What Is The Context Of When Harry Met Sally A Romantic Comedy

Lucy Huckle

Dr. Banks

FTVS 1010

25 April 2023

Film Genre Analysis: Romantic Comedy This paper will discuss the romantic comedy films When Harry Met Sally… (1989) and 500 Days of Summer (2009), using an analysis of the historical evolution of the genre to understand the cultural contexts of each film. Additionally, the impact of these contexts on the films’ technical aspects will be examined, comparing their uses of nondiegetic music and references to older films, and then contrasting their mise-en-scène and editing styles. When these important contrasts are juxtaposed with their respective eras, it becomes clear that When Harry Met Sally tells a love story of a couple’s journey toward their ideal romantic union, whereas 500 Days of Summer

When Harry and Sally watch Casablanca, a split-screen shows each of them in bed in their respective homes talking on the phone; the framing makes it appear that they are sharing the same bed in the same space, an illustration of their developing intimacy and trust. However, the split-screen in 500 Days of Summer depicts the opposite development for Tom and Summer. The left side of the screen displays Tom’s romantic expectation of a reconciliation with Summer; the right side displays the harsh reality in which she ignores him. Unlike Harry and Sally, they cannot have a romantic ending; the split-screen can only illuminate Tom’s broken hopes for a perfect love that is more difficult to find in a time beyond Sally and Harry’s conservative period. As for visual repetition, When Harry Met Sally celebrates heterosexual marriage with a recurring image of couples, while also consistently framing Harry and Sally together to hint at their inevitable coupling. Six documentary-style interviews with six older married couples serve as framing devices for different segments of the film. Each couple sit side-by-side in a simple, empty room, accentuating their togetherness as they explain how they met and how their love has lasted for decades. Harry is first introduced as one half of a couple with

The former embraces the nostalgic conservatism of the 1980s, presenting an idealistic outlook of the possibility of a love akin to those of iconic romantic texts, as visualized by its music, imagery, and editing. The latter maintains the former’s optimism about a potential perfect match, but its music, imagery, and editing recontextualize this theme into a reflection of a new century shaped by changing social attitudes about love and relationships, emphasizing the individual rather than the couple. Ultimately, however, the romantic comedy at its core is meant to be lighthearted and positive in its depiction of a journey toward love, and with differing perspectives and outcomes, both of these films imply that success in such a journey may not in fact be an impossible fantasy, regardless of society’s