Star Crossed Lovers
I've always been interested, maybe even obsessed with the idea of soul mates and the concept of right-place-right-time or right-place-wrong-time, or vice versa. The thought that you were meant to be with or meet one specific person, or even multiple people at different points during your life, that you were meant to meet them for better or worse, is so fascinating to me. It makes sense, at least in my eyes. Some people you meet and just click with them right away, others you talk once and never again. People come into your life to bring in new ideas, comforts, or challenges.
Although as I grow older I've realized just how much I’ve been drawn to a specific archetype of the “soulmate”s genre –if it's even a genre– and how it's stuck with me, evolved with me. This is so evident in the types of relationships in media I adored and still find myself loving. The category I could shove most of these couples into is the Star-crossed Lovers category. The term "star-crossed" or "star-crossed lovers" refer to two people who are not able to be together for some reason. It also refers to destiny and the inevitability of the two characters' paths crossing. It usually but not always (that’s important for later) refers to unlucky outcomes, and was popularized by Shakespere in his Romeo and Juliet play.
Two of my favorite movies include The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) and Timeline (2003), coincidentally coming out around my birth year. While romance is only a large theme of one of these movies, the couples present in both can fit into this genre. In the movie The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) you can tell how in love Edmond and Mercedes are. They are content with each other’s company, and go months without seeing each other, even if they don’t have much, they only want one another. However they are ripped apart from each other, forced to go through life without the other, only having memories. In the end (obviously there’s more) they are brought back together, but they missed out on arguably the best years of what could have been their relationship together. There is so much more to their story, so many deeper emotions and story to tell.
Still, the movie and book versions of these stories are very different. The book Timeline by Michael Crichton is one of my favorites, however I love the portrayal of Andre Marek and Lady Claire’s relationship in the movie Timeline (2003) more. Marek is an archeologist and academic with a strong love for history and the preservation of it, specifically that of the medieval age. When a sarcophagus is found carved with the effigy of a one-eared knight, unusually holding the hand of his lady, Marek passionately recites the story of their legendary love. He and a group are sent back in time to find their professor and Marek ends up saving Lady Claire from being kidnapped and killed. They have a bunch of sweet moments and it turns out they were meant to be together, as the couple in the sarcophagus is seemingly the two of them.
And obviously there are so many more I could go into, I didn't even touch Disney or any comic book couples, and that would be way too many pages. But to note another one of my favorites in this genre that I love (and won't go into too much detail here, because let's face it we'd be here forever, maybe in a bigger blog post) is Black Canary and Green Arrow. While their romance is anything from picture perfect, and has gone through so many rewrites and changes over the years, Oliver and Dinah's relationship is iconic...and some of my absolute favorite characters together or separate. Their love is so strong that even death can not get between them, as Oliver has beaten or cheated death more than once just to return to the woman he loves and Dinah would do anything to be by his side. These characters are written for each other, meant to be together, and I love their very realistic banter (good or bad), humor, chemistry, and so much more (I could talk about them for hours!)
In all these Star-crossed Lovers will always find their way to each other, or back to each other, no matter the circumstances. They will appear in each other's lives when needed, when the time is right, when the universe intends it…when a comfort, lesson, or blessing is ready to be put into the narrative. They'll certainly have their ups and downs, there's no doubt that they belong together and love each other deeply, but sometimes things take time and care, effort and love. A partnership could be written for each other in the stars and that's something so beautiful. Sometimes you just have to be patient, your person is out there, the one who completes you.
What are some of your favorite couples in media? Canon or Non-Canon? Do you feel you gravitated towards a specific type? Did it develop you as a person, or develop your thoughts into what you expect from a relationship?
