Love committee
Do you know what people mean when they say, "You could have anyone you want?" What they really mean is, "You could have anyone I want." Sometimes it means, "I wish you wanted me."
I hate this phrase. I can't blame authors for using it, because it's something I've heard people say IRL, too. (Oh, not in regards to myself, of course - that would be patently untrue.) It's used when people express shock that someone beautiful/interesting/rich would choose, as their mate, someone who is plain/ugly/boring. But, if it were true that the beautiful person could have anyone they wanted, then isn't it the obvious conclusion that they've already chosen the person they wanted?
I have, in the past, dated a couple of people who were truly difficult to look at, but OMG, they made up for their lack of perfect features with other attributes: kind spirits, gentle hands, infectious laughs, a challenging intellect, a quirky sense of humor. I've also met beautiful people with beautiful spirits, and ugly people with ugly spirits.
But you know the kind of person I absolutely loathe? The completely average person who demands, as if somehow it's their due, that anyone they deign to choose be somehow above-average. Yall know who I'm talking about: the guy who isn't ugly but is definitely no Brad Pitt, who scores about 100 on an IQ test, who isn't living in a trailer but isn't exactly in a higher tax bracket, who will not accept anyone less than, oh, a Milla Jovanovich-lookalike as his girlfriend? (If anyone watches Grey's Anatomy, the perfect example of this kind of person is the absolutely-forgettable guy whose girlfriend died of starvation after he promised that he'd marry her if she lost weight, despite the fact that she was already a very pretty person.) And there are females like this, too: the chick who is cute enough but she's not Beyonce, she doesn't have anything truly extraordinary to offer but demands, in her mate, a mix of above-average characteristics that are so unlikely that she just comes off as impossible to please.
OK, I get that we all have a certain minimum standard in what we're looking for, and I know that my taste for ugly isn't shared by, like, 99.9% of the people, but c'mon. You have to have something to give before you can make demands on what you get.
I also understand that, most of the time, the person using the phrase "But you could have anyone you want!" is actually just disappointed that their own fantasy of perfection, a la Bennifer or Brangelina or the Beckhams, isn't being met. I understand it, but I don't accept it. It isn't fair. Worse, it's stupid.
Just because I can't blame an author for using the cliche, doesn't mean I don't resent it when I read it. Love doesn't get to be decided by popular vote. Sometimes, love really is blind.
I hate this phrase. I can't blame authors for using it, because it's something I've heard people say IRL, too. (Oh, not in regards to myself, of course - that would be patently untrue.) It's used when people express shock that someone beautiful/interesting/rich would choose, as their mate, someone who is plain/ugly/boring. But, if it were true that the beautiful person could have anyone they wanted, then isn't it the obvious conclusion that they've already chosen the person they wanted?
I have, in the past, dated a couple of people who were truly difficult to look at, but OMG, they made up for their lack of perfect features with other attributes: kind spirits, gentle hands, infectious laughs, a challenging intellect, a quirky sense of humor. I've also met beautiful people with beautiful spirits, and ugly people with ugly spirits.
But you know the kind of person I absolutely loathe? The completely average person who demands, as if somehow it's their due, that anyone they deign to choose be somehow above-average. Yall know who I'm talking about: the guy who isn't ugly but is definitely no Brad Pitt, who scores about 100 on an IQ test, who isn't living in a trailer but isn't exactly in a higher tax bracket, who will not accept anyone less than, oh, a Milla Jovanovich-lookalike as his girlfriend? (If anyone watches Grey's Anatomy, the perfect example of this kind of person is the absolutely-forgettable guy whose girlfriend died of starvation after he promised that he'd marry her if she lost weight, despite the fact that she was already a very pretty person.) And there are females like this, too: the chick who is cute enough but she's not Beyonce, she doesn't have anything truly extraordinary to offer but demands, in her mate, a mix of above-average characteristics that are so unlikely that she just comes off as impossible to please.
OK, I get that we all have a certain minimum standard in what we're looking for, and I know that my taste for ugly isn't shared by, like, 99.9% of the people, but c'mon. You have to have something to give before you can make demands on what you get.
I also understand that, most of the time, the person using the phrase "But you could have anyone you want!" is actually just disappointed that their own fantasy of perfection, a la Bennifer or Brangelina or the Beckhams, isn't being met. I understand it, but I don't accept it. It isn't fair. Worse, it's stupid.
Just because I can't blame an author for using the cliche, doesn't mean I don't resent it when I read it. Love doesn't get to be decided by popular vote. Sometimes, love really is blind.