is What Love? Brian Weis
By watching TV we can discover what relationships are like. Shows like Friends and How I Met Your Mother can often provide accurate depictions the types of relationships we see in real life. Sometimes these shows appear very farfetched but the underlying themes are usually very similar to what we encounter in our own lives. They portray many of our assumptions on love in these shows that so many of us believe in and expect to see in the world. In the very first season of Friends, Ross and Rachel are already developing a romantic relationship. The attraction even went back to before the start of the show. There constantly is the sense that they want to be together, but something always gets in the way. In high school it was because he was too shy and awkward, later on it was because of jealousy or pointless fights. At the very end of the series, Rachel is about to leave for Paris. Ross thinks that he lost out on his chance for love, but he is convinced to try to stop her. He goes to her but despite all of his effort, he cannot convince her to stay. When we find out that Rachel got off the plane, we see that they truly are soul mates. Even though they never were able to maintain steady relationship before, we see that they were meant to be together. In Friends, we saw a couple that has been in an on again off again relationship for several years. Over the years they had a more turbulent relationship than one could possibly imagine. They may not seem like soul mates due to all the jealousy and fighting, but through the course of the show one see how time after time they come back to each other. At times, the show even uses the fact that this jealousy is so apparent to hint at the possibility that they will sooner or later get back together. At times it looked like their relationship would never go anywhere. However, given the fact
that the relationship had lasted so long, we always expected that it would last forever. The show plays off of many of the theories about love that we read in the book. The one that drives the show is the assumption that one's true love will be their soul mate. At the end of the show, if they did not end up being together, something would have felt wrong. We all root for them to come to that choice. If the show had ended
any other way, we would have felt like they came to the wrong decision. They needed to be together in order for them as well as for us to be happy. How I Met Your Mother is another show that provides a great example of the assumptions of romance. We see yet again the belief that our true love will be our mate. soul The entire show is driven around the fact that these two people will end up being together. When we see Ted and Robin for the very first time they have chemistry that makes one think that they are made for each other. Whenever they are onscreen together there is a spark between the two of them. We can see that they love each other based purely off the fact that they get along so well. Ted sees one of his best friends about to get married, and he realizes that he also wants to find his soul mate. One day Ted meets the girl of his dreams in a bar and immediately he falls for her. Up until this point Ted seemed like he would be forever single. Like we read in the essay People Like Us: Quirkyalones, he is constantly desiring to find his soul mate. We feel like they have to end up together based off of all these assumptions. We know that they will end up together. It comes as a shock to us when they blatantly break the assumptions on love. The chemistry meant nothing. The fact that Robin appeared to be the one meant nothing. We discover that somehow Ted and Robin will not end up being together. We refuse to believe them.
These shows strongly rely on what we believe about love. The case with Ted is incredibly insightful because his quest for love, although innocent, is made out of desperation. In society the majority of the public try to compare their relationships to those that are already established. In this way we look towards our friends, family, and even celebrities for what a truly loving relationship is. When Ted meets Robin the relationship is not only based off their attraction to each other but also is based off Ted's need for a soul mate. However, the show establishes that Robin is not his soul mate, or at least is not the person he will end up with. Thus, although Ted loves Robin the relationship will fail because of what they want in life. This is seen in everyday life as relationships are torn apart by differences in careers, social groups, etc. Ted and Robins relationship depicts how so much of our identity comes between the people we love. Ted wants to be an architect with a family and Robin wants to be a famous newscaster. Therefore, there is a major difference between Ted and Robin's relationship and Ross and Rachel's relationship. With Ross and Rachel love prevails despite the other external factors that draw them apart. Ultimately, the last episode depicts this dynamic as Rachel chooses Ross over her career in Paris. However, Ted and Robin will fail because of these external factors. Inevitably, sometimes love prevails and sometimes it does not.