Romance is far easier to pin down to certain paradigms than Comedy is. Its far more regular in its target audiences, references and the way it portrays certain members of society.
Props that are typically used in romance films are flowers, chocolates, rings, presents, songs etc. many things we in a western society associate with love. These items help us to connect with the characters situation, by either reminding us of a fond moment in our past or of strengthening the image of what a perfect romantic moment would be like with a partner. Either way, they support our ideas of what romance should be and aids that image we the audience have of those moments.
Typical Characters you are likely to find in many romance films are obviously one man and one women. These characters will obviously make the stereotypical, heterosexual couple later in the film. Then usually for at least one or both of these characters, they both have friends and family members who either aid or dissuade them from potential partners within the film environment. They tend to be gender specific, so for the woman it is most common to find her with mainly female friends and for the Man it is typical to find him surrounded 1 or 2 male friends. Obviously any difference from this such as the woman having a gay friend usually signifies this film is a blend into a more comedic scene.
Settings are fairly stereotypical between romance films, including locations such as more tropical climates, urban western cities or coastal areas. These are areas many of us associate with happiness, love and fun, so to reflect these feelings and help us connect to the film as the audience, these films are obviously set there. Also, the benefit of setting these films here is so the characters may have something to do e.g. they could be on holiday, road trip etc. It gives the characters some method of bumping into each other in the film world and make them far more interesting individuals.
The Narratives of Romance films are fairly standard. Commonly they involve the two meeting in some obscure way, they take a liking to each other before some tragedy comes between the two. This usually adds more tension to the situation and gathers more interest for the audience. Also, having an element of conflict between the pair reminds us of the issues with relationships and makes it seem far more realistic and believable. This is then obviously resolved by either one of the main characters or with help from one of their aids and the two end up finishing the film as a couple.
In conclusion, romance films by themselves are fairly stereotypical in content and construction. For this reason, you will not often find them just stand alone genres without pairing with another genre such as comedy or action. Many purely romantic films can seem rather cliche and dull as there is very little variation you can do on this genre without repeating a film which has already gone before it.
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