The Forgotten Ones

I'm a proud lover of the underdog; I often like to think about the forgotten or unsung hero. It's the reason I feel a pang of pity for whoever writes Terms & Conditions that practically everyone agrees to without actually reading, but not enough to actually read them myself. It's also the reason why I always want to know what happens to those secondary characters in romantic comedies.

The main type that concerns me, and is a very common feature in those cheesy chick flicks I'll admit to loving, is the original girlfriend or boyfriend of one of the main characters. Most RomComs are about joining a male and female in a romantic union, to provide the audience with an insight into a life that will be lived happily ever after once the credits roll.

Of course, setting the two love birds up together isn't going to be easy; no, that wouldn't be believable at all. What the film thrives on is having a problem for the two to overcome in order to be together, and what better crux than an existing relationship with someone else!

Now my problem with this poor secondary character (henceforth referred to as SC) is three-fold.

1. We have this concept that they are evil or way below the pay grade of the main character (aka MC) they are dating. This is probably fashioned by the blinding belief that the two MCs should end up together "just because". But let me ask you a question; why is the SC and MC dating to begin with? Surely this SC has something going for them, otherwise the MC we hold in such noble regard wouldn't have picked them, right? This relates to the second problem I have, which is...

2. They almost always begin to change the personality of the SC in a negative way near the middle/end of the film. I recently watched Bride Wars and it was a prime example of this. In case you haven't seen it and don't want a spoiler alert, perhaps block your eyes and sing loudly for the next sentence so I don't ruin the spellbinding plot twist of this Hathaway/Hudson masterpiece.
Basically, Anne Hathaway's character is all set to marry this guy, and you think, that's great! Then right near the end of the film, the writers start subtly hinting toward Hathaway possibly getting along with the brother of Kate Hudson's brother. You don't think too much of it at first because hey, Hathaway is happily getting married, and her fiance is a great guy! But wait a second... what's this? He's starting to get a bit rude. Then next minute, out of no where, he's a total jerk and Hathaway is flung happily into the arms of her awaiting true love, Hudson's brother. This last aspect is also coincidentally my third problem...

3. The MC moves on way too fast. Like, way way! Again, we're blinded by the excitement of two fictional hotties finding undying affection with one another to realise that if this were real life, and someone was actually moving on that fast, we'd be holding an intervention. Most people know that one scene between breaking up with one person and making out with another isn't usually deemed as an appropriate time period.

So there you have it. A meaningful insight into what perturbs me on a typical evening of watching a Romantic Comedy. Luckily for me all it usually takes is some Black Forest chocolate and a hushing nudge to my brain before I can join the rest of the chick flick lovers in the ignorant bliss this particular genre tends to provide.