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| Sad Mulder expresses how shippers feel everywhere.... |
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| A Venn Diagram showing the amount of amazingly bad stuff that Mulder and Scully experience while investigating the X Files, leading to them being the world's most unlucky FBI Agents...ever. |
Time and time again writers will create two characters who care/love/fancy each other and make them dance around each other for hours of a TV show/movie only to have them get together in a hugely romantic scene, be happy for a short while and then break up in some massive tortured and long saga. Then, although they are secretly still longing for each other, these characters will then decide they they can't be together for some inconceivable reason and dance around each other for a bit longer, until ultimately they end up together again or go their separate ways heartbroken. After a while this mode of drama gets a little tired. Why? Because it is so unrealistic. Sure, Love is complicated and the path to true love never did run smooth. People are complicated. But they are also instinctive and most individuals are not sadomasochists. They are not going to sabotage their own romantic life. They want to be happy and if they think they can be happy with someone they love, they normally reach for that person and commit to that relationship. The mistake that most script writers make is in thinking that a committed relationship on screen is not a dramatic story. Obviously this is just my personal opinion and you can take it with a grain of salt, since I am not a script writer and have no experience in writing for film or TV, but I have seen a lot of TV shows and films over the years and have noticed this trend. No one who is married/together in a TV show is ever happy being married/together or stays married/together. Characters are more often than not commitment-phobes or single (or somehow emotionally stunted and tortured. Fans call it 'angst'). There are really interesting dramatic stories that can be told about people who are in committed relationships. Think of the old 1970s TV adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels. The central relationship of the entire series is a married couple: Plantagenet Palliser and his wife Glencora. They may love each other but they are massively opposite in character and there is quite a degree of dramatic tension in their marriage. At first they don't even like each other that much. But they never break up! Once they decide to stick with each other, they do! They argue, they have three children, they laugh, they love, they argue some more and they both compromise. Granted neither of them is hunting aliens like Mulder or Scully (which is bound to put a strain on even the deepest affection), but they are committed to each other in much the same way X Files creator and writer, Chris Carter led us to believe his characters were.
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| Victorian Marriage - it is a serious business involving big hats |
Don't get me wrong I like romantic tension in a storyline as much as the next person. I would classify myself as a 'shipper.' I find that the relationships between characters is the most interesting part of a story for me. Sure I like all the surrounding drama, whether it be politics (House of Cards), police procedure (The Wire), investigations of the paranormal (The X Files) or even a high school singing club (Glee), but it is the characters, their traits, their thoughts, their decisions and their relationships that keeps me tuning into a show week after week. When those relationships become unrealistically complicated and needlessly angst-ridden I feel cheated as a viewer. Scriptwriters, don't mess with what's not broken. Love is dramatic enough just in itself.
Before I go off to do another oral history interview this afternoon and to also take my next August Break photo, I just want to mention a few more of my favourite on screen committed couples. Just be aware of the spoilers to any shows below....
Francis and Claire Underwood - House of Cards.
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| The ruthless team that is the Underwoods...they are sizing you up.. |
Ambitious, ruthless and totally in sync with each other, Francis Underwood and his wife Claire have an usually supportive and appreciative marriage by TV standards. They do fight a lot and sometimes their personal goals and ambitions clash (and they both have extramarital affairs) but they always return to each other and remain loyal to their marriage. There is no emotional histrionics between the two of them until the third season of the show when the power and lure of the Oval Office starts to drive them apart. For most of the show they are an extremely dangerous and frightening effective team in Washington. They are literally the ultimate power couple.
Allison and Joe DuBois - Medium
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| This family can see dead people |
Medium is a show about a woman named Allison DuBois who has a natural ability to hear and speak to spirits of the dead. She also happens to be stay-at-home wife and mother of three daughters. The series ran for 7 seasons and although it may not be TV on the level of The X Files in terms of storytelling, it was an entertaining show which was made charming by the central relationship between Allison and her sweet long-suffering husband Joe. The character of Joe really had the patience of a saint when dealing with his energetic daughters and strange and at times frustrating wife, but it was clear that he really loved her and was committed to her. Of course the scriptwriters got itchy fingers and had to write some tragedy in at the end of the series just because in the TV universe when someone is as kind as Joe, he is probably doomed.
