Commitment Phobia: Why So Many TV Characters Run from Love 💔🏃

[theemii]

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Some characters are obsessed with the idea of being in love, but then when they actually get it… they can’t seem to stop themselves from running in the opposite direction. Across film and television, so many characters are plagued by commitment issues that keep them from actually being able to settle in and enjoy the relationships they manage to

Comments

[burntxtoashes]

The Julia Roberts thumbnail made me think this was gonna be about the Speak Now trope at first (which I'm such a sucker for even if its kind of terrible).

I don't really mind if a show has one character that doesn't really do relationships, but I feel like the longer a show goes on, the more likely they are to just throw random characters together and then just fizzle the relationships out quickly. I feel like Grey's and TVD are/were terrible for that.

[squirrels_oh_no]

I feel like Grey's was particularly a victim of the show lasting so long that people just didn't want to be there anymore and it was obvious. And it led to a lot of commitment issues just because of logistics.

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[ahkna]

Other than sloppy writing, a lot of people (especially the kind of messy people that make great main characters) just delude themselves into thinking that being in love is enough. Carrie Bradshaw was always deluding herself.

I'm a firm believer that being in love is not enough. You also have to like as well as love each other as friends, as partners, as family. Those things are at the roots of all the best couples, on tv and in real life.

[__onthebound]

ilu. This is where I want my brain to end up if I ever graduate therapy for beginners

[pretty_angel]

It's a bit of a cliché to say "Marry your best friend" but it's so true. Like, even if you have the most pink glasses on and super great sex and whatnot you can't fill your life with only bed acrobatics and romantic getaways or whatever. Most of the time a relationship will have to deal with boring everyday life and if you don't even like to hang out with each other then wtf are you doing? lol

I've seen so many stories during the Covid lockdowns where people complained about having to spend time with their SO and I get similar vibes from fictional couples, especially typical sitcoms with the man-child husband and the nagging wife who hates fun. I wouldn't want that sort of misery in my life!

[ahkna]

Fully agree. It should be fun to be married. The hard stuff should be the minority.

[sjpheartshim]

I loved Overton amd Synclaire from Living Single. It took just one season for them to get together and they were an amazing couple throughout the rest of the seasons.

Yeah, they each kissed one person while together but one kiss led them to having sex for the first time and the other didn't cause any drama outside of that one episode. No stupid breakups or cheating was involved with them.

[setsuna16]

Goals, really.

[waxandstrings]

i think for that to work, they have to be the counterpart to a will they/won't they couple like max and kyle. monica and chandler were also completely solid for 5 six seasons after getting together but they were counterparts to ross/rachel's messiness.

but i tend to love those more mature and steady side romances to the messy main ones

[violet_crumble9]

For the plot.