Sometimes I feel as if the entire story I’ve read or watched
is only a prologue to the interesting stuff.
Often both the hero and heroine have had to undergo substantial shifts
in their worldview. A witchhunter has
accepted that supernatural powers don’t automatically corrupt. A woman travels back to the nineteenth century
to be with the man she loves. People are transformed into werewolves, vampires, all sorts of supernatural beings. These are
huge decisions/events and I always want to know how they impact the people who made
them.
Romantic stories also usually have an accelerated
timeframe. Challenging fundamental
assumptions and beginning a new relationship are a lot of changes to absorb in
under a week. There’s going to be some
kind of backlash as the implications start to seep in.
They may be old but I like the movies Romancing the Stone and Jewel
of the Nile. Romancing is a typical romance plot, danger, internal and external
conflict and the transforming power of a loving relationship. But Jewel
is my favourite because it talks about what happens after. When Jack, the carefree rogue, starts to
irritate Joan, the prudent novelist, with his irresponsible ways. When he gets irritated with her
work-comes-first attitude. And yet the
two manage to come together and rediscover what drew them together in the first
place.
Somehow the second connection feels more real and permanent
than the first. Getting swept up in a
new relationship is one thing.
Recommitting to an existing one, warts and all, is something more.
Love is worth fighting for.
Worth working for. It shouldn’t
be tossed aside when it starts to get a little tarnished and dull.
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