‘Paperman’ And What’s Wrong With Most Romantic Comedies

It’s Friday, and it’s been a long week, and it’s snowing in DC. We all deserve something that will make us happy, in this case, Disney’s Oscar-nominated short movie Paperman:

It’s a great illustration of what’s wrong with most romantic comedies. It’s one of the most predictable genres in movies, because of the inevitable union of the two main characters. But even though Paperman fits squarely in that genre, in six minutes, and entirely without words, it does more to introduce tension and a sense of wonder that the two participants have found each other than most features. Love is a miracle, not a natural force like gravity that we’re all subject to. And there’s a lot more drama in acknowledging that, than in throwing up any number of phony idiocies and obstacles between your main characters.