I've been reading a lot of tvtropes again while on break at work. It's a blessing and a curse because it eats up time real easily. Some folks crush candy, I read wiki articles.
I was reading about Shipping today. As I browsed the examples, It got me thinking about all the sitcoms I've watched recently and thought about all the relationships I've rooted for and hexed.
I'm not one for romantic subplots, or main plots for that matter. They don't appeal to me to write them, but I do so love them in media like everyone else. Folks that claim they hate romantic subplots are only doing it for the show. But if a story does have a romantic subplot, the politics of romance handling is a field of daisies riddled with landmines.
At the behest of a friend, and a recent acquisition of a hulu account, I've started watching Community. I just finished season 2, and so far Troy and Abed are my OTP. In that tiny, yet incestuous study group, it's rife with potential pairings. And thanks to the show's style of humor, it also points out their analogs from previous ships. i.e.: Jeff and Britta are Sam and Diane from Cheers. Aloof, vain and boorish meets caustic, false-worldly and psychotic.
What makes us root for surrogate relationships in media? Why did we always wish that Joey and Phoebe would bang? Why did we want Jerry and Elaine to get back together? Why were we so disappointed when How I Met Your Mother defied all logic and broke up Barney and Robin. Maybe we're made to get into everybody's business by design, or maybe it's our inquisitive nature, but fake relationships are serious business.
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