This podcast episode explores how romantic comedies (rom-coms) reflect and misrepresent relationship science. The hosts, relationship experts Eli Finkel and Paul Eastwick, along with Dr. Laurie Santos, discuss rom-com tropes, playing a rom-com trivia game and analyzing several films (e.g., *Notting Hill*, *Clueless*, *When Harry Met Sally*, *Before Sunrise*, *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*, *La La Land*, *Challengers*). They identify accurate portrayals of intimacy building through self-disclosure and the "friends-to-lovers" pathway, while critiquing misleading messages about desirability hierarchies and the soulmate concept. Listeners gain insights into relationship dynamics and learn to critically evaluate common relationship narratives presented in popular culture, fostering a more realistic understanding of relationship development.
