Breathless and bright red, he elbows his way through the crowd, eyes searching, yearning to meet the bright blue ones of his girlfriend. It’s Christmas Eve at LAX and throngs of people hoping to make it home in time to spend the holidays with their loved ones have descended upon the airport. He locks onto his target, Gate 43, weaves through security and catches a glimpse of her lime purse disappearing into the jet bridge. With almost superhuman speed he deftly navigates the sea of people and luggage, hopping over suitcases and sliding between strollers, all the while looking back to make sure security is far behind.
Sprinting up, he yells:
“Wait, Louise, don’t go, I lov-”
“Sir, put your hands up and step away from the gate!”
Unfazed by security’s attempt to apprehend him, he continues on:
“Louise, I was wrong, will you forgive me?! Marry m-”
He is promptly tasered by airport security and as his limp, paralyzed body hits the carpet, his hands are bound together with zip ties of justice. The flight is delayed for hours as the airport deals with this breach of security and months later, he is sentenced to 100 hours of community service. This is the reality of the old, contrived romantic comedy airport chase fantasy popularized by so many movies—”Love, Actually” and “Liar, Liar,” just to name a few. It doesn’t end with an engagement and tears of happiness, but rather tears of pain and a criminal record.
As a teenage girl, I’ve watched my fair share of rom-coms, and even enjoyed and loved some, but the same scenarios seem to keep appearing in these films. I might just be a bit cynical, but all the impassioned professions of love and interrupted weddings start to become old after watching two, three, four and five of the same thing. Just like any other female who’s gone through puberty, my heart melts when I see the grand romantic gestures that Joesph Gordon-Levitt and Ewan McGregor make. However, consider this: how realistic are they?
Humans are programmed to make rational, logical decisions, but romcoms seem to challenge that fact. Falling in love is depicted as an instantaneous connection and at times, even frivolous and fanciful, when relationships usually develop over time and progress from “in like” to “in love.” From what I’ve observed, couples often struggle to just tolerate one another’s personal hygiene habits and little quirks, let alone have the time to plan countless extravagant displays of affection. They raise romantic expectations, and I fear that someday if I’m presented with chocolates on Valentine’s Day, I’ll simply scoff and demand why my boyfriend didn’t have a jet spell out “I love you” in the sky instead.
Granted, all movies are dramatic and exaggerated, but love is more within reach and more of a possibility for us average Joes and Janes, which makes it even easier for people to develop increased expectations for romance. Real relationships take work and aren’t all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows as films like “Bridget Jones’s Diary” suggest.
I’m not exactly experienced in the romance department, but it seems to me that rom-coms tend to set up unrealistic pictures of the path to love and romance for people, so if your significant other doesn’t surprise you with roses every day of the week or write you a song, don’t be too disappointed— it’s just normal.