I believe Bridesmaids' success comes from its simultaneous engagement with conventions in the previous and current rom-com cycles as defined by Leger Grindon: “The Reaffirmation of Romance” cycle emerged in 1986, interrupting nervous comedies that reject the possibility of happy, eternal union (e.g. Annie Hall). Reigning until 1996, reaffirming rom-coms present a return to optimistic courtship, traditional romantic values, and happy endings that the previous cycle abandons. Films in the current rom-com cycle, the ‘Grotesque and Ambivalent’, mock tenderness and challenge the possibility of lasting love (e.g. There's Something About Mary). Since Bridesmaids has a little of each cycle, our recognition of conventions makes the film's departures easier to swallow (aka accepting that female friendships take narrative precedent over romance).

While engaging with well-trodden issues of romance and friendship, Bridesmaids consistently takes moments, character traits, and locations one would expect to see in a romantic comedy, and then mars the expectation with sexual or otherwise bawdy humor. The humor and sincerity in Bridesmaids liberate it not only from film conventions, but also from the traditional ideologies that produce them. Bridesmaids presents a successful pattern. The film industry can ignore audience desires and proceed conventionally, or emulate the film and give life to a cycle that prioritizes female characters and their journeys.