Classic love story is now where Zhang Baotong compiled 2018.8.12

If I had to name a book or movie about a classic love story, you would probably choose a classic masterpiece such as Pride and Prejudice, Dr. Zhiwag, Gone with the Wind, Titanic, or my favorite, The African Queen. If they choose a contemporary story, it is likely to take place in another culture, such as a millionaire in a slum. In fact, it's hard to imagine a classic and great modern love story in our world. Maybe it's normal to just write stories about people falling in love. After all, love happens in real life for most of us, and often more than once. But a truly classic and great love story is not the material of everyday life. It must have tense and adventurous situations, intense conflicts, reasonably realistic plots, and unexpected suspense and endings.

In the past, there were often many obstacles in a love story that forced a writer to leave his lover behind. Because he's black, she's white, she's rich, he's poor. They belong to different classes, or different religions, or even they are both married. However, this taboo no longer exists, at least in postmodern Western societies. For example, in today's society, Romeo and Juliet would never be forced to commit suicide because of a family feud. At most, they will leave home and move to an apartment. Overall, we can fall in love with anyone we want.

The decline of social and cultural taboos is not the only problem facing love writers today. Because of the changes in the times and environment, the selectivity of the entire routine of the love story has almost been lost. In the past, when it was possible to make full use of the traffic and the special circumstances of the time, lovers could be forced to separate due to war, but now there is no longer a place to find each other's thrilling and adventurous occasions. In the past, letters could have been stranded at the post office or intercepted by parents who prevented them from loving each other. And the distance between the two places can create a huge obstacle for them. Traveling is difficult, even expensive and impossible for many people. But now e-mail, the internet, mobile phones and cheap airfares have removed most of the barriers, making much of what used to be a difficult task extremely easy.

So, how many forms of romance and love have been preserved? I am afraid that only the problems that the lovers themselves may have, such as psychological problems, diseases, phobias, addictions, or traumatic personal history, these factors may play a role. Of course, there are ways for families and filmmakers to deal with this content, but what is the result? In reality, it is often far-fetched, reflective, or only "classic" in some way.

No one can deny the sorrow of death as a subject, however, there are also some noteworthy and helpful explorations of how true love can overcome this ultimate brick wall. Two films made in the early 90s of the 20th century are deeply memorable, one is a strangely devastating dark comedy, and the other is a ghost that is not very successful. Time is another indisputably significant subject.

There are some fairly ordinary movies that are also very successful in dealing with thrilling scenes where couples are trapped in different time zones. But Audrey Niffenegger's best-selling The Time Traveler's Wife is a truly imaginative, truly modern love story about a couple who can only share the same world at times.

So, what other than death, time, or internal turmoil could provide the necessary conflict for a love story? I deliberately removed morality from the outdated conflicts I had previously listed, because it probably still seemed to me to be a character. Morality may be an inaccurate word, but it's just a word with a load. Maybe I'm just talking about a character who wants to follow the basic principles of human goodness and benevolence. In fact, in the real world of love, not everyone wants to get what they want and doesn't care about the price others pay. The choice to give up true love is sometimes noble, but painful. It is too easy for lovers to fall prey to their passion misfortune. This is not the premise of a great love story. However, there is still room for reflection here.

Perhaps the challenge is to shape the plot of a story where the reader longs for the lover to choose indulgence, but that choice should be noble. Both the reader and the characters will be pleased with the results. Of course, such a dilemma is not to be nakedly conveyed to the reader or viewer.

The author takes action and adventures, or adopts other timeless story elements to reinforce the appeal of the relevant content and plot between them. This may still be a daunting task, however, writing is always difficult. So perhaps the author should not be too cringe-induced.

But perhaps the whole discourse misses the point. There may be a more important question. In today's society, do we still believe in the value of classic love stories? Do we see them as inspirational classics or fake fairy tales? It is naïve at best, and destructive at the same time, encouraging people to break the misconception of normal behavior in the world.

In fact, the problem can be twofold. Is it possible to write classic and great love stories in today's world? Isn't that a goal worth pursuing?