Peter Bishop and Olivia Dunham - Fringe
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| Back in the day when you could get 4 different photos in a train station photobooth |
Fringe is a show that could only have been created off the back of the existence of The X Files. It was essentially a similar premise: people investigating the paranormal and followed along a lot of the same lines as The X Files, until it started delving into alternative universes and all sorts of things went bat-crazy in the final season. The main relationships in the show were between a father and son (Walter and Peter Bishop) and between a man and woman who actually ended up marrying each other (Peter and Olivia). The love story between Peter and Olivia was actually very sweet and did involve some angst (just imagine trying to deal with alternative versions of your lover or yourself from alternate universes) and some messing with time travel but it ultimately was about two people who were trying to commit to each other even in the strange situations they found themselves in.
Rhonda Pearlman and Cedric Daniels - The Wire
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| Some serious crime-fighting is going on here |
The Wire was probably one of the best TV shows I ever saw. It was an amazing series that delved into the drug trade and crime life of Baltimore right from the gangs on the streets all they way to the corruption at City Hall. Most of the personal relationships in the series suffered partly because waging a never-ending war on drug crime is an all-consuming endeavour for our characters. Quite a few relationships break down because the characters are simply too busy to invest in them (busy listening to wire taps, chasing down drug dealers, doing shady deals at the docks). But one stands the test of time: the relationship between Rhonda Pearlman and Cedric Daniels. Both these characters, one of which is a prosecutor and the other a narcotics detective, are still together by the end of the series despite police corruption, ex-partners and personal political ambitions. They are also a mixed-race couple which is always nice to see, since mixed-race relationships are woefully under-represented on TV.
Laura Roslin and Bill Adama - Battlestar Galatica
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| Some contemplative romantic sitting on the ground... |
The reboot of Battlestar Galatica was one my favourite science fiction shows on TV. It was mythic, exciting and extremely well written. The dialogue between characters was a joy to watch. There were many relationships in the show but the majority of them were pretty turbulent (Starbuck and Apollo? Anyone remember that destructive love affair?), but one of the sweetest slow-burning affairs was the love that grew during the duration of the show between President Laura Roslin and Admiral Bill Adama. While everyone was passionately either making love or fighting with each other, Roslin and Adama just respected each other, became friends and then eventually partners. It was also nice to see a partnership between two older characters as well. I personally think relationships between older people are also under-represented in TV.
Ross and Demelza Poldark - Poldark
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| More romantic sitting, this time dangerously close to the edge of a cliff |
Poldark is a pretty silly show. It is basically a period drama with a lot of overly-dramatic 'Drama' and is a bit soapy. But it is gorgeously filmed. It helps that it is set in Cornwall in the late 18th Century. Cornwall is a beautiful part of the UK and the BBC takes full advantage of the surroundings by having the main characters walk along wild-flower strewn cliffs and gaze out at the blue green sea. It also helps that the main characters are all played by ridiculously good looking actors and actresses. There is however a central relationship in the show that is rather interesting. Ross Poldark, who is dark and brooding and has a rather fiery temper ends up marrying his spirited and kind-hearted servant girl Demelza (this not a real woman's name. It was invented by the author of the Poldark books). Despite a fair amount of arguing over the years and some extra-marital flirtations they remain very much married through thick and thin, But then I suppose divorce was out of the question in those days anyway....
Delenn and John Sheridan - Babylon 5
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| A lot of head and hair between this couple |
Babylon 5 may look dated now and seem rather cheesy to many people. But back in the early 1990s it was very ambitious science fiction television. A show that ran for 5 or so years, it is about a space station on which interstellar diplomatic factions meet to try and secure peace for the galaxy. Sort of like the UN in space. Or The West Wing in space. A visual novel set in space. I loved it as a kid. I seriously could not get enough of it. I have always liked TV shows that have lots of ensemble characters. I think the differences between characters is always a compelling part of any story and all the different aliens in Babylon 5 jostling for power and space and interacting with each other really made the show exciting. At the centre of the show was the Commander of the station, John Sheridan and his lover who became his wife, the alien ambassador Delenn. I think my parents thought it was funny how I could adore an alien character who had a giant bone sticking out the back of her head. But Delenn seemed like wonderful woman to me. She was loving, kind, wise and strong. She was not exploited, did not need rescuing or sexing up and she was powerful. Male characters respected her and deferred to her good advice. She and John were a power couple in space. And after a few initial hurdles (alien/human culture clashes) they had a very successful marriage.
