Imagine this: girl and boy meet. Boy falls for girl. Girl ignores boy. Boy persists. Girl & boy live happily ever after. Sounds familiar? That’s because it is every. Movie. Ever. But the reality is far different. 

Movies don’t always accurately portray relationships. Real-life relationships aren’t always sunshine and rainbows. In reality, couples face a less-desirable side of life –money, kids, and finances, all the adult things that don’t sound so lovey-dovey after all. Media rarely covers the darker side of relationships like cheating or heartbreak.  

For example, in the romantic comedy The Kissing Booth, a lot of the girls like Noah Flynn who ends up dating the main character, Elle Evans. Almost every girl gushes over Noah, but he only has eyes for Elle; every girl liked him except for her and that’s why he wanted her. This theme is repetitive. Normally, crushes can be unrequited. In reality, a person could have a crush but the crush could not have any interest in them.

Many times in movies the main character ends up with their love interest. But there are also movies where the main character ends up with their best friend. Tall Girl, a high school rom-com, centers on Jodi Kreyman, the tallest in school, who falls for Stig Mohlin, a (handsome, taller-than-Jodi) Swedish foreign exchange student along with all the other girls in her class. Her life-long friend, Jack Dunkleman asks Jodi out on a date, but she is hesitant due to their stark height difference. Jodi and Jack have a sibling-like relationship and Jack’s crush, for the most part, goes unnoticed, as Jodi continues to fawn over Stig. By the end of the movie, Jodi lands a boyfriend, only it’s not Stig but Jack. There will be times when a friend or a close friend may have a crush on their friend, but don’t think of this as weird or strange as it’s normal for a friend to like their other friend, but that doesn’t mean their gonna end up together.

Another aspect of relationships movies get wrong are the parents. Gossip Girl, an American teen drama, is practically on the opposite side of the spectrum than reality. Serena Van Der Woodsen, the wild-child of the Upper East Side, has done everything; from blacking out on drugs with a dead body next to her to having an affair with her teacher, every parent’s worst nightmare. But, her mother, Lily Van Der Woodsen, slowly grows accustomed to Serena’s choices and focuses her efforts on holding up their reputation. These lenient parents are rare finds in the real world, especially when it comes to relationships. Parents like to uphold strong boundaries for their children regarding dating. TV parents are always fine with the boy the girl brings over, while in real life not all parents even approve of the idea of their kid dating and it takes a while for them to get used to their child growing up.

So the next time you find yourself developing a crush on someone, forget all prior knowledge about relationships from the cinema. Movie relationships are just not something to look up to, they never seem to be accurate. There’s not always a happily ever after.