The Love Bug

I’m not big on romance. Writing a lovey-dovey scene is my least favorite part of being a writer. And there’s no way to avoid it either. Love (realistic and otherwise) is a driving force behind many a plot and hell. Have you read a YA book lately where there’s no love story, even as a minor thread?

I figured I better do some research. So after watching movies and reading books considered “romantic”, here’s what I’ve come up with:

1. Obviously the first person you fall in love with will end up being your one true love.

2. Sabotaging your significant other’s job/friendships is perfectly okay because you love them and don’t want them to spend time with someone else.

3. It’s also to okay to sabotage someone’s current relationship if the person is bad for them.

4. Nerdy girls will win the boy when they take of their glasses (and they always have glasses).

5. No means “keep asking and I’ll eventually say yes”.

6. It’s totally acceptable to threaten to kill yourself to get a girl to go out with you.

7. The dark, mysterious stranger who sleeps with anything that moves and is a total jerkass just needs someone to love him.

8. If you have feelings for someone, it’s totally okay to decide to marry someone else anyway. You can always leave them at the altar.

9. Rescuing someone is totally the same as falling in love.

10. Breaking into a girl’s house to watch her is a sign of true love.

Seriously, what the hell?

Note to self: do not take relationship advice from movies or books.

Happy Love Day!

Valentine’s Day is one of those holidays that has as much meaning as you put into it. For me, it’s not on par with, say, my birthday. Of course, I’m also not in a relationship, so a lot of the purpose of the holiday doesn’t affect me. Although I would like to wish all of you a happy Valentine’s Day. Hugs!

But today, I’d like to look at a more serious topic. I know, kind of a bummer. One of the sites I follow is Cracked—seriously—and when I saw their “The 6 Most Cynical Exploitations of Romantic Love in History,” They're going to lampoon romantic movies, I chuckled to myself. I bet Twilight’s number one.

Then I actually read the article. Not what I expected from Cracked. Not at all.

It wasn’t a joke, it wasn’t humorous. It was about actual exploitation of love and it just infuriated me. One of their top six was the Russian spy ring recently broken up in the US. The people in this ring were forced to marry and have children as part of their cover. These kids were then raised here for decades, not knowing the truth. Can you imagine how shattering it must be to find out your parents are a lie? Your birth was merely part of a scheme? It’s horrifying. And it’s all too real.

The other exploitation that really got to me was the whole “lavender marriage” thing. See, a lavender marriage is when a gay person marries someone of the opposite sex to satisfy pressures put on him/her to be “normal.” As an example, Cracked used Rock Hudson, who supposedly married a woman in order to keep making movies (other actors were run out for refusing to marry, even if they didn’t come out as gay). But there are many others in the world who marry for the fabled moniker of normal, have children so no one wonders. Never mind the dissatisfaction of being in a relationship that no matter how caring it is, still remains loveless.

Today is the day we’re supposed to think of the people we love. I think we should also be thankful we can love them and they love us back.