Romantic comedies have been viewed with a lot of scrutiny for having "problematic" portrayals of love and romance. If you want to talk about a problematic romantic comedy, the worst offender I've ever seen was 50 First Dates. Not only does the movie encourage the "protagonist" Henry to take advantage of Lucy's mental illness for his own benefit, but the ending flat out rewards him and punishes her. Sure Henry got his dream girl, but Lucy is basically stuck in a never-ending nightmare. She'll spend the rest of her life forgetting her own family, she'll never be able to truly love her kids and watch them grow, her kids will always be saddened by the fact that their mom will always forget them (and all the good time these had), and on top of that she'll have to be completely dependent on Henry since she'll never be able to hold down a job. Also, at the risk of being morbid, I don't know how loyal Henry will be once Lucy loses her good looks and her condition worsens with age. I can only imagine how Alzheimer's would affect her. It would've been less creepy if the movie ended with Lucy's short-term memory loss getting magically cured with the power of love. If 50 First Dates was from Lucy's perspective, it would be a goddamn horror movie.
Review of 50 First Dates
