Article by: Anthony Florez

Do you ignore February 14 because it’s a holiday manufactured by greeting card companies? Are you a lapsed romantic that simultaneously loves Jim and Pam but secretly resents them for not being married in real life? Do you scoff at people who buy Adele’s music but blast it at full volume while driving to work, singing along to every word? Well, if you relate in any way to those sentiments, here’s the thing…are you doing anything tonight? Wait, that’s not right. Since the “holiday” is right around the corner I thought I’d put together a little compendium of my favorite lovey-dovey moments from pop culture, a mixtape, if you will. Good, fun stuff that can feel a little idealized but is important to swoon over when Valentine’s Day starts to feel a little too manufactured or, potentially, lonely. Since my spirit animal is John Dorian from Scrubs, I don’t mind wearing my emotions on my sleeve because what’s the point of having feels if you’re not going to utilize them for self-deprecating humor? Although my date next Sunday is going to be a bottle of decent single malt scotch, I still like to be optimistic about love and I thought I’d hold a boombox over my head and blast some literary Peter Gabriel all over the place. Caution: The level of sentimentality in this piece may spike randomly depending on my blood alcohol level.

Adaptation– Spotting Your Flower

A friend asked of me recently why I consider myself a Romantic, why I have a tendency to leap before I look with regard to the relationships I have pursued, often to ruin. I responded with the clip below. Charlie Kaufman is one of those writers that humbles me every time I encounter his work. As anyone with aspirations towards an art form or a skill you practice it, you suck at it, you try again and, ideally, improve. Rinse, repeat. And at some point you find yourself with a little bit of confidence in your abilities, as I have every once in a while. And then I see a film like Adaptation and think, well, I guess I’ll just go fuck myself. Thematically it’s a little confusing at first but his narrative literally adapts as the story goes on. It reinvents itself as one thing and then another, and then when you stand back and look at the whole you realize how incredibly clever the man is as a storyteller and a writer. Anyone not familiar with this film should rectify that immediately. Anyway, to return to the point, this is an elegant way of describing that feeling, that need to leap without looking while not knowing what it means in the bigger picture, only that it’s important to try.

Chasing Amy– Not In A Friendly Way

Remember when Kevin Smith used to write for an audience rather than just for his fans? Me neither, which is why I needed a refresher in the form of this little Indie darling. It’s unarguably his most mature film to date with the underrated and lovely Jersey Girl coming in a close second. Chasing Amy tackles a lot of very fascinating, very true issues with intimacy and insecurity that most romantic comedies don’t prepare you for, and I miss this Kevin Smith a lot. You know, the one that was introspective and intelligent, not the one whose every punchline is somehow an anal sex joke. Smith also has a knack for something I think he doesn’t get a lot of credit for and that’s ending a movie. Amy’s is particularly well done in an era when most films require a perfect bow on top farewell. Here it’s much more realistic. Sadly. But this speech was the emotional peak of the movie and although it is a little bit indulgent in retrospect, I remember being blown away by how earnest it is.

The Office– Jim and Pam

This is a no-brainer. What was actually hard was finding a moment that wasn’t as obvious as the other examples or too broad in terms of how perfect their love seemed to be. The case can be made that the Jim and Pam romance was better and more thrilling before it was consummated, when things were still bubbling beneath the surface. The suppressed but palpable chemistry between them was so much more fun when it made you shout at the screen. So I wanted to take a look at one of those earlier moments instead, when there was still so much potential ahead for them. If I recall correctly Jim has been jinxed and is not allowed to speak until he buys her a coke. And it speaks to John Krasinsky’s talent as an actor how much he communicates without actually saying a thing.

Doctor Who– Rory and Amy

For the longest time I didn’t care for Rory. Anytime a Who companion was involved in a relationship that person tended to be a drag on the story or an annoying background element that didn’t go away fast enough. And although it is superficial of me, the disparity in appearance felt a little bit like wish fulfillment for every shy nerdy type hoping to find a unicorn. Beyond that, he was kind of a sad-sack sidekick to Amy for much of his earlier run but the writers did an interesting thing with the character. His love and dedication to her, rather than make him seem weak or dependent, only made him stronger. The boy who waited by her side for two thousand years while she was trapped in the Pandorica became a hero and a badass in his own way, who guarded her as the Last Centurion until her younger self resurrected her dying older self and [WARNING: HIGH LEVELS OF GEEK DETECTED]. Reset. So, anyway. I wasn’t sure which clip would work best of them but I thought I’d stick to the more grounded moments. The less fantastical ones, which is a hard find in Doctor Who.

Okay. That bummed me out a lot so here’s the COOLEST SCENE EVER to cheer me up you up.

