For years, movie critics have been declaring the romantic comedy “dead,” but that hasn’t stopped us from streaming Pretty in Pink again and again. CableTV.com dove into Google Trends across the country to figure out which rom-coms are most popular in each state, at least according to Internet searches. (See a bigger version of the graphic here.)
For most states, the answer is Pretty in Pink. The 1986 John Hughes movie is still a hit more than 30 years later, clinching the top search result in 14 different states. South Carolina and South Dakota are very interested in the surprise-pregnancy humor of 2007’s Knocked Up. But in general, there aren’t a lot of other shared searches between states. People tend to search for movies set in that state—Alabama, unsurprisingly, loves to search for Sweet Home Alabama (2002), while Alaskans search for The Proposal (2009), and Washingtonians search for Sleepless in Seattle (1993).
Since these are just Google Trends, people might not be watching the movies they are searching for. Perhaps Hawaiians just really want to know where 50 First Dates was filmed. But the sheer volume of Pretty in Pink searches can pretty much guarantee that plenty of people do end up watching Andie and Duckie go to the prom.
February 11, 2017 – 3:00pm