After watching a certain episode the other night, it dawned on me that this show’s depiction of love is seriously warped, and that in high school I probably subconsciously accepted this depiction – and that of many other romantic-comedy movies and TV shows – as the true norm for what romantic relationships look like. Yikes.
In the episode, the female lead had just dumped her handsome, doting boyfriend for the broody and mysterious “bad boy” (shocking – I know). The bad boy then proceeded to skip their first date without any explanation. When confronted about it, he told her he loved her, only to immediately get in his car and drive away – leaving her alone and confused.
I (literally) put my hand to my forehead as I remembered watching this for the first time. Back then, I was enthralled by the dynamic between her and the bad boy. “What could be going on with him internally that made him run away? This is going to get so good when he explains why he ran!” I cringed as I remembered having thoughts like that when I watched it back then. But as I re-watched this scene the other night, I found myself resisting the urge to throw something at the screen while saying, “THAT IS NOT WHAT LOVE LOOKS LIKE!”
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