2008 Woodie Awards
The New Old-Fashioned Romance
Jami Furo
Issue date: 3/3/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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When movies, television, newspapers, books, and even real life bombard us with an view, it's difficult to ignore. It's difficult for us to believe that the entire world is not really as bad as it seems.
This is the case with the old-fashioned romance. The kind where a couple meets and gets to know one another for a while before they jump into anything. The kind where you make a commitment to each other and only to each other. The courtship. The thoughtful gifts. The pleasure of each other's company. Saturday night with a rented movie and a bag of microwave popcorn.
Sounds right out of a fifties television show, doesn't it? I mean, we're in a new millennium. Love is different now. There is no true love or love at first sight. There's promiscuous sex, six-week relationships, 13-week marriages, sleeping together on the first date, time spent together in bars and at parties. That's what Hollywood tells us both in its movies and in the lives of its celebrities. So true love doesn't exist, right?
Wrong. Sure, it's an endangered species, but it's not extinct. For those who want it, it's out there. For those who don't believe me, maybe you're just with the wrong people. Maybe you need to keep looking for someone who feels the same way that you do.
Just because old-fashioned romances are rare, that does not mean that they don't exist. Any couple can have an old-fashioned romance. You can even make that decision together. It has to be mutual, but it can be done. It takes commitment, trust, devotion, and sometimes a little effort, but it's worth it. The way contemporary relationships are is the selfish easy way out. Relationships are not about being selfish, and they're not about being easy.
So how do I know that old-fashioned romances exist? Because I'm living one. We met two and a half years ago and hit it off right away. Neither one of us had dated much before, and the relationships that we were in were also longer exclusive relationships. We were best friends for five months before he finally got up the nerve to ask me out. We dated for a year before he asked me to marry him at, where else, but Cinderella's castle. Of course, that's only after he drove to my house to ask my parents' permission without me knowing about it. We're getting married in June.
So what. So we're one case. Certainly you would never seen celebrities in such a romance, right? Still not right. Jon Bon Jovi married his high school sweetheart and is still married to her to this day. It's not likely, but it's possible even in the realm of celebrities.
So maybe the world wants you to think that old-fashioned romances no longer exist. That's really too bad. It's not true, though. Let you're relationships develop slowly. When they do develop, make the commitment to be with that person only. Let him open your door for you. Let her bake you something. It's not sexism. It's love-the real thing-as simple as it may seem.
This is the case with the old-fashioned romance. The kind where a couple meets and gets to know one another for a while before they jump into anything. The kind where you make a commitment to each other and only to each other. The courtship. The thoughtful gifts. The pleasure of each other's company. Saturday night with a rented movie and a bag of microwave popcorn.
Sounds right out of a fifties television show, doesn't it? I mean, we're in a new millennium. Love is different now. There is no true love or love at first sight. There's promiscuous sex, six-week relationships, 13-week marriages, sleeping together on the first date, time spent together in bars and at parties. That's what Hollywood tells us both in its movies and in the lives of its celebrities. So true love doesn't exist, right?
Wrong. Sure, it's an endangered species, but it's not extinct. For those who want it, it's out there. For those who don't believe me, maybe you're just with the wrong people. Maybe you need to keep looking for someone who feels the same way that you do.
Just because old-fashioned romances are rare, that does not mean that they don't exist. Any couple can have an old-fashioned romance. You can even make that decision together. It has to be mutual, but it can be done. It takes commitment, trust, devotion, and sometimes a little effort, but it's worth it. The way contemporary relationships are is the selfish easy way out. Relationships are not about being selfish, and they're not about being easy.
So how do I know that old-fashioned romances exist? Because I'm living one. We met two and a half years ago and hit it off right away. Neither one of us had dated much before, and the relationships that we were in were also longer exclusive relationships. We were best friends for five months before he finally got up the nerve to ask me out. We dated for a year before he asked me to marry him at, where else, but Cinderella's castle. Of course, that's only after he drove to my house to ask my parents' permission without me knowing about it. We're getting married in June.
So what. So we're one case. Certainly you would never seen celebrities in such a romance, right? Still not right. Jon Bon Jovi married his high school sweetheart and is still married to her to this day. It's not likely, but it's possible even in the realm of celebrities.
So maybe the world wants you to think that old-fashioned romances no longer exist. That's really too bad. It's not true, though. Let you're relationships develop slowly. When they do develop, make the commitment to be with that person only. Let him open your door for you. Let her bake you something. It's not sexism. It's love-the real thing-as simple as it may seem.