Romantic Comedy

As with the other traditional romantic-comedy elements, Sittenfeld’s novel actively engages with the idea of a female protagonist in pursuit of having it all—love, career, happiness. Again, Sittenfeld is defining for the reader what a feminist romantic comedy looks like. In Romantic Comedy, the breakneck pace of the late-night comedy world is nuanced by an acknowledgment of the inherent misogyny of the industry itself. The central stakes of the story are raised through the lens of this reality. Sally is independent, self-sufficient, and driven, but her survival in the comedy world has come at a cost. Years of needing to neglect her love life to keep her head above water in an industry dominated by men, as well as the insecurities developed as a result of her immersion in that world, have made Sally closed off to the idea of love at all. The misogyny and discrimination she experiences require her to self-protectively arm herself against it, and she’s begun to use her job as an excuse not to get close with men she meets. The question of Sittenfeld’s novel isn’t simply whether women can have it all. Rather, she asks if Sally and other female comedy writers like her can overcome additional obstacles in an industry that wasn’t built for them; in other words, she explores whether they can achieve career success and equitable professional power while also making a loving romantic relationship work.