Why Is The Love Triangle Trope So Popular?
What Exactly is a Love Triangle?
Why does it feel like that every movie and book these days is the love triangle trope? By definition, a love triangle is a situation where two people are independently romantically involved with a third person. Usually, this translates to a situation where two people are into the same third person, and often that third person is simultaneously into the other two characters as well. Some examples are Challengers, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Twilight, The Hunger Games, etc., the list goes on and on. Even this summer, they are releasing the Materialists, essentially Challengers part two. Oftentimes, it is depicted as two males and one female, where the female has a difficult time choosing between the two men, usually resulting in some sort of rivalry or fighting between the two men. But frankly, I wonder, what is the appeal of love triangles when there is always so obviously a winner?
Why Are They So Popular?
The love triangle trope often creates a hyper-romantic scenario between the characters with an increased level of tension that you may not experience otherwise. Utilizing Challengers as an example, the tension created between both Tashi and Art and Tashi and Patrick was so palpable it could have been sliced with a knife because the nonstop, undeniable chemistry between both pairs created so much sexual tension in the relationship. Similarly, the entanglement of these characters amplifies the intensity of human emotion when referencing love. Similarly, in my opinion, I think that people are attracted to the idea of competition. Oftentimes, the one-true-love trope is not very realistic. No one’s love life is perfect and it is incredibly rare for someone to simply find the love of their life on the first try, randomly one day through a meet-cute. However, the angst created through the aspect of competition in love-triangles is incredibly appealing to people because it makes the average person feel better about themselves. Being able to see other people struggle in love makes the average person who may not have found the love of their life in line at Starbucks on a random Tuesday before work.
Similarly, people are attracted to sex. As it is often said in the advertisement industry, “Sex Sells.” Love triangles are a perfect avenue to create sexual tension between characters because the constant competition and fighting create incredibly sexually charged scenarios and opportunities. Bringing it back to the “Challengers” example, there were so many sexually charged scenes between Tashi and Patrick because of how conflicted Tashi was over Patrick vs. Art. The emotional connection she had with Art amplified the physical connection she had with Patrick and vice versa. Just like the average person, this hooked me and kept me engaged and interested in the plot for the entire movie, because as the three of them continued trying to figure out their relationships with each other, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see who would make it out on top. Therefore, once again, sex sells. Overall, the love triangle trope continues to permeate popular media because of its mass likability and general attraction of viewers and absorbers of media. Do you agree with this assessment or do you dislike the love triangle trope?
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