Better Than the Movies

When watching romantic comedies growing up, Liz learned the value of a “happily ever after” from her screenwriter mother as they watched the girl get the guy and ride off into the sunset. Rom-coms are central to Liz’s life and cement her connection to her late mother. Liz aspires to live out the cliché rom-com happy ending as both a tribute to her mother and as a comfort to herself.

After what she considers their “meet-cute” in the school hallway, Liz believes she and Michael should have a movie-worthy romance. He represents her ideal romantic hero, and she writes their love story in her mind immediately upon learning he has returned to town. She changes her appearance to resemble someone who she is convinced Michael would be attracted to, losing her own unique style in the process. She gets in the way of Michael and Laney’s “happily ever after,” believing Laney to not be worthy of him.

Liz takes her love of the rom-com genre and, fueled by its romantic ideals, forces herself into the role of heroine. She dismisses everything that does not fit into a rom-com, which is why she does not initially see Wes as her hero.