ends up becoming entangled and interwoven with personal matters, whether the characters are ok with this or not. 

While this can get messy and even stressful at times, this is why I think that these films function as fantasy and sources of hope for a wide range of viewers, both young and old. Writers are always writing or thinking about writing (much like other artists/creative people). Even if we have a 9 to 5 job that involves writing, it’s not like that passion goes away once the work day ends. This is especially true if the job isn’t the kind of writing we want to do. So to have characters on the screen that have managed to make their passion their work (or are attempting to) is important because their struggles are relatable and their triumphs feel personal to us. 

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Grusha Singh currently works in book publishing and is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where she studied English and media studies. Some of her other interests include period dramas, tea, and photography (@grusha_ photography on Instagram!). She can also be found on Twitter: @decadentquill.