TuTh, 4:00 PM-5:15 PM, BH 240
Required film screening: W, 7:00 PM-10:30 PM, WH 106
Fulfills COLL A&H Requirement

Instructor: Karen Bowdre
E-Mail: kmbowdre@indiana.edu
Office: Mottier Hall 208
Phone: 855-0530

Romantic comedies have been a popular film genre since the early
days of the classical film era in the 1930s.  A high point for the
genre came in 1934 when It Happened on Night won five Oscars.  In
order to better understand contemporary romantic comedies such
Sixteen Candles, There’s Something About Mary, and The Wedding
Planner, this class will examine past romantic comedies and the
cultural and social meanings and ideologies prevalent in these
films.  The course will also examine critical texts about romantic
comedies and how the films function in relation to many of the
actors and actresses who appear in these films.  At the conclusion
of the class students will be able to delineate the characteristics
of romantic comedies, know the critical arguments regarding these
films and better understand how these films circulate particular
ideologies and norms from the culture.