love triangles are weird

[demeter918]

I think I'm getting old, but I'm always a little mystified by love triangles in fiction. It seems to be most prevalent in young adult fiction, but there's definitely plenty of it everywhere else.

I mean. Come on. It's difficult enough these days to find one person who's just for you; how does one even deal with two? Wouldn't it be incredibly hard to find yourself in love with two people? Yeah, you could say it's 'romantic' or that there's just a part of you that will always be with the other person you didn't choose, but... I don't think that's a good thing.

Love's pretty crap, man. It's like this horrible thing that punches you in the eye and then uppercuts you like a pixelated scene from Street Fighter II when you're staggering back in excruciating pain.

Or this could be the crankyoldmaid in me talking. WHO KNOWS?

Comments

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

I think love triangles are so prevalent precisely *because* it's hard enough to find even one person, as you point out. On some level, all love stories are about wish fulfillment, and I'm sure there are lots of people for whom the idea of being so irresistible that two people are throwing themselves at/fighting over you is very appealing. Same goes for the idea that you're the one breaking hearts by choosing from multiple options instead of having your heart broken by loving someone who doesn't care for you back (which is far more likely what happens in RL)...

[demeter918.livejournal.com]

That's very true, and I can understand the fantasy aspect; I actually dislike Twilight less than I used to, because I've come to think of it as a Harlequin novel. It's pure fantasy and I think there's less of an issue with the series itself (oh, and there are plenty) than with people who read it and accept it as fact.

Triangles bother me, because there's always somebody getting hurt and in stories, at least, it's actually never their fault. There's this back and forth tugging among the parties and really, for fantasy writers, do they believe so little in the female perspective (especially considering most of the writers are female)? That most women would do this? Especially when they're simultaneously being written as one stop away from awesome?

Maybe that's what really bothers me...