Sherlock– The Best Man Speech

Speaking of fun British television, I’m going to include this moment from Steven Moffat’s contemporary take on Sherlock Holmes, a character that is particularly close to my heart. I may have forgotten to make an exemption for Bromances and if I were to make a case for the best one ever, there is no competition. However, this little piece of writing and delivery is perfectly lovely and warms the heart in a way that is rare for a show that is normally so cynical or wry. Like Sherlock himself, I was completely caught off guard by the sudden shift in tone and if you haven’t sat down with this Sherlock already, you’re missing out on something very special.

Dodger Stadium– First Gay Kiss on the Kiss Cam

This.

Scrubs– Turk and Carla

As I understand it, the writers on Scrubs determined from the beginning that Turk and Carla were going to make it. Not unrealistically, of course, but that they would be a sort of island of stability to the other character’s ever changing love lives. They tend to play second fiddle to JD and his non-stop relationship shenanigans and they lack the fireworks on again-off again of Jordan and Dr. Cox but on the whole they have the healthiest love of them all. I remember falling for Scrubs after only a couple episodes and this exchange always reminded me of what love is supposed to feel like; ideally and at its most basic, a kind of simpatico.

The West Wing– CJ Craig and Danny Concannon

On the whole, The West Wing is known for many things. Its brilliant ensemble cast, the Walk-And-Talk, rapid fire Sorkiny dialogue, but what it is not particularly known for is romance. There are a handful of subplots here and there that have to do with dating or flirtations but by and large this is a show about hard working political officials that examine and tackle the process of governing so hard and Liberally that it’s playfully referred to has The Left Wing in some circles. One of the most charming and rewarding flirtations, in classic Will They/Won’t They fashion, takes place between White House Press Secretary CJ Craig and Danny Concannon, a White House reporter. They spar in public and in private but their character’s cultivated and informed professionalism really prevents any incredibly sappy or saccharine moments to develop between them. In fact, aside from their own natural charms, there aren’t exactly sparks coming off the two of them and that’s what makes their journey interesting to me. This is one of the best examples of what it’s like for two adults to date each other at the age where self-discovery and exploration are mostly over and the shine is off the apple, so to speak. It’s less based on pheromones than it is a mature admiration and respect for one another; it’s a cool, steady love, rather than a passionate, impulsive one. I am too sober for that sentence to not sound silly but here’s the best example of what I’m talking about. Slight spoilers if you haven’t finished the series yet.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Feels– Severus Snape and Lily Potter

Yes, I’m going there. I enjoy that there is a Facebook page dedicated to the idea that JK Rowling wrote a better love story in one chapter than Stephanie Meyer wrote in all four of her Twilight novels. I can’t speak to that as any time I’ve ever felt curious about reading one I’ve decided to do anything else at all. But the one kind of love I’ve left off the list thus far is an all too common, maybe slightly familiar one; the tragic kind. That same friend at the beginning, the one who asked me about being a Romantic mentioned that she enjoyed a piece I wrote on Alan Rickman’s passing but that she had not, however, gotten around to watching the movies or reading the books. Whether or not she knows it, we stopped being friends for about 8 to 10 whole minutes. The cruelty and bitterness Snape exhibits over every novel/film comes into quiet focus when we find out the why, the impetus behind his pain and, ultimately, why it was always directed so sharply at Harry. There is healthy debate about the heroism of his actions or whether or not he was more selfish than noble for the way he treated other characters but I’m alright with it. To get to the crux of the article, love is not what it seems in movies and TV, it’s not just about finding it. It’s about sharing a part of yourself and, often, losing that part and dealing with the aftermath. I could argue that everyone should have their heart broken at least once in their lives, that you really find out who you are when illusions are removed, when the shine, again, comes off the apple. But I don’t wish that on anyone.

It got a little dark at the end there, didn’t it? The truth is, this is a hard subject to write about without getting either too autobiographical or too sentimental, there’s a balance that I had a hard time finding. And the truth is, writing about subjects I am passionate about, whether it’s a film or a show or a moment in either, comes very easy at the beginning stages, just like having a crush. Everything is vivid and potent and the words hit the page before I really understand them, it’s the thing I love about writing. It’s probably similar to what an athlete feels when they are playing their sportsball game, a sense of exercising a talent or a skill, when the brain slows down and instinct takes over. But the truth is, believing in a sort of abstract, idealized version of love gets harder and harder the older you get. It’s like going to a magic show, year after year, and slowly coming to realize that what’s happening behind the curtain and what’s happening on stage are two very different things. It gets harder and harder to believe that that magic can really happen outside of a television screen or the first few weeks of meeting someone new. And, for some of us, it gets easier and easier to believe that it isn’t ever going to happen.

But I do believe, I still do. Why? Mr. Scott, take it from here. Happy Valentines Day.