I watched a holiday movie last night and I had to comment on it. Hollywood’s idea of what a romance is is not my idea of one or what I write. I do think physical attraction is a part of a relationship, but what I believe is important in a lasting relationship is an emotional bond and friendship. Without those a marriage will not last. In His and Her Business the two people were columnists for two different newspapers. Tom Lane was the big time columnist while Lizzie Madison was with a small town newspaper which was being taken over by the big one Tom worked for. Tom was successful and making quite a name for himself.
Well, she began writing in her column about the meaning of Christmas and people began to read her. Tom’s newspaper wanted him to counterattack her column and rising popularity. He did and a written war began. Tom and Lizzie’s best friends kept telling them that they must be attracted and in love with each other. The problem is that Tom and Lizzie had hardly spoken to each other or for that matter seen each other than the pictures in the newspaper. But suddenly they were falling in love because of their written war. Yes, I’m sure there was a physical attraction, but in order to really fall in love the couple should be together some on a personal level–not through columns in a newspaper.
By the end of the movie the two were in engaged (less than a month), and yet I never saw when they fell in love or for that fact were together for quality time. As writers we need to establish an emotional connection if our readers are going to believe the couple really fell in love and their marriage will last. Love is so much more than how a person looks (in the movie they went on and on about how hot the other was). Ultimately it is what is inside his/her heart and soul that counts.
