Romance 101

Posted by admin on Nov 4, 2008 in Community | 0 comments

We’ve reached just over the halfway point in the fall semester here at Trinity Western University and with that many students are probably well into their first month in a new relationship. At this point in time no longer is it an embarrassment to answer the question: “How long have you been going out?” A month is just long enough that the dazzle of a budding relationship has not been lost; they still hold hands everywhere they go, take those long walks in the frigid cold and generally have their head in the clouds. It’s a marvelous sight to behold, watching the progression of events and getting that warm fuzzy feeling that only the best romantic comedy or love song could produce.

Romantic comedies, while full of laughter, kisses in the rain, passionate expulsions of love and ridiculously attractive people, have the tendency of inducing a sense that something isn’t quite right – whether it be common sense, a cynical view on relationships or something you ate last night.

Everyone loves a “feel-good” story. Why else do you think so many are pumped out at an unfathomable rate? The craving to fill that niche for romance is nearly insatiable. Whether a Christian, a secularist or an “in-between,” there has always been a place for the hopeless romantic. This niche is not just for the ladies but applies to the guys as well.

How many would freely admit to having watched The Notebook and loving it? Here at TWU it was a quiet phenomenon that swept through this campus like locusts. How many couples after seeing that film had the sudden desire to sit in the middle of a street or to share a passionate kiss in the rain? It’s an interesting thing to note the effects that popular media has on our perceptions of a relationship which helps dilute our common sense. Because if one looked closely at certain aspects of film relationships he or she would notice the increased idiocy in their actions. For instance, with the amount of time Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams spent kissing in the freezing rain, you’d think they’d develop some sort of flu. But supposedly it’s to induce in all of us that sense of throwing caution to the wind in the name of love.

Love songs. This musical form of expression has been with us since Song of Solomon was written. That ubiquitous love song exemplifies a certain aspect of any relationship. Whether you’re listening to James Blunt lamenting seeing a beautiful girl on a subway he knows he can’t have or Shania Twain crooning about from this moment on, all have their time and place. What that time and place is remains to be seen, as it is something different to everyone. There are songs for the hook-up, the break-up, the “we’re together but don’t like each other” and songs for the “eternally in love.” No matter the state of the relationship there is a musical number to describe it.

We often take our relational cues from whatever is the popular love song or the newest romantic comedy. Have we become slaves to the notion of the hopeless romantic? Or do we all just have the soft mushy side that craves those moments of bliss with a member of the opposite gender. Perhaps that is the case, but for whatever reason, we all enjoy now and again belting out our favourite love song or curling up by the fireplace to watch the newest Drew Barrymore romantic comedy.