Let's Get Rrrready For Rrrromance!

Plus: 'Spencer,' 'Eternals,' and What's Making Us Happy! [View this email online]( [Pop Culture Happy Hour]( by Linda Holmes Welcome! It was the week when we learned about [some Wicked casting](. It was the week when Guy Fieri agreed to [officiate Kristen Stewart's wedding](. And it was the week when [we got a little reporting]( on the state of one of the many new-ish streaming services -- and it's not rosy. Let's get to it. Opening Argument: Let's Get Rrrready For Rrrromance! This is the time of year when I think a lot about my attachment to traditional genre romance, not least because it's the time of year when, for about a month, there are new holiday-themed (mostly Christmas-themed) romance movies practically every day. There's a debate that crops up on Twitter or elsewhere from time to time, and I don't want to link to any particular instance of it because I'm not looking to start actual fights. But it goes something like this: Traditionally, the most important elements of a genre romance are that it has to have a central love story, and it has to end happily -- or optimistically -- not just for the individual people, but for the relationship. (You'll see the abbreviation "HEA," which of course means "Happily Ever After.") There are conversations around the edges of these definitions -- most people, in my experience, are also okay with what they call "HFN," or "Happy For Now," or with, as I said, more optimistic than fully happy, meaning -- no resolution, but looking good. For some people, this really really rankles, because who's to say there aren't fascinating, beautifully told love stories that end with people not together? In fact, I would venture to say everyone knows there are. Isn't it simplistic to require happy endings? Isn't it wrong to impose that kind of neatness? I'm going to say ... no. For the same reason I think a murder mystery should solve the murder. Now, it can solve the murder in lots of different and unexpected ways; there are as many ways to get from the beginning to the end as there are imaginations that want to ruminate on such things. But I think if a book ended with "and so we will never know what happened," it might be a great book, it might be a beautiful book, it might be a readable and successful book, and it might be an important book. But it would not belong to the genre known as the murder mystery. To admit this kind of thing is to acknowledge that despite what spoiler culture often suggests, not knowing what the plot resolution will be is often not an important element of enjoying a narrative. Think about something like Home Alone -- did you really wonder if Kevin was going to die? I did not. In fact, think about what a betrayal of the audience it would have seemed like if his family got home and he froze them out without a reconciliation. Think about every story that hinges on historical fact. That a book or a movie where the love story is busted at the end is not a romance is not to say it's not romantic! There are romantic dramas and romantic tragedies that are not genre romances, and they are just as good and valid and important nevertheless! This is part of why I like the idea of a term like "romantic fiction," to make room for stories that revolve around romantic love but don't necessarily resolve in its favor. Trying to spring a non-genre ending on an audience that specifically chose to read or watch a romance is breaking an agreement, just like killing the protagonist at the end of a zany comedy. If I'm sitting down for a Christmas romcom, I'm not depending on suspense. I'm just hoping that the execution and the performances and the writing create the slightly miraculous sense that you didn't see it all coming, even though, in the strictest sense ... you did. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- We Recommend: You'll soon be able to see my exhaustive (exhausting?) rundown of the holiday TV movies on tap for this season, but in the meantime, [I liked Love Hard on Netflix](. It stars Nina Dobrev and Jimmy O. Yang in one of those very tortured and very unlikely premises about fake profiles and true identities and so forth, and while it is just as disconnected from the logical behavior of real humans as any other movie of this kind, it's got a lot of charm. I was delighted to see that Joel Anderson is back at the host mic [of Slate's podcast]( Slow Burn, this season to look back at the unrest in L.A. after the beating of Rodney King and the legal fallout. The excellent first episode examines just how there got to be a videotape of the beating, and how it got to the news. It's not a TikTok from this week, but my favorite TikTok I found this week was Kevin James Thornton's ["evil buddy" bit]( about playing songs backwards. Around Halloween, I found myself revisiting [the interview I did]( with Tom Hanks way back when, in which he revealed that the David S. Pumpkins costume was in the trunk of his car. He was so charming and good to talk to -- if you need something soothing, maybe give a listen? What We Did This Week: [Spencer image]( Pablo Larraín/Neon [I really liked, and was surprised by]( the film Spencer. (We'll also be covering it on the show soon.) Aisha [chatted with Marya E. Gates]( about film noir, just in time for ... Noir-vember! [Stephen talked to Gene Demby and Daisy Rosario]( about Colin in Black and White. I talked to Aisha and Kristen Meinzer [about our complicated relationships with Judge Judy]( and with her relaunched show Judy Justice. Glen sat down with Jordan Morris [to talk about Army Of Thieves on Netflix](. And Glen, Mallory Yu, Andrew Limbong and Daisy Rosario [took on Eternals](. Glen [also wrote a full review]( for NPR that is well worth your time. [Stephen wrote about the Spiritualized track]( "Always Together With You." [This week's recap of The Morning Show]( finds us in a very surprising place: quite a good episode that follows quite a bad episode. And [Sunday's Succession recap]( covers the very bad Waystar Royco employee meeting that could have, and should have, been an email. There will be another on Sunday night after another wild ride of an episode, so stay tuned. If you're looking ahead to what we'll be covering soon, think about [The Harder They Fall]( on Netflix. We'll get to it next week! What's Making Us Happy! Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: - What's making Daisy happy: [We're Here]( - What's making Andrew happy: [A Tear in the Fabric of Life]( by Knocked Loose - What's making Mallory happy: [Parasyte]( - What's making Glen happy: [Host]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. --------------------------------------------------------------- What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [pchh@npr.org](mailto:pchh@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! 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