By Leslie Brown

It has been said that romantic comedies can sometimes affect your mental health in less than ideal ways - people seeing picture-perfect relationships in movies might create unrealistic expectations, causing them to feel inadequate with their own romantic lives. Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland conducted research by watching 40 “romcom” box office hits that were made between 1995-2005, including Notting Hill, You’ve Got Mail, While You Were Sleeping, and How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days. They released a statement claiming that romantic comedies can”spoil your love life” by promoting unrealistic expectations about love and communication.

In many typical romcoms, two people meet, fall in love, and then a single crisis ensues in some way potentially pulling them apart. They then come up with a solution, get back together and the story ends with them seeming to live happily-ever-after. Much different from most real-life relationships where some days are boring, some are great, and so many variables of life create issues that are far more complex and not as easy to fix. 

This is why the realism of Neil Simon’s romantic comedies is so important. With Simon’s works, relationships are far from picture-perfect, touched with moments of melancholy and anger toward each other, and usually ending in a “let’s keep working together on this” mood rather than happily-ever-after. This approach is because Neil Simon’s plays were often semi-autobiographical and inspired by real life problems that he or those around him experienced. Simon himself suffered from lifelong clinical depression, and persevered through a wicked sense of humor. This allowed him to explore challenging relationships in ways that entertained and resonated with audiences, leaving them identifying with the struggles on stage in a lighthearted way. 

Bring a loved one and come see Neil Simon’s realistic look at the ups and downs of the newlywed phase with Barefoot in the Park playing through November 1. Get your tickets here: https://arvadacenter.org/events/barefoot-in-the-park