From Dating Via Drone To Passion In The ICU: Why We Love A Quarantine Romance

By Carson Mlnarik


Two hands touching through a windowpane. A late-night “wish u were here” text. Far less than desirable sleeping arrangements — at first. What is it about quarantine that has us so hot and bothered?


Social distancing measures meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus might be keeping us away from each other, although that doesn’t mean we’re giving up on love. Rather, right now that physical intimacy isn’t an alternative for couples who live separately, it’s changing how we date, so much so that the “quarantine love story” has become its own meme, defined by dating apps, enthusiastic roommate hookups, and the occasional human-sized bubble. Yet two pandemic-crossed lovers are not necessarily a new sort of romance; it falls in line with the universal obstacles that plagued Romeo and Juliet as much as it did Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson’s characters in Five Feet Apart: Can love defeat the invisible barriers?


In this new typical, TikTok user Jeremy Cohen overcame the setbacks by using a drone to ask out the “quarantine cutie” he spotted dancing on a rooftop in his New York neighborhood. Although in 2017’s Everything, Everything, it was a note that new kid Olly (Nick Robinson) sketched from his bedroom window for Maddy (Amandla Stenberg) immediately after noticing she doesn’t go outdoor. Their love story springs to life with the critical storylines laid out by other teen romances like Midnight Sun, The Fault in Our Stars, and A Walk to Remember: There’s a boy, girl, and also a medical problem that keeps their fling from blossoming into a fully-realized relationship. These romances may endure with varying success, however that first-love intensity draws viewers in each time, also it comes as no surprise that these movies were all box-office successes.


The quarantine love story can come in several forms, and we’re breaking it down to be able to see how courtship fares in the face of challenge, why this long-standing formula isn’t going anywhere, and the reason it feels especially resonant now.


The Star-Crossed Lovers 


The high stakes might be one reason why we have a proclivity towards star-crossed lovers, according to Dr. Amber Hutchins, a professor at Arizona State University who teaches a class on depictions of sex, love, and romance in the media. Hutchins tells MTV News that the Romeo and Juliet trope “mirrors the intensity of the feelings” several young people have in their first relationships where it feels “like life and death.” With the world going through a pandemic, the quarantine love story can have similar stakes. “What we are living in now is literally life or death,” she says. “So, I think that makes it even more resonant with not just young adults, nevertheless each person who’s experiencing this.”


Five Feet Apart becomes particularly relevant each year right after its March 2019 release, given that its title references the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s “6-foot rule” that says patients should sustain 6 feet apart to avoid cross-infection, and the CDC outlined same distance For people in America as segment of physical distancing. The film follows Will (Cole Sprouse) and Stella (Haley Lu Richardson), two cystic fibrosis patients who are united by a shared love of art and breaking the rules, leading them to secretly date in the hospital. Yet for Stella to hug her boyfriend, or maybe her best friend, is to risk both their lives. “There’s a lot of invisible barriers to people being physically with each other and I think that’s even more obvious ... Where there’s a perplexing medical situation that most of the audience probably hasn’t experienced,” Hutchins mentioned. “Now, we feel like we’re all feeling this with each other, and I think that there were those challenges pre-pandemic, and these films sort of amplify that now.”


And They Were Roommates…


there really is also the “And they were roommates...” Trope, quoted by meme and fan fiction creators alike. Because of their collective living situation, two folks are forced with each other to be able to see if indications develop — and feelings, also. Such is the case in a Wattpad story by author AggressivelyFriendly (whose name is withheld for privacy), “The One Where Harry Styles Sneezed on Me,” which follows a women protagonist who’s quarantined with the “Adore You” singer soon after he sneezes on her at a Whole Foods. The fanfiction is just one of the over 12,300 stories tagged “quarantine” on Wattpad, with over 4,000 fics inspired by coronavirus on the site alone.


AggressivelyFriendly speculates that the trope’s appeal stems from the “prolonged intimate contact” that are usually “bring down our fear of rejection and reduce our inhibitions,” inspiring stories that move at quicker, more intense paces than we’re used to in real life. “It’s almost like a petri dish rather than an organic progression of things,” she tells MTV News. She was inspired to write a fic about a quarantine love affair with Harry Styles as a way of dealing with stress while in the pandemic, and also connecting with fellow fans of the former One Direction singer.


once she acknowledges quarantine is a “dream scenario” for a writer, she points to reality shows like Netflix’s Love is Blind that redesign the effect of a romance isolated from outdoors influences. “It’s almost a little like that, where these people chose not to be able to see each other, however they were forced to get to know each other in a really intense situation,” she says. “Some, like Lauren and Cameron, had immediate chemistry and were allowed to lean into that.” A aspire to find true connection might also be the reason why we get so invested in quarantine love stories. There’s typically a sacrifice involved to keep the relationship going, much like in successful relationships, which can typically hard-won. “I think we all want someone to find us attractive although we also hope to be wanted for who we are,” the author adds. “If this person is spending all this time yet they can’t gratify or be with you like that, then they want you so much that they’re ready to sacrifice that aspect.”


What Can We Learn?


Relationships are already hard enough, and the extra barriers characters face in quarantine love stories show us that. “There’s already risk regarding being weak and starting your heart to someone,” Hutchins says. “So putting this barrier on top of it might be really stressful and feel unnatural.” Five Feet Apart, in particular, focuses on “the organic expression” of touch in all kinds of relationships, and what it means to live without it. While several people worldwide are dealing with what it means to be physically distant from a loved one for a drawn-out period, most of their situations will get better at time. Although there’s empathy to be gained in dealing with challenges similar to those that people with real-life health conditions face on a day-to-day basis. “If we’re able to develop some compassion for other people and situations through this experience, I think that that can be valuable,” Hutchins says.


Considering most affairs in the genre end with a break-up, it might sound like love is dead in quarantine, yet that’s not the case. Dr. Hutchins muses that relationships can beat the odds with “healthy communication,” by “being trustworthy with each other,” and creating “physical space” for individual interests and excellent time. This might would be either good or bad news for couples who are quarantined with each other and are right now finding themselves spending more time occupying the same space. “I think that in the event you already had problems in your relationship, quarantine is certainly not going to repair that,” Hutchins says. “It’s going to add another layer to that, and then some relationships might not be well-suited for that.”


What Are We Going to See?


While Hollywood is straying away from pandemic-related storylines now, we are going to almost definitely visualize a rise in quarantine stories, both in movies television as keeps it up and continues to change the way assignments are being filmed. As for love stories, viral threads about newfound virtual romances — like the “important quarantine love story” LA Times reporter Amy Kaufman created about her roommate — show that we’re more than prepared to root for a romance in the face of coronavirus, even if we aren’t exactly sure what we’re doing on dating apps.


These stories might have a new coat, yet Dr. Hutchins says they speak to our need to feel human connection, and the wish to be regular. It’s why crowds rooted for Bella Thorne’s Midnight Sun character despite her xeroderma pigmentosum just as much as they rooted for an immuno-compromised John Travolta any time as soon as he played Tod in 1976’s made-for-TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. 


“I think that ultimately (the pandemic) will be a backdrop for the sort of situations that we’ve already seen in these other films,” Hutchins says. “The idea of destiny putting you with each other, that love is worth the risk — whether that’s actual physical risk or emotional risk — and the obstacles and barriers that prevent people from being with each other, it’s good material.”