apres moi, le deluge

Brian and I engaged in a heated e-mail exchange over the heady issue of whether Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy was or was not a Romantic Comedy, at the end of which he said "write me back about chasing amy again and you're going to be sorry."

So I emailed a few high-minded, philosophical friends and asked them the same question (with no bias or mention of which side Brian or I was on). The replies (anonymous to protect the innocent):

1) Well, I agree that normally in a Romantic Comedy the couple ends up together in the end, or at least finds their own happy ending. I do think in the end of Chasing Amy this is suggested with all of the characters finding closure and resolution with each other. Plus, there is that glint in Alyssa's eye that makes the viewer believe it may be possible that after reading Holden's comic, they'll be reunited. It's just an effing good movie.

2) I'm going to be a dick and genre-ize it the same way I genre-ized Nailing Jell-o [commenter's recent screenplay], which has the same issues (they don't end up together): it's a comedic love story.

3) I don’t remember liking that movie very much at all. I don’t remember it being funny or romantic; so: no.

4) I think it's a realistic romantic comedy. I say "realistic" because I don't want to mislead the typical romantic comedy watcher into thinking it's fluffy.

5) my thoughts are as follows, and they stem mainly from what i know of kevin smith, not so much chasing amy.

• it can't really be a romantic comedy, as there is very little romancing of anyone in/affiliated with the comic book industry in the mainstream media. kevin smith knows this, he's a comic book nerd.
• calling it a romantic comedy poses some sort of paradox, as failed relationships are rarely funny, and sardonic wit is rarely romantic. i say rarely, because there is the slight chance that kevin smith had stumbled onto some sort of previously untapped genre, one befitting of the sarcastic romantic. but the chances of this rapidly approaches zero.
• lastly, this can't be a romantic comedy as we've all seen what kevin smith does with romantic comedy -- it's called jersey girl. if that's a romantic comedy, chasing amy cannot be, as it is widely accepted as good.

6) If no one dies, and there's no explosions, isn't it a romantic comedy by default?