Picspam > Challenge > 5 Canon Couples That Never Should Have Happened
Possible spoilers for Harry Potter, Life with Derek, Twilight, The Big Bang Theory, and Merlin
NO DISRESPECT INTENDED. This is simply my opinion. Ship who you want to ship, and I'll do the same, thank you very much.
5. Harry and Ginny - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Why they don't work: No build-up.
The Harry Potter books are told from Harry's point of view, yet there is never any indication that he has romantic feelings for Ginny until he sees her kissing Dean, and then all of a sudden he's in love with her. Not to mention that we barely see any of their relationship before they broke up at the end of the book. I'm not even sure how long they dated, but there's not even build-up to their relationship. One paragraph, Harry kisses her, the next paragraph, they've been dating for a while. We aren't allowed to see any moments that make me believe that they're soulmates. We don't get any glimpses of them together at all. I was always under the impression that he regarded Ginny as a little sister. In fact, it was always my belief that Harry would end up alone, because there simply isn't anyone out there who can really understand what he's been through.
4. Truman and Casey - Life with Derek
Why they don't work: It's unhealthy.
From the minute Truman's introduced, you're meant not to like him. He is smarmy and slimy and a bit of a creep. He doesn't change at all, but for some reason, Casey's opinion of him does, for the completely ridiculous reason that she dreams about kissing him. He rates all the girls' attractiveness, makes those ratings public, and purposely gives her a low rating so she'll be intrigued by him. Then he proceeds to date all of her friends in order to get closer to her, while never actually learning anything about her. Then he borderline stalks her. Then he does a fake date after promising no more games, and when he takes her on the date she wants, he berates everything she likes. Oh, yeah. Then he cheats on her with her cousin. And in his defense, he offers a half-assed apology about not knowing how to be in a relationship, because apparently some people don't realize making out with your ex-girlfriend in front of your current girlfriend is a no-no. And even though he went to so much trouble to get Casey to go out with him, he doesn't seem willing to make any effort to actually keep dating her.
But it doesn't matter. Because despite the fact that Casey was very quick to point out all of his faults in the earlier episodes of season 4, and that no one in her life seems to trust him, she completely ignores everything she dislikes about him once they start dating. She is clearly settling for someone who isn't worthy of her, who doesn't bother to learn anything about her, who cheats on her, because she's afraid of being alone. At 18. Wonderful message we're sending to young girls.
3. Edward and Bella - The Twilight Series
Why they don't work: It's unhealthy.
I am aware that this relationship is kind of the point of the entire series. But it's not a good relationship. A lot of this is because of the epic!fail of Bella's character. She's selfish, has low self-esteem, and is entirely too dependent on the approval of others, especially Edward. Her sole existence is wrapped up in Edward, a guy she'd known approximately five minutes before she became obsessed with him. Her fanatical devotion to him sets feminism back about 400 years. She constantly puts herself at risk just so she can hear his voice after he leaves her. Not to mention that she waffles between Jacob and Edward while declaring that Edward is the one she wants to be with. And let's not forget that she's more than willing to become a vampire, but she doesn't want to get married - apparently being married at 18 is worse than being dead. And Edward, as a boyfriend, is a creeper. He stares at her, he follows her, he comes into her room while she sleeps. He's controlling, he dismantles her car, he has his family essentially hold her under house arrest. Where I live, that's called stalking, and it's illegal. Twilight made stalking not only socially acceptable, but also something most teenaged girls apparently seem to want. It's not romantic to break into someone's house and watch her sleep, and if any guy did that in real life, I'd call the police, not swoon over him.
2. Leonard and Penny - The Big Bang Theory
Why they don't work: No chemistry.
The Leonard/Penny relationship was attempted twice before and was abandoned. Why the writers felt the need to try again is beyond me, but the fact that these two main characters have been relegated to a background relationship should be proof enough that it just doesn't work. Any time they have a storyline, it's to show them fighting. It's like they're not boyfriend/girlfriend, they're friends who sleep together. Their relationship seems to consist of nothing other than sex, because that's how Leonard is constantly defining it. Every time they're in a fight, he has to compromise in order to keep having sex with her. Even when Penny tells Leonard's mother about their relationship, she does it by saying, "I'm sleeping with your son." They don't seem to be at all interested in the other's beliefs or hobbies (they abandon any attempts to learn), and Leonard is constantly belittling Penny and her opinions. Not to mention, they had to get stinking drunk to make the sex not awkward (and how they managed to move past it is something the writers decided we didn't need to know).
Leonard has been exceedingly mean this season. When it was revealed that Penny believes in psychics (a fact I'm convinced Leonard ought to have already known), Leonard freaks out, wondering why he should give up everything he believes in to continue having a sexual relationship with Penny. He clearly views Penny as a trophy girlfriend, whereas Penny seems to stay with Leonard because he's "safe" and appears to really like her.
1. Arthur and Gwen - Merlin
Why they don't work: No build-up.
I was prepared to accept Arthur/Gwen as inevitable, because I know the King Arthur legends, and King Arthur marries Guinevere. However, I feel that the Merlin writers have done a terrible job at developing their relationship. Ignoring the fact that Arthur/Morgana was heavily promoted in season 1 only to be completely abandoned, Arthur and Gwen had approximately four conversations before "falling in love". Not to mention that any character development Arthur went through in season 1 was erased for season 2 so that he could go through it again with Gwen as the catalyst. Also, Gwen is an extremely weak and fickle character. In season 2, she seems to only exist to be Arthur's love interest, which upsets me, because she's one of few female characters on this show, so I really wish they had done more with her. She waffles between men too often - first Merlin, then Lancelot, then Arthur, then Lancelot, then Arthur again.
I don't feel that they are each other's true love. I don't believe Gwen loves Arthur - I believe she's infatuated with Prince Arthur. (Plus, she basically confessed her love for Lancelot in 2x04.) And I don't believe Arthur loves Gwen - I believe he loves the idea of her. Because, quite frankly, they've spent very little time together and haven't really had any discussion about anything other than Arthur's attitude towards other people. Arthur hasn't had a lot of experience with women, which is absurd, because he's the prince. He should be having a new love interest every other week. And his claim that he cares for Gwen more than he cares for anyone else doesn't seem to be accurate, considering how much he has gone through for Merlin, Morgana, and his father.
Mostly, my problem with this relationship is how badly they've rushed it. When Arthur and Gwen are kissing in 2x02 (which was nicely lighted, but far from romantic), it comes after them having very little contact with each other. If they had done that much later in the season, after having little moments like their conversation in 2x06 about him being disinherited, I could almost have dealt with it. Almost.