A LOVE NOT WORTH DYING FOR Looking into how the romanticization of abusive or unhealthy relationships can negatively impact those watching BY RILEY RUNNELLS| PHOTOS BY PROVIDED
“I’d die for you,” they said. “I’d kill for you. I can’t live without you; you’re my one and only.” It is likely people have come across these quotes in various film and television productions. These “words of affection” are said within the context of relationships — specifically, intense relationships that utilize unhealthy methods of expression that are glorified as romantic by fictional media. Shows like “Pam and Tommy'' and “Pretty Little Liars” and films like the “Twilight” saga or the “After” series are all some of the worst offenders of promoting these unhealthy relationships. Often, this leads to misinformation spread through fictional projections about what is normal and healthy in a relationship, further leading to psychological damage. But why is it that they are promoted in this way? Carmen Pierce, a graduate student at Ohio University in her second year of the film studies program, believes the oversaturation of unhealthy relationships comes from the disconnect between what people 172 | THREAD
want to see and what is accurate to real life. “It’s kind of like an ouroboros snake eating its tail because if we, as the general public, continue to consume this content, it’s supply [and] demand,” Pierce said. “If we keep eating it up, they’re going to keep making it.” Pierce also cited the more recent phenomenon of hatewatching, where people watch content even though it is not something they are truly interested in. It becomes more of a catalyst for conversation between groups of friends or self-entertainment. There is also the premise of watching shows or films because of the actors in them. Either way, the content will continue because no matter the audience’s motivation for watching a piece of fictional work, the industry creatives behind the project are still getting the revenue. This means as long as the demand exists, the supply will continue. T h o u g h t h e a u d i e n c e ’s voyeurism of watching these relationships in a fictional sense can seem harmless, the
