Romance

Fake or Fiction?

This question has been stuck in my head for a while now. We all say that we want the perfect love, but what does that mean exactly? All of this coming only from the perspective of a female, keep that in mind.

We all say that we're lonely and that nobody wants us. Yet when a guy friend, or even a guy we hardly know, comes up to us, at one point or another, and they tell us how they feel about us, and about the fact that they have had feelings for us for some time now, we refuse it. We want love from a significant other, but we're picky about it. In my opinion, if you're complaining about being single, you should take what you can get. Because if you're really that desperate, it probably doesn't really matter who the affection is coming from. We want to feel wanted, but our problem, is that we only want to feel wanted by certain people.
My thing, is that, if you really are that desperate to feel needed, and wanted, and like you're a vital piece of something, you should be thankful for ANY kind of kindness from anyone. It may be the best friend that has a crush on us, or the weird kid in class, but if you're really that in need of feeling wanted, who are you to say that someone else's desire for you isn't good enough?

&The novel kind of love. Those pages we read in our favorite books that give us chills, cause us to look up from the words, take a breath, and gather our thoughts. Those words that cause us to tingle from the tips of your toes all the way though your being, all the way up to the tip of your forehead. Those scenarios that we read through, and wish they could happen to us. Honestly, if those scenarios were to actually present themselves in front of us, who would really take advantage of them?

Care for a few examples?

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
If you were at the carnival with your friend and some random guy came up to you and asked you to dance, would you? Probably not. Most people want the ideal love story, but nobody wants to abandon their comfort zone in order to achieve it. Anyway, so he asks you to dance, and you refuse. &He then proceeds to find you several times all over town, and doesn't leave you alone? How many people would actually be flattered?  In today's society, that's called being a creep. And nobody I know would think anything differently about that if said situation were to ever arise. Bottom line, put yourself in the shoes of the character, Allie. Can you HONESTLY tell me that you would handle the situation the exact same way in order to get her end result? If your answer is yes, then congratulations, you're one in a million. &If your answer is no, then you just proved my point.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
As we are all reading through the books in this series, we all wish we could be Katniss. Because she's such a strong character, and she has no idea. There is so much about her that we all admire and wish we could somehow embody. Through the story, we all make the choice of who we think she's really meant to be with: Gale of Peeta? For argument sake, let's go with Peeta on this one. He claims he madly in love with Katniss, the day before they go into battle of kill to the death. At this point, how many of you would really be flattered? Personally, I'd be pissed of for just NOW sharing that little piece of information. But once you get into the game, to find out that that one person who just claimed his undying love for you, has apparently betrayed you? I'd say you would probably handle the situation just like Katniss did. I really don't think you would fall in love with him even more. Even when we find out that he's sacrificing for her, we, as the reader, are gushing about the romance behind it all, but if you were in that arena, would you be thinking, 'Wow, I'm finally getting to live out my ideal love story.' Absolutely not. And even at the end of the book, we get mad at Katniss when she reveals to Peeta that it's all been an act for her. We think, 'How can you not be in love with him?!'
I'll tell you why. Did he help to save her life? Yes. Did he declare his love for her nationwide, and then protect those feelings, even if meant losing his life? Yes. To us, it seems absolutely rational for her to love him back, after all he has done for her. &To a certain extent, she does love him, but she's not IN LOVE with her. &There's a big difference.

That's the thing, we as the reader, are submerged in the story, just with our minds. While the completely fictional characters are actually living out the scenarios presented. If we were in the story ourselves, how would our perseption of the story line alter? We say we all want the perfect fairy tale love stories, but when it comes down to it, nobody is willing to go through the things in real life, that the characters do in books or movies. After a movie or book, we are all, to a certian extent, part of the story. We picture people we know, or ourselves, as the main characters. Who would be the lead, who would be which characters. But if you were the lead character, can you honestly tell me that you wouldn't handle the situation the exact same way that it was handled in the book or movie?

But that's the beauty of it all. We all want something we don't or can't have. We all want the 'perfect' love story that we can tell to our children, who can tell their children, who can then tell their children, so that your love story is passed down through the decades. We all want the love story every one dreams about, but if you ask me, if the opportunity were to ever actually present itself, very few would even think to take advantage of it.