Welcome to TROPE TALK where I rant about tropes for fun! Mostly my opinions, honestly, So I’d love to hear yours.

I know Romance Dramas are reallyyyy popular here, so I thought to round up my opinions about some famous rom-tropes with the hope it’ll be entertaining for you.

Love triangle – Let us start with a classic! I used to HATE love triangles but I came around to liking romantic math when done right. I do still hate it when they feel awfully one-sided and for the sake of it. Their at their best when they are a. Emphasis the show’s theme and ideas (like in EXTRAORDINARY YOU – the choice between what is dictated to you and your free will), or with actual implications (like in The CROWNED CLOWN, where the romance plot between the queen and the king’s double involved dangerous risks) or when they are just reallly entertaining (like in HEALER , where the ML somehow ended up in a love triangle against himself)

(Really nice) Second male lead : Rule of the thumb with second male leads is, they have to be a character beyond just yearning for the FL and never ever acting up on it. A romantic rival/option makes sense but if its just a series of sad, futile attempts it’s just very very boring. I thought LOVE IN THE MOONLIGHT did it well, with a SML who was involved in politics and had a history and friendship with the main lead, his own hobbies and in general was more than just a dude whose entire life is hoping his crush notice him. I rarely get SLS in romance because I rarely feel the SML is his own character, but there are edge cases – I STILL think about the SML form SHE WAS PRETTY and I didn’t even watch it all the way through.

(Really nasty) Second female lead : The actual bane of my actual existence. I always start a new rom-com thinking, hey, why don’t I watch this genre more often, and then SHE arrives. If the second male lead never acts on his thoughts, this one pushes to hard despite MULTIPLE clarifications that the ML does NOT care for her advances. At best, it’s freaking’ annoying. At worst, It’s borderline a form of harassment – sexual or otherwise. They are always successful with their lives and would be really interesting as leads, too. Like ,is the fantasy here that the man is continuously sought after by a successful woman and refuses her advances because the FL is his one true love? The entire thing is tinged with misogyny and, worse, really annoying.

Wrist grab : Can we just admit those freakin hurt? Not to mention controlling. I don’t know why it’s painted as a romantic, passionate gestures – I get it, skinship is cool and the wrist grab is dramatic but like… it’s painful. It’s demeaning. It’s dismissive. The ML in PERFECT MARRIAGE REVENGE was such a swoony guy and then he pulled a wrist grub and I was like, urgh, really. This is not the context for the feeling of shackles closing around your wrist to be romantically thrilling, guys.

Third leads : unsung heroes. They have no chance in the love rat race, they are not interested in the love rat race. Unbothered. Funny. Somehow mange to have a healthy positive relationship from different gender leads without falling in love with them. Good for them. GOOD FOR THEM.

Comic relief couple: Either the healthiest relationship in the drama or the worse one. I love the former and rather hate the latter, as media has a tendency to turn domestic abuse (by women) into a funny joke for laughs. But when it’s good, it’s fantastic. They need no drama. They are imperfect but perfect for each other. They embrace each other’s quirkiness. lovely.