The Luxury of Choice
The Summer I Turned Pretty, My Life With The Walter Boys, Never Have I Ever.
What do these three Young-Adult shows have in common? They all feature a love triangle.
For those of you unfamiliar with this trope found in literary and cinematic media, a love triangle is a romantic situation involving three individuals where (most commonly) one individual is romantically interested in the other two individuals. More often than not, the central character caught in the middle of this situation is a woman. Thus, love triangles in media are mostly promoted to women.
Although current media aimed at the YA demographic uses this trope a lot, it’s not a new thing. In the 2010’s, there was Twilight (Bella, Edward, Jacob) and The Vampire Diaries (Elena, Stefan, Damon).
In the early 2000’s, there was Gilmore Girls (Rory, Jess, Dean) and One Tree Hill (Lucas, Peyton, Brooke). That wasn’t the start, though.
Love triangles in media are found as far back as Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (Marianne, Willoughby, Colonel Brandon) and famously in the Arthurian Legend of King Arthur (Guinevere, King Arthur, Lancelot).
So, why are we obsessed with love triangles? I think the most obvious explanation is because witnessing a love triangle unfold is entertaining. There’s emotional tension, jealousy, heartbreak, conflict; all of which keep the audience hooked on what could happen next.
Love triangles create envolvement for the audience. Members of the audience will usually choose a team from among the main characters two potential love interests. In the case of The Summer I Turned Pretty (Season 3 of which is airing at the time of writing this), there’s Team Jeremiah or Team Conrad. Viewers tend to be very passionate about their choosen team and will often express their distate for the opposing team.
Of course, these are only the surface level reasons for our obsession with love triangles. Is there something deeper below the surface, the real reason love triangles keep us coming back for more?
I think one such reason is the luxury of choice. The luxury of choice can be defined as an individual having multiple, high-quality options to choose from in any given situation.
Ask any woman who’s single in this day and age and you’re likely to hear her say, “There’s just no good men out there”. The more the world tells her to settle, the more appealing the luxury of choice presented by this trope becomes. Instead of having to pick the best from the rest, a woman can imagine being able to choose between two attractive, elligible men both vying for her affection.
Watching this situation play out time and time again, whether on the screen or the page, provides a form of escapism. A woman can get lost in this ideal and place herself in the main character’s shoes. Media consumption often becomes a form of escapism, so the love triangle trope simply slots in to this puzzle.
What do you think is a compelling reason we’ve become so obsessed with love triangles? I’d love to hear your takes in the comments.