How Rom Com Journalism Shaped a Generation of Creators | by Ida Nariman | ILLUMINATION | Sep, 2023

How To: Embody Rom Com Journalism in 2023…

In the late 90s and early 2000s, a wave of romantic comedies flooded the film industry, leaving a lasting cultural impact on society.

What I think distinguished this era, and left a permanent mark on young women today, was was the significant representation of female leads assuming roles as creative professionals in the media industry, particularly as journalists.

Rom Coms like The Devil Wears Prada, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Sex and the City, and Bridget Jones’s Diary, to name just a few, featured strong and empowered women in creative and influential careers, all as writers or journalists more broadly.

This cinematic phenomenon played a pivotal role in shaping contemporary feminine creators. Now, due to the changing landscape of digital media, women are aspiring, not as writers, but as influencers, a shockingly similar career to that of the romcom journalist.

On a personal note, while I was growing up, the life of a writer in New York City seemed like the ultimate aspiration, one made all the more attainable by the sheer number of women in rom-coms who pursued this career path.

But, as print media and digital journalism faced declines, these opportunities became increasingly scarce. Enter a parallel career — one that embodies the same creative influence and — the role of an influencer.

Women have risen as digital pioneers and influential figures, reshaping the fields they now dominate. Interestingly, influencing has stood as one of the only female-dominated fields not to be devalued in their economic gains.

A primary factor I think exemplifies the parallels between romantic comedy journalism and influencing, is the eventual translation from influencing to writing, or podcasting.

In the 2021 Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That…, Carrie Bradshaw, the stand out among all other rom-com journalists, showed us what being a columnist looks like in the digital sphere, and how her career has changed to adapt to the modern age.

Influencers and Bradshaw alike, have amassed followings, whether that be through a column or YouTube, and…