Niles Crane and Daphne Moon - Frasier
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| More romantic sitting. Seriously one of the most popular things for TV couples to do. |
Frasier is a bit of an odd one out here because it is basically a sitcom and there are always lots of relationships in sitcoms since most humour in sitcoms is centred on the relationships between people. But I included this couple in my post because it really is an example of a happy ending that is totally believable. Two people meet, they know each other for years, they fall in love, they date for a while and then they get married. The writers for Frasier managed this love story extremely well. The long romance between Niles and Daphne is charming and funny and never becomes unrealistic or stupid. A lot of the credit should be given to actors David Hyde Pierce and Jane Leeves in their portrayal of the characters.
Claire Randall Fraser and Jamie Fraser - Outlander
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| Some fantastic knitwear being modelled in this scene |
Outlander is an epic love story. It is also massively over the top. It is not a subtle show. Sort of like Game of Thrones (although with less angry men, more focus on women and lots of Scottish scenery). I love its ridiculousness, it's feisty female characters, the fantastic soundtrack and the beautiful costumes and cinematography. It doesn't hurt that Jamie Fraser is also very handsome. I was never fond of the books, they seemed rather clichéd to me (although who I am to judge? Diana Gabaldon, who wrote the series of novels has sold many many copies of her books and it has a huge fanbase). The basic story is: in 1945, married World War II nurse Claire Beauchamp Randall finds herself accidentally transported back in time to Scotland in 1743, where she encounters rebellion and the Highland warrior Jamie Fraser. Apart from indulging in my fantasy of travelling back in time (I would have to take my husband with me of course), I also enjoy watching the relationship between Claire and Jamie develop. There is a real love between these two characters and they are very committed to each other (and they are also married by the end of season 1). In a wonderfully romantic twist, Claire confides in Jamie that she is actually from the future and he believes her! Because when you love someone deeply, you trust them even if they sound crazy (which is also a theme of The X Files!). After watching one episode of Outlander, I turned to my husband who was reading a book on the British political system and asked him 'If I said I was from the future, would you believe me?' 'No.' he said without hesitation. Ah well....
Zoë Alleyne Washburne and Hoban Washburne - Firefly
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| Zoe and Wash, the most well adjusted married couple in science fiction |
It was a crime that Firefly was cancelled after only one season. Written and created by Joss Whedon (of Buffy fame) it was a space-western-scifi-drama about a motley crew of smugglers on a ship called 'Firefly.' Wikipedia describes the show very nicely as 'exploring the lives of a group of people who fought on the losing side of a civil war and others who now make a living on the fringe of society, as part of the pioneer culture that exists on the fringes of their star system. In this future, the only two surviving superpowers, the United States and China, fused to form the central federal government, called the Alliance, resulting in the fusion of the two cultures.' It was a fantastic show, wittily written and with plenty of character development. And a very cheesy theme song. The characters were really three dimensional complicated people facing moral dilemmas. Amongst the crew of nine characters, were Zoe and Hoban (nicknamed Wash) Washburne, a married female soldier and an eccentric but brilliant pilot. This was an interesting dynamic between a tough independent woman and an intelligent sensitive man, they were very different people but they made their marriage work. And they were funny together as well. They were serious but also joked together a lot, which we never see married couples do on TV. And a lot of being married is about laughing together. Zoe and Wash had a committed and loving marriage right until the movie Serenity, when Joss Whedon killed Wash off. It was too good to be true...sob. He may have had a heroic death, but personally I felt it was a shame to kill off a character that seemed to be so well-adjusted. But....
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| Just because I could not resist, another sweet shot of Zoe and Wash...sad sigh.. |
....as I said before, any happy couple in a science fiction / fantasy genre universe is doomed...or so it seems... (did I mention Starbuck and Apollo!!). Apparently in the future we just cannot manage a long-term commitment...
Of course there are the examples of TV couples that stay together, but that probably should have split up. In The Sopranos, Tony and Carmela Soprano stay married for all 6 seasons of the show. They may love each other but Tony is a murdering sociopath mob boss, so Carmela probably should have left him. And then there is Don Draper in Mad Men, who really all women should stay away from, but who seems to have one wife after another who seem keen to stay with him. Lastly Walter and Skyler White (is Skyler another name for a woman that has been completely fabricated for TV?!) the married couple at the centre of Breaking Bad, keep their relationship going for a good long time despite Walter's evolution from mild-mannered school teacher and family man to ruthless criminal mastermind and murderer.
So why is any of this important you ask? Who cares if couples on TV stay together or break up? It is not important. Not at all. There are plenty of more serious things to think about and to worry over. But in an age of cynicism, when young people grow up thinking that everything is disposable and flawed, it is nice to see examples in our popular culture of true love, kindness, happiness and commitment. Not everything falls apart and sometimes love really does last.
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