this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2025
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[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 11 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

There's so many songs, TV shows, movies, etc, that's all romance or love stories that contain very blatant infidelity.

What tickles me is when very monogamous, very religious people talk that stuff up.... Like it's such a good song/movie/show... Ha. You have fantasies of leaving your spouse and running off with a younger, more attractive person. You slut.

I'm not religious, but I found a partner that gets me. Guess what. I'm not fantasizing about running off with some mythical "better" or "more romantic" person. Yeah, we're living together unmarried, and we're good like that. You rushed into marriage for God knows what reasons and now you live in regret. Good job.

[–] BambiDiego@lemmy.world 6 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Are you saying you don't like piña coladas?

[–] Anomalocaris@lemm.ee 3 points 4 hours ago

Piña colada is a "you both awful and deserve each other"

[–] tobis@lemm.ee 6 points 6 hours ago

I recently heard Docket by Blondshell for the first time and favorited it right away.

Then I listened again more tuned in and noticed it was about infidelity and thought “aw man”, unfavorited and moved on.

Heard it a couple more times and realized it wasn’t glorifying cheating, lines like “my worst nightmare is me”. Back on the list! Real rollercoaster.

[–] marzhall@lemmy.world 6 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Bothered me significantly in the will they/won't they dynamic of The Office.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 13 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

The OG premise of The Office was similar to Seinfeld. They were all supposed to be awful people. Jim and Dwight and Michael were just three different flavors of incel. Jim hitting on a soon-to-be-married woman was supposed to be off-putting and gross. The front office guys treating the back office guys like trash was supposed to be elitist and revolting.

But because the writers needed to give you someone to root for, and because Jim was the "hot one" in a show full of normal looking people (aka the writers room from a bunch of sitcoms who thought it would be funny to have a show where they play each other's characters), they had to justify Pam breaking up and getting together with Jim. And then they had to turn the Jim/Pam arc into Friends. And then they had to turn the Dwight/Angela and Michael/Jan arcs into Friends. And by the final season they were just, like, "Fuck it, this show is now the same as Friends."

[–] mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 hours ago

But because the writers needed to give you someone to root for

Moreover, because it went from adapting a British sitcom to making an American sitcom. The famous tweet goes something like: "A waiter spills soup on a businessman before a meeting with his boss. In the UK the show's about the waiter. In the US the show's about the businessman."

Same reason Steve Carell went from playing David Brent to playing Brick Tamland. We don't find a powerful sleazebag as funny as a powerful moron.

Not that there's much difference these days.

[–] SuperApples@lemmy.world 62 points 15 hours ago

More troubling to me is how many romance movies have our protagonist stalk their love interest, who has already explicitly rejected them... and it works, because their obsession is framed as "love at first sight" and "not giving up on love".

Oh, and the other common trope, non-consensual voyeurism... and it works, because the woman is 'flattered' that the guy finds her attractive.

...How good is the "pop culture detective" YouTube channel?

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 19 points 13 hours ago (3 children)

I don't mind infidelity in media when the one being cheated on is "evil" in some ways like they're abusive or not in love. Still icky though. It's just very different when it's something like that versus "I'm cheating because you're bad at sex."

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 0 points 14 minutes ago
[–] Pnut@lemm.ee 7 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

It's usually "we have gotten bad at sex" and there's no conversation about it. Maybe it wasn't meant to be. Talk about and figure it out. Then leave. Don't be a fucking dipshit about it.

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[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I feel like the Righteous Gemstones - for a silly, flight of fancy / action movie-inspired series - depicted it pretty well.

Damaged people compelled to seek attention and solace without thinking of the consequences. Senseless, illogical, stupid, ill-considered, badly hidden, not even really what any of the people actually involved want.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I don't specifically remember the infidelity in that series, but I do remember the characters. It's very much a "love to hate them" type show like Always Sunny is. Sure, they have genuine moments occasionally but mostly you're just enjoying watching them suffer and get into antics.

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 1 points 8 hours ago

!Judy cheats on BJ with the guitarist at the church!<

[–] EfreetSK@lemmy.world 107 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (7 children)

And also how often the movie is completely oblivious to that. For example it's been a while since I saw "Devil wears Prada" but if I remember right, the ending is:

Our main character has an argument with her boyfriend

Goes to a business trip in Paris

Sleeps with random guy

Returns home and makes up with her boyfriend

And the movie ends like nothing happened, she's happy, that's what's important

[–] candyman337@sh.itjust.works 70 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Her probably:

[–] Acinonyx@lemmy.sdf.org 18 points 17 hours ago

not betraying your partner's trust is important too. cheating is disgusting, selfish behaviour

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[–] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 49 points 21 hours ago (7 children)

This makes me wonder how many women are quite unhappy in their marriage, and are willing to jump at the nearest opportunity.

Kinda depressing to think about, actually.

[–] mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 14 points 13 hours ago (18 children)

Boomer tropes exist because divorce was illegal.

You were expected to get married and stay married. You'd have unprotected sex with your high school boyfriend, you're goddamn right you were gonna keep the baby, and you were going to live together until one of you died. Even if it meant separate beds and not asking why he frequented that bar by the docks.

Blame Catholicism. That's usually a fair bet.

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[–] TwoBeeSan@lemmy.world 20 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

Work with elderly. Coworker said "how many of these women do you think have gone their entire live without an orgasm." It connected a lot of dots. The no orgasm to elderly fox news white women is the school shooter pipeline for wasp women.

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[–] raltoid@lemmy.world 13 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

While there are quite a few people who would jump ship from their marriage, that's not why the trope so popular. It's just that a lot of people like different forms of "forbidden love". Although most don't actually dream of doing those things, it's pure fantasy.

[–] sthetic@lemmy.ca 5 points 9 hours ago

Yeah, fictional romance is more interesting when it's forbidden in some way. Otherwise, who wants to read a romance novel about a nice couple who meets at the library when they're both single, and proceeds to have a wholesome relationship? Great for real life, but boring to read about or watch a movie about.

Many of the traditional reasons for forbidding a romance are gone in the contemporary world. Different race, different social class, same gender, rival families? Not convincing.

So you're left with stuff that's plausible but icky, like being in a relationship already, or being teacher/student or boss/employee. Or pornographic stuff like step-family. Those are problematic and people will criticize them.

You could set your story in a historical setting in which the countess and the gardener are truly forbidden from passion, or a fantasy world where the ogopogos and sasquatches are sexy rivals.

Or just have a lukewarm type of forbidden-ness, like "his family's greeting-card store is in competition with my family's greeting-card store" or "we're coworkers."

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