Popular culture has been…
…rather pummelled lately with a withering new romantasy that reflects the height of toxic coupling. Or painfully obvious moor porn.
The planet’s entertainment outlets have come over all hot and bothered too.
Thing is, I love me a silver screen lust romp or two, but when the flick in question dresses up co-dependence, obsession, violence and abuse in peasant blouses, velvet coats and snappy, breathless dialogue, “I can follow you like a dog to the end of the world.” I lose interest.
“But it’s only a movie!”
Well maybe. Perhaps it’s just me who gets more than a little uneasy when Hollywood makes freakishly photogenic humans the poster people for dysfunctional pairings.
As cameras flashed and fans drooled, the stars of the movie were grilled at the recent Sydney premier.
“Did you feel a sense of responsibility not to present (the movie) like couple goals?”
And here are the direct quotes as they rode a red carpet high…
“(Love) isn’t all rainbows and sunshine and beautiful things. There’s something very sweet and wretched about their relationship. Love is this multi-faceted thing. It’s beautiful and it’s awful. We need to teach everyone about all the different colours of love.”
No. We need to stop asking movie stars, dazzled by fat contracts and spotlights, for reality checks. Trying to understand quite how these fragrant folks justify problematic characters and storylines is impossible when they’re trapped by their own fever dream.
Pass me the paracetamol – and an iced drink.
© Phyllis Foundis 2026