I'm a guy, and being a guy I can't say I fully understand why romance stories are so popular. Yes, I'm talking about the drippy, icky, and overly emotional sob stories we see on the shelves at the local supermarkets. It's a huge market. Don't get me wrong, I adore a good romance story and have cried waterfalls. But, I think there's a lot more to love stories than spiraling emotion and yearnings. Classic literature bears this out, as "Romeo and Juliet" is considered one of the greatest romances ever told (yes, it has it's sappy moments--balcony scene, I'm looking at you), and there is far more going on that simple attraction.
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We live lives surrounded by distractions, interruptions, imperfections, and failure. Stories lift us up from such things for a time, and so we want those tales to be more than real. Love is a universal yearning. The joy of romance is the wealth of feelings engendered. Watching someone in the throes of new love is like watching an illness take hold and ravage a body. If you didn't know the source, you'd think the person actually ill and take them to the doctor. Yup, love compares to being sick very well.
I think, despite sappy successes, that we truly want stories which drive below the surface and give us something deep and powerful. Stories like those will last in the hearts of everyone who experienced them. We long remember loves, probably more so than pain. Humans want to love and be loved. It's natural. As the saying goes, "Give them what they want."
- M
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