Kickaxe Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 A while back, Rogue One came out, and I rejoiced at the fact that these characters who I loved had such a beautiful and complex relationship which miraculously didn't turn romantic. It got me thinking about other movies I've watched in my life where characters have that dynamic, and other than kid movies, the only one I could think of right off the bat was Chain Reaction with Keanu Reeves. I was wondering if any of you guys wanted to discuss the choices made in writing and directing movies and why it seems so difficult for them to leave romance out, since it is so prevalent and often seems to be put on he back burner until the end of the movie when it seems rushed or pushed in unnecessarily. I was also hoping you guys might suggest some movies. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 8 hours ago, Kickaxe said: I was wondering if any of you guys wanted to discuss the choices made in writing and directing movies and why it seems so difficult for them to leave romance out, since it is so prevalent and often seems to be put on he back burner until the end of the movie when it seems rushed or pushed in unnecessarily. This is something I find quite irritating. How it can be put in to tick some random box, rather than for sound reasons of character or plot. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aliyiah Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 3 hours ago, Mark said: This is something I find quite irritating. How it can be put in to tick some random box, rather than for sound reasons of character or plot. Me too. Most movies don't bring romance up until the last minutes where the characters then suddenly realize they are made for each other. It doesn't have anything to do with the plot or something and I find myself often skipping the endings of such movies because of it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaAro Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 I really liked Dredd (2012) just for audaciously avoiding any romantic subplot which I really feared would happen. Still it was very strong on like any other emotion. It even had it's “*sigh*!” moment when Anderson shows mercy to Ma-Ma's poor computer technician. 16 hours ago, Kickaxe said: I was wondering if any of you guys wanted to discuss the choices made in writing and directing movies and why it seems so difficult for them to leave romance out, since it is so prevalent and often seems to be put on he back burner until the end of the movie when it seems rushed or pushed in unnecessarily. Probably they believe it's something the female audience just wants. Or that the tone of the movie would be too dark without it. I don't think it would be really difficult to just leave it out in many cases, as artificially tacked on as it often seems. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmbo Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 I don't mind romance really, but it is refreshing when it's not there. It makes me feel like the film makers thought a bit extra and is not just relying on tried and tired concepts. I'm trying to think of movies without romance but I think I'm too tired to even remember movies right now. Zootopia? sorry that's a kids movie. 12 angry men. I watched that just recently for the first time. It's old but good. It's about 12 men who sits in a jury and have to decide if someone should get the death penalty. No romance. Lots of great character interaction. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmbo Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Now as I was looking around the web for some inspiration I saw an article that stated that movies where the lack of romance is just cause there are no women in it "doesn't count". I can kinda see the sense in that. I'm trying to think of good examples but most of them have romance in some corner. For example Mad Max Fury Road is a pretty good one but it does have a bit of romance between side characters. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ettina Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 2001: A Space Odyssey Hunchback of Notre Dame Muppet Treasure Island Treasure Planet South Park Movie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaAro Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 22 hours ago, Holmbo said: Now as I was looking around the web for some inspiration I saw an article that stated that movies where the lack of romance is just cause there are no women in it "doesn't count". I can kinda see the sense in that. without this restriction 80% of the list would be historical war movies. Anyway, does Cube (1997) count? What about Worth and Leaven? Or was there some romance hinted at in the end? 18 hours ago, Ettina said: 2001: A Space Odyssey This movie, for all its depth, probably qualifies even as “aplatonic”. Floyd is a slightly sinister yes-man, completely professional. He doesn't even show genuine emotions when talking to his daughter and he effortlessly deceives his Russian friend. On the Discovery One, when Bowman gets the birthday message from his parents, he is not moved at all. And when he tries to save Poole, he behaves stoically and it seems he is mainly driven by his professional duty, it's not like he shows emotions desperate to helping a friend. HAL 9000 is somehow more a human than all the real humans (which becomes his undoing). