Recently,  there has been a resurrection of the romantic comedy, and the timing could not be more perfect. The sub-genre never really went away, but the quality had definitely declined drastically in the last two decades. The tropes were overdone, the plots were too predictable, and more often than not, the love interests lacked the chemistry that drew viewers to classics like “When Harry Met Sally”, “You’ve Got Mail”, “Boomerang” and “Love Jones”. But, just when all seemed lost, a lightbulb went off in writing rooms all over Hollywood. Romance films will always have the same central theme: falling in love. But the way the characters get there doesn’t have to be the same every time, and, while this might be a shock to some, conventionally attractive white people aren’t the only ones who fall in love. People of all ethnicities, orientations, and sizes have love stories. And instead of going over the same plot we’ve seen a million times before, it was definitely time for a revamp.  As a lifelong lover of the rom-com genre, I am pleasantly surprised by it’s recent comeback, and as a black woman, I’m extremely happy to see more inclusion, especially for people of color.  In the past 2 years, we’ve seen the SAG-Award nominated films, “Crazy Rich Asians”, and “The Big Sick” in theaters; and Netflix has released gems like “Always Be My Maybe”, “Someone Great”, and “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” just to name a few. It seems like Hollywood is finally beginning to realize the importance of inclusion.  As in almost all visual media, black people and other POCs have mainly had to try to relate to white characters and to see themselves in white people’s stories. Especially in romance and its sub-genres. I would be lying if I said that we’ve never had romance films that feature black people and other POCs. But they weren’t nearly as mainstream or acclaimed as their white counterparts. Traditionally, black films deemed worthy of mainstream distribution or critical acclaim have to be laced with trauma. We rarely get to see black people on the big screen living life, falling in love, having friendships, and just being normal people. Black people have been steadily gaining visibility in other genres. Thanks to Jordan Peele, we’re even surviving horror movies.  It’s my hope that this wave of inclusion washes over romance as well.