Earlier this month, the tabloids announced that the beloved Hollywood lovebirds Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield were taking a break. But now this break seems to have become a permanent split, and everyone is mourning the loss of such an adorably perfect couple.
As I thought back on their three-year relationship—their cute paparazzi pictures, their awkward kissing on SNL—I kept coming back to one thing: it all started after they played an on-screen couple in The Amazing Spider-Man. This is not a unique phenomenon in the world of A-list movie stars, but it does add another piece to the complicated puzzle that was their love affair. Such relationships are oft debated: was it acting confused for true feelings? A publicity stunt? The discovery of real, honest-to-goodness, capital-L Love?
Personally, I’m a sucker for sappy stories, so I like to believe that movie-born couples actually fall in love, just like their characters. Probably because it makes the movie seem more real when the love story walks off of the screen and into the streets. And they’ve spent so much time together that you would think they’ve got a pretty good idea of whether or not they actually like the other person.
On the other hand, the time spent together on set is scripted. Most of what they say and do in front of each other is from a script about people falling in love, which might give them skewed perspectives about what the other person is really like. If Zac Efron showed up on my balcony and sung to me, I would have fallen for him too. It wouldn’t even have crossed my mind that he probably wouldn’t do something like that if he wasn’t acting. And all of that time an actor spends staring into a beautiful person’s eyes probably leads to some confusion too: “Are we falling in love right now or are they just really good at acting like they love me?” Being friends vs. being more than friends is a very real struggle, and I can’t blame actors for getting caught up in it too.
Perhaps the most upsetting notion, in my opinion, is the idea that these relationships are mere publicity stunts. Like, hello, publicity people, can you please not force people to date each other just because you are insecure about the future success of your movie? I suppose some people love this nonsense. I don’t think it’s fair to the actors, but maybe it is kind of fun to speculate about them. Everyone loves when an on-screen couple isn’t too crazy about each other in real life, but the director is making them play nice at red carpet events.
Of course, the story is different for every couple. Regardless of how they start, some will work out and some will not. Brangelina seems to still be going strong. Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, not so much (I mean, “Zanessa” just never really sounded right anyways). Andrew and Emma’s love affair, sadly, has fallen into the latter category too. So for now, let’s just focus on what really matters: whether or not these couples survive dating in the real world, we’ll always have their beautiful on-screen love affairs.
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What’s wrong with college kids today? Humor? You pot smoking, Red Solo Cup wielding slackers think that the world is a funny place? As a direct decedent from John Calvin, I feel like it’s my duty to inform you that America was built from sweat, blood, some tears, and good old corruption. Less frivolity and more ditch digging is all that we need to bring this country back to its shimmering glory. Now if you will excuse me, I need to practice my frowning and harrumphing.