In this blog post, I’d like to examine the typical structure and characteristics of the romantic comedy genre as portrayed in ‘Notting Hill’—through the chance encounter and romance between William, who runs an ordinary bookstore, and Anna, a world-famous movie star—as well as the differences between real-life love and love in the movies.
A Special Love That Began in an Ordinary Place
“Notting Hill” is widely regarded as one of the most famous and iconic romantic comedies. It is also renowned for its cast of Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, who have become synonymous with the genre. The presence of these two actors—widely considered among the best in romantic comedy—further enhances the film’s appeal.
Every film is created through more than just producers, screenwriters, scripts, actors, production technicians, and the audience. Notting Hill, the film’s setting, is an unremarkable place inhabited by ordinary people who aren’t particularly well-known to the world—a place that few outside of Britons, residents, or a handful of geographers and sociologists would be familiar with. It is also where William, an ordinary divorced man, lives with a limited circle of friends and a limited social life—a place that represents the simplicity of my own life, as it is where I live.
The very fact that the famous actress Anna happens to show up in such a place is an event in itself. And this coincidence becomes the classic setup of a Western romantic comedy, transforming William into the protagonist of a hard-to-believe “male Cinderella” or “Snow White”-style happy ending.
William and Anna’s Chance Encounter and Love
To better understand the film, let’s first look at the plot. William Thacker is a timid man living in London’s “Notting Hill.” Living with his eccentric, single friend Spike, he makes a living running a small travel bookstore tucked away in a corner of the Notting Hill Market. For him, having aspirations or plans for the future is nothing more than a luxury.
As he was spending another mundane day as usual, the world-famous movie star Anna Scott walked into his bookstore, bought a book, and left—leaving him completely flustered by this extraordinary event that unfolded in the blink of an eye.
A few minutes later, as he was returning from buying orange juice, he bumped into Anna as she turned the corner and accidentally spilled the juice on her. William escorted her to his nearby apartment so she could wash up and change her clothes. He couldn’t forget the sudden kiss she gave him before they parted.
A few days later, Anna calls and invites William to the hotel where she’s staying. She happens to be in the middle of an interview with a reporter when William—mistaken for a reporter by her manager—sits across from her and starts dodging her off-the-wall questions, causing her to burst out laughing. She then promises, out of her manager’s sight, to go with him to his younger sister’s birthday party.
When the family sees Anna at the birthday party, it takes them a while to realize she’s a real star, and they erupt into cheers. After the party, Anna and William go for a walk and grow even closer; just as the romantic atmosphere reaches its peak, she takes him up to her hotel room.
However, to her surprise, her boyfriend—who had suddenly arrived from the U.S.—was waiting in her room. As she stands there at a loss, William mumbles that it’s room service and walks out. Despite the efforts of his friends and family to console him, he cannot shake his longing for Anna.
Half a year later, she suddenly reappears before William. It was the day after a scandal broke—playful nude photos she had taken during her days as an unknown actress were published on the front page of a newspaper, causing immense damage not only to her popularity but also to her personal well-being.
William arranges for her to stay at his place until the controversy dies down. However, thanks to his roommate Spike, the rumor spreads throughout Notting Hill, and when she sees reporters swarming in to sensationalize the relationship between her and William, she leaves in anger, feeling betrayed.
Upon learning that she has stopped by Notting Hill to film her next movie, William goes to find her again. While waiting for filming to wrap up, dreaming of a wonderful reunion with her, he accidentally overhears her speaking unkindly about their relationship and resolves to forget her.
Anna visits William to explain that it was all a misunderstanding and confesses her love, but William rejects her, saying he no longer has the confidence to bridge the gap between them. However, upon hearing that she is attending a press conference on her final day in England, William rushes to the venue so as not to lose his chance at love.
With the help of his friends, he manages to get into Anna’s press conference and, blending in among the other reporters, luckily secures an opportunity to interview her. As he conducts an interview filled with love for her, their story comes to a happy ending.
The Romantic Comedy Formula Depicted in ‘Notting Hill’
Before analyzing the film, I would like to briefly reflect on the romantic comedy genre. While defining what a genre actually is isn’t easy, I will briefly examine film genres in general to focus more on the subgenre of romantic comedy, and then analyze its characteristics using examples from the internet.
A film genre refers to the recurring elements that conventionally appear within a particular art form. Films have officially established, recurring patterns. Depending on the genre, there are patterns—such as the protagonist’s characteristics, scene composition, and plot situations—that audiences can anticipate to a certain extent. In some cases, filmmakers simply follow the well-trodden path laid out by their predecessors, and over time, these practices have solidified into established patterns.
In film, genres allow fans to enjoy movies through a sense of anticipation and familiarity, while enabling directors to avoid box office failure by faithfully adhering to the rules of the genre, allowing audiences to rely on their familiarity with the genre. Furthermore, the existence of genres makes films easier to understand and fosters a sense of intimacy. By roughly comparing a film within the same genre to previous films, audiences can understand the progression of events and the conclusion in a familiar and comfortable way.
So, what are the conventionally established patterns in romantic comedies? I intend to analyze this by examining this particular film in detail.
Romantic comedies primarily deal with stories related to love within families or between men and women. First, looking at the introduction of the protagonists, the entire story begins with an unusual encounter. Two people who seem completely incompatible—due to differences in social status, appearance, or wealth—meet. In short, an unrealistic yet romantic encounter is set up.
