A similar situation has played out in two of the shows I watch: Castle and The Glades. The main character's female interest has had to choose between the relationship and her career.
Kate Beckett, Castle's girlfriend, was offered a job in the upper echelons of federal security but would have to move from New York to Washington.
Callie, Longworth's girlfriend, was working in Atlanta at a hospital with a good chance of using her connections there to complete her medical degree. But Longworth lives in Palm Glades, Florida.
We haven't heard Beckett's answer yet, but the odds are good she'll choose Castle over her career. (The show is, after all, named after him.) Callie quit her job and moved back to Florida, despite not having a job there.
Choosing love over career doesn't bother me. I'm a romance writer, I love a romantic resolution.
What irritates me is that there was never once a mention of the man relocating so that the girlfriend didn't have to make the choice. Castle is a writer and that means he could crank out bestsellers from anywhere. Longworth is a police officer and I'm pretty sure they need those in Atlanta just as much as in Palm Glades.
Now, there's a reason why neither one could actually move. Both shows would lose all their supporting characters and effectively have to start over. But they could have pretended there was some kind of impediment. It could have at least been discussed or offered.
The fact that it never seems to have entered into the writers' minds bothers me. Especially with Castle, who is prone to big gestures. I honestly expected him to tell Beckett that he would go anywhere with her and then have the whole thing fall through because he wouldn't be able to be her unofficial partner in investigations any more.
This is also the reason why I don't like Kate and Leopold despite it starring the ever scrumptious Hugh Jackman. It never even occurs to him to stay in the future and support her. There was even an easy narrative "out" with the time travel, he had to return or else create a paradox. But he never even mentioned it.
Maybe it's expecting too much, but I do hate it when writers miss obvious solutions.
No comments:
Post a Comment