Life Actually at Nieuwe Vorst

In Life Actually, a man and a woman meet in the foyer after watching a romcom. In an absurd dialogue about the romcom, they get caught up in the genre themselves. A romcom about a romcom after a romcom.

Welcome to the romantic comedy! The genre reviled, but secretly enjoyed by all. Just like with junk food. We know it's not nutritious, but how delicious that guilty pleasure tastes! The romcom promises that love is the answer to everything. That your soulmate can just fall into your lap, with the only condition being a minimal emotional (and sometimes external) transformation. What a promise! What a prospect! What if, in our society, we see the sweetness of romantic comedy as having radical potential? As medicine against polarization? What if we chose to believe in the omnipresence of love and thus soften our cynicism? Could that make the world a better place?

Photo:

Bas de Brouwer