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmbo Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 About romance in fiction in general. Often it's a convenient way to get character to act irrational in a way that drives the plot. I'm thinking about a quote from the movie Her 'Falling in love is kind of like a form of socially acceptable insanity.' I also think it's somewhat seen as a reaction to our rationalized world. A lot of movies have the message of "just do what feels right", "follow your hearth". Romantic love is the ultimate version of that in our society. It's totally socially acceptable to commit to a romantic life partner with no regard to their health, financial situation or prospects in life, just as long as it feels right (I'm exaggerating a bit but it's often true). As to why romance is often tacked on to movies with other plots. I'm not sure. Maybe it's cause romance is seen as the quickest types of relationship. It's easy to get in there with just a few scenes and a very short time to develop. Love at first sight and all that. It's much more difficult to write a friendship forming because that takes time and display of trust. It's not enough for people to just look deeply into each others eyes and kiss. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hey you in the corner Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 A lot of those movies where the characters realize they're in love right before they die remind me of battlefield weddings. They feel that they need to do something in that moment because they're going to die and then will most likely realize later that they really don't get along that well. It's overdone in my opinion and I'm really glad they didn't force a kiss scene onto Jyn and Cassain. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Untamed Heart Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 One film I liked that had romance in but not in an overdone way, was Gravity. She was in love with the other astronaut, but in the end I think it turned out she was using it as a distraction from the pain of losing her daughter? (it's been a while since I saw it, so I might be remembering wrong. I did like that it wasn't the main focus of the plot, though). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aava Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Well Hannibal (by Bryan Fuller) did a pretty good job minimizing romance in my opinion. There are just a few sex scenes really (even a queer one xD) and it focuses on the gory stuff, mental health and the relationship between the main characters No boring falling-in-love-scenes and lovey-dovey stuff~ Other than that I had a really hard time coming up with more shows and movies but I guess another one would be Life of Pi (I personally didn't enjoy that one) and "Spy" with Melissa McCarthy which is an enjoyable comedy movie, even though it started with her having a crush, they didn't focus on that at all later on As for why they always include romance in movies, I agree with the others above What annoys me is that often times it doesn't even fit in. I can only think of "The Hobbit" where they forced that romance between Kili and Tauriel in the movie. The screen time for that (in my eyes) unnecessary romance, could have been used for the other dwarves, who actually played a rather important role but whatever. I could keep ranting about that. Still salty 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hey you in the corner Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 2 hours ago, Aava said: Hannibal I LOVE Hannibal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaAro Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 On 2/12/2017 at 8:44 PM, Untamed Heart said: One film I liked that had romance in but not in an overdone way, was Gravity. She was in love with the other astronaut, but in the end I think it turned out she was using it as a distraction from the pain of losing her daughter? (it's been a while since I saw it, so I might be remembering wrong. I did like that it wasn't the main focus of the plot, though). Interesting, I'm too aro to even notice such subtleties. Or maybe I was too distracted by the scientific inaccuracies. But compared to Star Wars with sound in space, I'm not complaining. It was a great movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaAro Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 I think I liked Drive though it was full of romance but showing how absolutely weird it can be. An anti-romance romantic movie. “Lotta guys fall for other mens' wives, but you're the only one I know robs a joint to make it up to the husband...” (Shannon, the auto shop owner) And gradually the unnamed Driver goes from being this pure knight of courtly love to a complete psychotic... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis On Air Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 Probably the only books/movies ever not to feature any instance of romance at all are desert island movies like Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It's set on an island inhabited only by young boys surviving and setting up/destroying societies. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aliyiah Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 I recently found the series 'Lie to me', I'm only half through the first season but so far there's no romantic plot (some sidestory but not the main characters). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusyBumbleBee Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 A few weeks ago I found the series "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" It's only one season so far and it has zero romance in it. The only romance mentioned and shown is maybe one minute long and not even about one of the main characters. It's also definitely my favourite series at the moment. Also the movies 'Moana' and 'Brother Bear' have no romance in it and 'Brave' is about a princess who doesn't want to get married and she's basically aro. (they're all Disney but that doesn't mean they're not good) And I think, if I remember correctly, 'Life Of Pi' and the new Jungle Book movie have no romance in it and those are so beautiful. