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This ironic nostalgia is also driving the wave of new romcoms, many of which are trying to recreate the magic of old-school classics by openly borrowing their language and clichés. Now, audiences are much wiser to the narrative structure of romcoms and aren't always watching them for a realistic portrayal of romance, or exemplary gender politics. "We're in an era now where people are more unapologetic about enjoying the genre and fans are familiar with most of its tropes," Meslow says. "They know what they're signing up for – and they enjoy it." Some romcoms are becoming more self-analytical and self-aware too. Billy Eichner's 2022 romcom Bros made constant references to romcom tropes, Hallmark movies and the film's own place within that canon. And we can see this as far back as 2011's Friends with Benefits, starring Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, where a running joke between the characters was the pair trying to avoid becoming a romcom cliché, before succumbing to the inevitable.