Romance is Dead?

What morons declared the romantic movie dead? Oh, Time, Entertainment Weekly, and every other dog darn publication did. Although every year movie studios force us to watch bridezillas argue over dresses, the great romantic pictures are not dead because they never existed. Say what, Auntie Christopher Robin? Look at Gone With the Wind. It tells a story about self-empowerment that happens to include a crucial subplot involving a stirring romance. Rose and Jack fall in love against a canvas of historical tragedy and personal loss. As assassins attempt to murder Whitney Houston, the diva falls for Kevin Costner, her bodyguard. The supposed "romantic classics" are actually musicals, historical dramas, character studies, or other genre pictures involving love. Every time a director attempts to create "a classical romance" they create epic failures, such as Australia. This occurs because only three things happen in a straight up romance, according to Liza Minnelli: the boy gets the girl, the boy looses the girl, or the boy gets her and then looses her. It doesn't leave many story options available; however, a thriller involving love leaves us with an unimaginable amount of third acts. Romance never died. It just hides beneath Moulin Rouge, High School Musical, Twilight, and the latest Tyler Perry morality play. If only it hid beneath our real life stories. If only.