Comment on Anon watches a romance movie
raltoid@lemmy.world 5 days agoWhile there are quite a few people who would jump ship from their marriage, that’s not why the trope so popular. It’s just that a lot of people like “forbidden love” tropes. Although most don’t actually dream of doing those things, it’s pure fantasy.
sthetic@lemmy.ca 5 days ago
Yeah, fictional romance is more interesting when it’s forbidden in some way. Otherwise, who wants to read a romance novel about a nice couple who meets at the library when they’re both single, and proceeds to have a wholesome relationship? Great for real life, but boring to read about or watch a movie about.
Many of the traditional reasons for forbidding a romance are gone in the contemporary world. Different race, different social class, same gender, rival families? Not convincing.
So you’re left with stuff that’s plausible but icky, like being in a relationship already, or being teacher/student or boss/employee. Or pornographic stuff like step-family. Those are problematic and people will criticize them.
You could set your story in a historical setting in which the countess and the gardener are truly forbidden from passion, or a fantasy world where the ogopogos and sasquatches are sexy rivals.
Or just have a lukewarm type of forbidden-ness, like “his family’s greeting-card store is in competition with my family’s greeting-card store” or “we’re coworkers.”
GoodLuckToFriends@lemmy.today 4 days ago
The amount of pirates on the covers of romance novels is the direct result of this.
And the hallmark channel answer. I had a coworker who would watch those every single day. I vomit at the visuals (how do they get them so consistent and apparent? You can tell just from the opening shots and title!) of a hallmark to this day.