9 Ways Of Looking At A Rom-Com: New Genres For The 2010s

A publicist’s email described British film Mr. Right as a “hom-rom-com,” leading us to wonder what other prefixes we could slap onto rom-com to revive the tired genre. Idea-starved filmmakers, take note!

Hom-rom-com apparently refers to the fact that the characters in Mr. Right are homosexual. Pretty revolutionary, but we think we can do better:

bomb-rom-com: so far, the only entry in this genre is Dr. Strangelove. Ripe for newcomers!

pom-rom-com: a touching romance between a woman and her overpriced bottle of all-natural pomegranate juice. Will the antioxidants be enough to keep them together?

dom-rom-com: a love story between a dominatrix and a client or clients. A subgenre, the Dom-dom-rom-com, involving a dominatrix and Dom DeLuise, will be more difficult to make since his death in 2009.

calm-rom-com: for those who like their entertainment a little more relaxing, a romantic comedy without plot twists, excessive emotion, or sudden gestures.

prom-rom-com: many romantic comedies involve a prom, but a film taking place entirely at a prom has, to our knowledge, yet to be made. The possibilities — including drunkenness, loss of virginity, and the birth of an unexpected child — are endless.

nom-rom-com: a combination romantic-comedy/horror movie in which a tortured hero is compelled to “nom” his beloved.

Guam-rom-com: Guam — where America’s day, and one couple’s love, begins.

mom-rom-com: a romantic comedy version of MILF Island.

TomTom-rom-com: just like Secretary, except instead of James Spader giving the heroine increasingly erotic directions, her TomTom GPS does.

We’re sure that these new ideas will revitalize the romantic comedy genre — because as experience has shown, nothing makes a great movie like an incredibly restrictive prefab template.