There is a clear difference between
a love interest and a love story.Here is my take on it.
A love interest is temporary. It may only last for part of a season of a
television show.A love story is a long-term relationship. It may even be canon as part of
the larger narrative of the story and the characters.A love interest can happen overnight or even instantly. It has no basis in
reason other than being a pleasant distraction for the character or the
audience.A love story takes time to build as the characters develop and learn to
take their journey together.A love interest character falls in like and/or in bed and their actions
are fleeting.A love story character falls in love with their companion character and
their actions are deliberate.A love interest character fights with the chosen character.
A love story character fights for their chosen character.
A love interest advances the plot.
A love story advances the character’s development.
A love interest serves an immediate purpose.
A love story serves the larger story and narrative of the character(s).
A love interest requires little effort because they are created to be
one-dimensional; or the relationship itself is one-dimensional.A love story requires an abundance of effort and time because a character
being built is three-dimensional. The romance itself is three-dimensional.A love interest can be created as a recurring character in a story, but
the brief romance they share with another main or supporting character isn’t
supposed to be canon. It’s supposed to fill a void in the plot of the moment. They
disappear once they have served their purpose.A love story is something only a leading character can have because the
leading character has been written so that they, as a character, matter to the
audience.The audience can “ship” either a
love interest or a love story, but
only the love story (supported by
the creators) will survive.A love interest never does. Either the relationship or the character dies.
Sometimes they both perish.A main character can have either a
love interest or a love story.A supporting or recurring character
can only have a love interest.On Vampire Diaries:
Elena had Stefan and Damon as love stories, and Liam as a love interest.
Caroline had Jesse as a love
interest, but Matt, Tyler, and Stefan as love stories. (Klaus is a love story
too, but his character was so epic, he was “shipped off” to another show –
pardon the pun.)Bonnie had, well, I suppose you
could say Jamie was a love interest. They did kiss once in one Episode of
Season 3, but then he vanished from the show.Jeremy and Bonnie never fell in
love on screen. Bonnie actually had to convince herself to date him. That’s not
an actual love story, and given that Jeremy only said “I love you” to Bonnie
once – right before she was about to vanish from existence – one can’t consider
that a love story either.The truth is, regardless of what
Julie Plec says, she has never intended for Bonnie to be anything other than a
supporting character to be used at her Executive Producer discretion. Someone
needs to die – okay, it’s Bonnie. Someone needs a spell – okay, call Bonnie.
Someone needs to be blamed for something – okay, it’s Bonnie.Julie Plec made a point of commenting on Twitter that she thought Bonnie should have died at the end of Season 5 because she believed the character’s story had been told.
Well, I suppose if you want the only person of color to serve as the proverbial supernatural maid, cleaning up or fixing messes for everyone else. Or if you want someone to serve as the sacrificial lamb because you don’t give a damn about her character – then yeah, Plec HAS told that Bonnie story plenty of times.
Bonnie is not meant to stand out or
fall in love. She is not meant to have a career or a family. She’s not meant to
be happy. Julie Plec admitted that she didn’t see Bonnie’s character as being valuable until Season 6…you know, the season she didn’t want Bonnie to be in at all.Now she wants Bonnie to feel both
guilty and grateful for being alive. She ties her life to Elena’s AGAIN – her death
being the only thing that can bring back Elena and Delena, even though Bonnie
has already died for that girl and her band of boys too many times already.Sure, Plec is going to throw a “love
interest” at Bonnie this season to shut up people who consider her a racist for
treating the only black character on the show with such overt disgust and
disrespect when compared to her other female characters. The so-called romance for
Bonnie will not be canon. It will not be a love story because Plec and Dries don’t give a damn about Bonnie.You’ll note that Plec said Bonnie’s
Season 7 love interest will come out of nowhere, but it will make sense. That is NOT a love story.She
also stated that they might explore Bonnie’s bi-sexual storyline down the road,
if it makes sense for the character. This is basically admitting that whatever
romance Bonnie has, like always, won’t last. It won’t develop on screen. It won’t
matter because her character doesn’t matter to the executive producers.I wonder if that is their way of
telling young women of color that are fans of the show just how much characters
that look like them are valued.(Wow, that actually turned into a
rant pretty quickly.)Bonnie, out of all the people on
this damn show, deserves a love story.Who here
agrees with me?Where’s the lie? True AF
POC of TVD 