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ettina Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 On 3/3/2017 at 4:24 PM, BusyBumbleBee said: A few weeks ago I found the series "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" It's only one season so far and it has zero romance in it. The only romance mentioned and shown is maybe one minute long and not even about one of the main characters. It's also definitely my favourite series at the moment. Also the movies 'Moana' and 'Brother Bear' have no romance in it and 'Brave' is about a princess who doesn't want to get married and she's basically aro. (they're all Disney but that doesn't mean they're not good) And I think, if I remember correctly, 'Life Of Pi' and the new Jungle Book movie have no romance in it and those are so beautiful. The book Life of Pi has no romance either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaAro Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 There also is no romance in The Expanse (TV series). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ettina Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 On 3/1/2017 at 10:51 AM, Aliyiah said: I recently found the series 'Lie to me', I'm only half through the first season but so far there's no romantic plot (some sidestory but not the main characters). It's been awhile since I watched that, but I believe there's more romance later on. (I vaguely recall two of the underlings on the team hooking up, but don't quote me on that.) Never the main guy, though - the only romance he apparently ever had or will have was over before the show started. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmbo Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 On 2017-03-30 at 5:50 AM, Ettina said: It's been awhile since I watched that, but I believe there's more romance later on. (I vaguely recall two of the underlings on the team hooking up, but don't quote me on that.) Never the main guy, though - the only romance he apparently ever had or will have was over before the show started. Yes I think I remember that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoanieDark Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 On 2/8/2017 at 6:49 PM, Ettina said: Hunchback of Notre Dame ???????????? That was a movie about three people wanting to get it on with a chick? I guess it's more sexual than romantic in all fairness... Speaking of sexual but not romantic, YMMV, but I really loved Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. It's basically about chicks conning their way into a free vacation in Hawaii because these brothers were forced by their parents to bring dates, and while there's couples at the end, they really just seem like a bunch of bros who have sex with each other as opposed to romantic partners. Also in 22 Jump Street there's a bunch of jokes based around Jenko/Schmidt and Zook/Schmidt, both of whom I could 1000% see as being in QPRs. (I...have a certain taste in movies.) On the more innocent side of things, there was 0 romance in Moana, if you haven't seen it yet somehow. I should also compile a list of other films of various genres I like that have no romance or mild background romance. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaAro Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 Ghost in the Shell (1995): Does it have romance? I didn't notice any, maybe I'm too naive and Batou is romantically attracted to Motoko but in the “friendzone” (argh). Ghost in the Shell (2017): Have you seen it? I found it unintentionally funny quite often. In the 2017 plot (which deviates much from the 1995 plot and takes elements from the other GiS movies) there is a tiny bit of romance inserted, but it's not a romantic plot. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarcastic kitten Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 I like romance in a movie. I even enjoy it. But most of the time, it's badly written and the film focuses on it, so yeah it's refreashing to see a movie without an obvious romantic plot. I moslty appreciate the romance between side characters or the simple yet tender relationship the characters have, without being nauseating. Mad Max Fury Road and Kuzco, the Emperor's new groove are good examples. In fact, it's not that difficult to find movies/series without any romance between the main characters, although there may be romance present in the form of established couples or developping relationships, but it's only ever incidental to the plot: Animation Film : Zootopia, Big Hero 6, Monster Inc, Vice-Versa, Iron Giant....(Yes, I'm a kid... problem ?) Films : Pan's Labyrinth, The King's Speech, Kingsman; The Secret Services, the first Avengers, Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, The Pianist, Billy Elliot, 2001 A Space Odyssey. and so on.... Series: Hannibal of course, mostly Doctor Who, except in some season (there is a reason Donna is my favorite companion juste after Martah).... and I don't have any more idea Anime : Psycho Pass (I'm such a fangirl of this one), Shingeki no Kyojin, GATE, Konosuba (R-rated without a doubt), Tokyo Ghoul... So, thanks to the internet you can enjoy yourself with a film without the fear of a heavily romantic plot On 08/02/2017 at 9:54 PM, Holmbo said: 12 angry men. I watched that just recently for the first time. It's old but good. It's about 12 men who sits in a jury and have to decide if someone should get the death penalty. No romance. Lots of great character interaction. AND you sir, have good taste. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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