the importance of bookstores in rom coms

by Tavis Gray

Notting Hill features one of my favorite romantic comedy tropes. What's that, you ask? Forced aerial shots? Bumpy soundtrack? Julia Roberts staring off-camera for several minutes without dialogue? No, no, and well yes, that is great. However, I mean that homestay of the printed word. That most scholastic salon. I mean the saturation of bookstores. Think about it. You've Got Mail. When Harry Met Sally. Funny Face. Beauty and the Beast. My Eventual Movie Love Letter To The Section of B&N Dedicated To Gnome Lore.

Back in the day, Hollywood loved putting pivotal romantic scenes in bookstores almost as much as it loved butts. But now? Butts - still popular. Books - not so much.

This is a tragedy. Bookstores are exciting. They are packed with drama. They are romantic. They are dusty. And they always deliver. Have you ever seen a boring scene in a bookstore? No!!! Because the actors always have something to do. In between not saying words, Julia Roberts gets to flip through Great Expectations. Book stores are filmic candy. They are our best mise en scène. And yet, Hollywood has abandoned them. Look what that's done to Renée Zellweger. Disappeared and then forced to do another under-watched Bridget Jones? She deserves more! She deserves a script to chew on. She deserves Shark Tale 2: Many Tales. I'M KIDDING.

But en serio, I'm convinced Amazon would be stopped in it's tracks if we as a culture demanded more movies set in our lettered marketplaces. Get Chris Pratt out of space. Let Zoe Saldana wash off that green paint. Throw them together in a Barnes and Noble...eh voilà! Millions at the box office, thousands of books sold, hundreds of happy execs, and one very sweaty me. Do it for the children. Do it for the nerds!

Do it for the horny nerds.

This is extremely important and if any of you care about me or this website at all you will start a change.org petition right now. I do not know how. I am not up on technology. I am sending this from my cuneiform tablet and someone is throwing rocks.