Looking for love? Forget online dating and self-help books “ why not follow the lead of some of your favourite rom-com heroines? If you manage to try on a bunch of wacky outfits with your crazy pals, decide to throw away your enviable career, and stumble into love with the most obnoxious hottie out there, you’ll have us to thank.
1. Don’t fall in love on the clock.
In How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson) decides to use Matthew McConaughey as a guinea pig for her article about the things women do to drive men away. Turns out he was no saint either “ he bet some catty coworkers that he could make her fall in love with him. Maybe two wrongs do make a right!
Moral of the rom-com: Prospective beaus get pretty pissed off when they find out you were essentially paid to hang out with them.
Also see: 10 Things I Hate About You, Never Been Kissed.
2. The perfect guy is never the right guy.
In Sweet Home Alabama, Reese Witherspoon’s Melanie ends up saying goodbye to a super-nice New York prince (played by McDreamy Patrick Dempsey no less!), for her rough-around-the-edges childhood sweetheart.
Moral of the rom-com: If he’s rich, handsome and just a little bit boring, you may as well break it off now.
Also see: The Ugly Truth, anything with James Marsden unless you’re Katherine Heigl in 27 Dresses
3. First impressions mean absolutely nothing.
It turns out the right guy for you is either a.) the most obnoxious dude with a six-pack you’ve ever laid eyes on, or b.) the nerdy best friend you never really noticed before. In The Ugly Truth, Katherine Heigl’s Abby ends up falling for Gerard Butler’s almost criminally offensive bad-boy character. If you don’t have any hot womanizers around, you can also settle for the adoring boy next door, like Jennifer Garner in 13 Going on 30.
Moral of the rom-com: Basically, you have no taste in men. If you think you’d rather die than go out with someone, he’s probably your soulmate.
Also see: Anything with Matthew McConaughey, Two Weeks Notice, Something’s Gotta Give, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, When Harry Met Sally
4. Success means nothing if you don’t have someone to share it with.
Do you have an impossibly good job that you worked really hard to get? Then you probably just haven’t had time for love. In The Proposal, Sandra Bullock’s uptight dragon-lady doesn’t seem to mind that she loses her sweet publishing gig, because she’s found true happiness (conveniently in the form of Ryan Reynolds).
Moral of the rom-com: You work too hard! We’re all for some work/life balance, but can’t these women ever keep their jobs and the guy?
Also see: The Devil Wears Prada, New in Town, The Ugly Truth
5. No one can resist a little last-minute chase.
So when your scorned lover gets mad at you and says they’re moving across the country, they mean, like, tomorrow (do lease agreements mean nothing to these people?). But it’s not too late! You can probably still save the relationship if you run like a crazy person. It’s hard to choose an example for this one, but let’s go with everyone’s favourite singleton, Bridget Jones, played by René©e Zellweger. Bridge leaves her dignity (and her clothing) at the door to run through a snowy London in her underwear. Colin Firth is enchanted.
Moral of the rom-com: Keep doing your cardio and memorize the quickest route to the airport “ you never know when you’ll need it.
Also see: Along Came Polly, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Notting Hill, Love Actually, Made of Honour
