The meet-cute, that adorably happenstance way in which lovers first encounter each other in rom-coms, has a rich history. It has evolved from a term used by insiders to a widely recognized concept. Nancy Meyers's "The Holiday" popularized it, but since then, its public popularity seems to have both enhanced and diluted its charm.

Uncover the Enchantment of Rom-Com's Meet-Cute

The Origin of the Meet-Cute

The columnist Jack Smith was one of the foremost researchers of this subject. In a 1983 column in the Los Angeles Times, he pondered whether the official term is "cute meet" or "meet cute." It doesn't really matter, but his diligence is commendable. Tommy Vize claims the term was invented by the legendary agent Swifty Lazar and made its way into George Axelrod's play and movie "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" Anita Loos, of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953), is also credited with inventing the verbiage. She described a "cute meet" as when Claudette Colbert is in an elevator and drops her purse with a monkey wrench falling out and hitting Fred MacMurray on the foot.

The Screwball Era and Meet-Cutes

In the screwball era, meet-cutes were a thing of beauty. Take Howard Hawks's "Bringing Up Baby," for example. Cary Grant's paleontologist David Huxley first meets Katharine Hepburn's heiress Susan Vance on the golf course. She steals his ball, and they encounter each other again at a fancy restaurant. He slips on an olive she was trying to pop in her mouth, and she gets him accused of thievery. Then, he accidentally rips the back off her dress, forcing him to walk behind her to save her modesty. It's a series of meet-cutes that ultimately yields chemistry with a hint of nudity. These meet-cutes thrived on improbability and had a hefty dose of sexual spark.

The Modern Rom-Com and Meet-Cutes

Since "The Holiday," the public popularity of the meet-cute seems to have changed. When a rom-com takes the phrase as its title, like the forgotten 2022 vehicle starring Kaley Cuoco and Pete Davidson with a time machine and an engineered meet-cute, there's a debate about whether it's lost its spark. In "When Harry Met Sally...", Harry and Sally have a prearranged drive from Chicago to New York together, so their meeting isn't cute. But when they encounter each other later in the story in the Upper West Side's Shakespeare & Co. bookstore, that could be considered a meet-cute. However, it's not their first encounter. The meet-cute is secondary in this case. The purest meet-cutes are those that thrive on improbability, and it's a challenge for later rom-coms to match the charm of their predecessors.