I don't know why I was surprised to see that an image search for "comfort food" came back with so many cheesy photos. Yum. I took a screenshot of part of the screen, which is the thumbnails you see above.
We had a guest speaker a few years ago at Hotchkiss, back when being a guest speaker meant showing up in person, who talked about why many teenagers will watch the same TV shows and movies over and over. Even though I forget everything I read and watch, her postulation that rewatching shows is like comfort food or a security blanket for many kids resonated with me. So much of what happens in life can surprise or scare us, so allowing ourselves to replay positive experiences provides a safe way to offset our fear of the unknown and unpleasant.
But since I don't like to rewatch and reread most of what I take in, I gravitate to the safety of tropes. I can start any romance novel knowing that I'll get my HEA (Happily Ever After), so I eliminate the possibility of disappointment and sadness. But one step better than that, the tropes of romance give me that "I've been here before" feeling even though I'm reading/watching something new. Here are some fun romance tropes:
- waking up married
- fake dating
- friends-to-lovers
- second-chance at love
- enemies-to-lovers
- stuck together
- forbidden love
- athlete or celebrity hero
- grumpy with a heart of gold
You get the idea. While each of these tropes offers infinite plot possibilities, falling into them keeps the reader (me!) in a safe space.
Are there tropes you love in romance or other (gasp!) genres? What's your favorite? If you could always read within a genre's tropes OR always be totally surprised by what you read, which would you choose and why? Please share your ideas in the comments.
Loved this!! Hadn’t read (sorry!😔) one of your Wednesday offerings in a while and what a great one to start back with!! I used to love to re-read; now rarely do (intentionally!). Sometimes I enjoy
re-watching (whatever on tv “Castle”? or West Wing!) but there is so much (too much?) new to explore now (and I’ve “downsized” to only Netflix, Prime, Appletv, Sundancenow – just discovered and loved season 1 of The Commons! Highly recommend it!)
My book tropes? Maybe mystery or cookbooks but do enjoy the occasional non-fiction, usually about health or psychology… What’s a book omnivore? A bookworm, I guess. As a child I’d read the back of the cereal box at breakfast … not so much anymore.
No need to apologize — welcome back!
I’ll add “The Commons!” to my summer watching list. Thanks.
Yes, I’m a book picky eater. While I read tons of books for pleasure, I select only romance novels. What aspect of mysteries keeps you coming back for more?
I think I’m up to my 10th time listening to the entire Harry Potter series as narrated by the amazing Jim Dale.
Can the whole opus be a trope?
Hmmm. I don’t know if you could call the opus a trope. She certainly understood tropes and used them, but part of what made her books so great was that she also bent the tropes to cause the unexpected.
“Expect the unexpected,”
Richard, not “Y.”
A good rule.
-C (also not “Y”)