In this film as well, the meeting between William, who runs an ordinary bookstore, and Anna, a world-famous movie star, is the kind of encounter that would not easily happen in real life—and this is how their love story begins. Additionally, they receive support from the people around them to overcome the difficulties they face. In almost all romantic comedies, both the male and female leads have friends.
Next, some kind of difficult problem or situation arises. Nevertheless, the protagonists try to maintain their happiness while in love. However, incidents or conflicts arise—whether due to serious problems affecting one or both of them, a troubled past, or unfortunate misunderstandings—and their happy moments vanish in an instant.
In romantic comedies, showing the protagonists genuinely in love and at their happiest in the first half of the film serves to further emphasize the severity of the problems that arise later. In this film as well, because Anna was a famous movie star, she placed a heavy burden on the ordinary William, and eventually, due to her boyfriend—a movie star who had come from the United States—William closes his heart to her.
However, if we think about it again, if anyone were to actually meet an actress like Anna and fall in love with her, even for a short time, no one would easily give up, no matter how great the difference in social status might be. However, to create a romantic love story, having William reject Anna’s confession allows for a more romantic conclusion.
Thus, with the help of his friends, William rediscovers his love for Anna—whom he had once given up on due to their social status—and their love is ultimately consummated at Anna’s final press conference. Following the typical formula of a romantic comedy, this film also ends with a happy ending.
The ending of a romantic comedy is typically set in a fixed pattern: a mid-story crisis drives the two protagonists apart, but in the end, they overcome this crisis through the power of love, leading to a happy ending. Even though, realistically speaking, they probably wouldn’t make that choice, these romantic endings—possible only in movies—always move audiences and leave them feeling satisfied.
Cinderella Stories and Reversed Romances
Generally speaking, romantic comedies are a film genre favored by women. The main pattern typically involves a female lead who starts out as an ordinary person—or even of lower social standing—and falls in love with a handsome, charismatic prince-like man, much like a Cinderella story.
For example, in movies like ‘Pretty Woman’, a man who is well-mannered, handsome, and wealthy—the kind any woman would find attractive—appears, falls in love with the heroine, and transforms her into a princess.
However, ‘Notting Hill’ takes the exact opposite approach: an ordinary man falls in love with a wealthy, world-famous woman. While the genre has a basic framework, the romantic comedy genre in particular often breaks away from this basic structure and seeks to innovate depending on the era and the specific work. This is achieved by maintaining the existing atmosphere, structure, and form while adding new elements, or by changing the characters, their personalities, or their backgrounds.
I believe the essence of a romantic comedy lies in telling a wonderful love story that ends with a happy ending, thereby giving hope to many women. Despite the presence of complex and numerous conflicts, romantic comedies maintain a lighthearted atmosphere throughout the process of portraying and resolving these conflicts, never losing their comedic essence.
Consequently, they aim for a “happy ending” in which the two protagonists come to understand each other and their love is fulfilled—or, even if their love does not materialize, they resolve the misunderstandings that have built up between them and come to understand one another.
Although the premise is unrealistic, the appearance of an ordinary, relatable protagonist like William allows audiences to watch the film while comparing themselves to him. This leads to emotional identification, prompting thoughts like, “What would I do if I ran into a movie star in real life?” As viewers are led to believe they could experience a romantic encounter just like in the movie, their desire for a beautiful love story grows stronger.
Every woman likely harbors a desire to experience romantic love. In particular, there’s a hope that the “prince charming” she’s dreamed of since reading fairy tales as a child might exist in her own reality. That’s why I think women can find momentary satisfaction by temporarily forgetting the real world and imagining themselves in the shoes of the actors on screen.
However, romantic comedies do not end with just these romantic love stories; as the genre name suggests, they also include comedic scenes. The scene in the movie where Anna and William go on a date to watch a movie at the theater exemplifies this characteristic. By leveraging Hugh Grant’s sense of humor to occasionally shift the romantic atmosphere into something comical, the film doubles its appeal by infusing humor into the beauty of the story.
Predictable Happy Endings and the Limitations of Romantic Comedies
As audiences became increasingly familiar with the conventions of romantic comedies, the genre gradually came to be viewed as childish. Just as not everyone shares the same tastes, there are bound to be people who dislike romantic love stories. This is because the plots are often too unrealistic, and especially in romantic comedies, the ending is predetermined to be a happy one.
By the second half, it becomes somewhat predictable how the story will unfold, and even if there are conflicts or major events along the way, viewers tend not to take them seriously, thinking, “They’ll end up together in the end.” No matter how entertaining a movie is, once you know the ending, the viewing experience becomes tedious, and the film loses its appeal. Couldn’t we say that this is a drawback of romantic comedies?
Personally, I believe one of the advantages of movies is that they allow us to experience vicarious satisfaction by contrasting them with reality and engaging with stories we would never actually experience. Just as the structure of movies continues to evolve due to changes in era, culture, and social context, so too do human desires and emotional connections.
Romantic comedies are sometimes called “chick movies” in English because women are generally considered more emotional than men. Consequently, since the majority of the audience for this genre is female, the main characters and storylines are structured with a female-centric focus.
That said, it’s not just women who watch this genre. Men also enjoy romantic comedies that are both humorous and touching. This trend clearly reflects modern society, where lifestyles have become more comfortable and monotonous, and warm emotions are prioritized.
I believe that by watching warm and romantic films like romantic comedies, modern people are rediscovering the shortcomings in our lives and reaffirming our human capacity to love.
