“I recognise the fallacy in fairytales and still, I believe in them,” Gay added. “If we don’t believe in joy and love and hope, then what are we doing?”

It’s a marker of the enduring patriarchy that romantic comedies are largely critically derided and have never received the kind of awards attention or widespread acclaim enjoyed by other genres. A romantic comedy hasn’t won Best Picture at the Oscars since Annie Hall in 1977, for example, and until the resurgence of the genre this year with Crazy Rich Asians, Set It Up and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, romantic comedies on the whole had been declared dead.

“People treat things that women like as frivolous,” Gay said. “Ultimately it comes down to misogyny, as usual, because women are the primary consumers of romantic comedies, so anything women like is seen as trivial.”

Gay’s favourite rom comes, aside from Pretty Woman, are No Strings Attached (“Most rom com couples are over in three weeks, except for No Strings Attached. They’re still together. Ashton Kutcher is very attractive”), Imagine Me and You, You’ve Got Mail, Something’s Gotta Give and Love Jones.

We need to talk about the way Pretty Woman deals with consent