Are you by chance a college student looking for others to help write a paper? Just wondering.
I find it telling that “research[ing] a question” has come to mean, simply, clicking keys until the right site “explains the answer.” Am I mis-remembering my youth, or did doing original research once mean something more?
Woody Allen’s films have NOT inspired the modern day American romantic comedy. I don’t see any relationship whatsoever between ANNIE HALL, MANHATTAN, etc. and the cycle of rom-coms featuring stars like Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon, Renee Zellweger, Matthew McConnaughey, Ewan McGregor, Hugh Grant, etc.
My guess is that sitcoms have inspired the modern day American romantic comedy. I have no idea which ones. Maybe others can offer their ideas. Or films like WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE, and YOU’VE GOT MAIL. Nora Ephron may be the mother of the modern American romantic comedy.
In the 1990s, SPY magazine did a little article pointing out the similarities between WHEN HARRY MET SALLY and assorted Woody Allen films. Might be worth seeking out, probably online somewhere…
There may be no link as such, or even very good reasons why, however, Woody Allen is credited due to his innovative approach to the blending romance & comedy in the late 70’s, esp. with Annie Hall & Manhattan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_comedy_film#Film
There are of course many screwball romantic comedies from the Golden Age of Hollywood, various Cary Grant & Kathrine Hepburn films, for example.
Really the only reason Allen is given the title may be because by the late-70’s the hush-hush of 1950’s romantic comedies only allowed them to allude to the act of sex, whereas Allen was allowed to talk about it outright.
On the other hand, it may just be that by 1977, the idea of a romantic comedy seemed fresh again.
And Allen has eversince been credited with its revival as a viable genre.
“I find it telling that “research[ing] a question” has come to mean, simply, clicking keys until the right site “explains the answer.” Am I mis-remembering my youth, or did doing original research once mean something more?”
No, it still means rifling through three to five primary sources and five to ten books of secondary scholarship.
As for the question on Woody Allen, I’m not even absolutely certain I would call movies like Manhattan and Annie Hall “romantic comedies.” In any case, yes there is a certain link. I definately wouldn’t say modern romantic comedies have been “inspired by” Woody Allen, however. As has been well-noted above, the modern romantic comedy is a pretty direct lineage from Hollywood’s Golden Age with films like Bringing up Baby. Even yet, Golden Age rom-com’s I would pain to compare with stuff like You’ve Got Mail. There is certainly a link between Woody Allen and the feminist movement, so I guess you could take a look at it that way. For whatever reason, film studies tends to harp on that issue a lot anyway.
Boris Isakov
A lot of people say that Woody Allen’s films i.e. Annie Hall, have inspired the modern day American romantic comedy. How so?
I’ve tried to research this question but non of my hits explained the answer.
Any links of info would be greatly appreciated.