I wish books and movies didn’t have so many romance elements

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It seems like almost every book or movie has to have some sort of romance plot in it, and I don’t like that. The fact that so many have these plots makes it seem like romance is an integral part of life and if you don’t experience it, you’re missing out on a huge chunk of what makes life great. And as I’ve never been on a date, much less had a relationship, I can’t relate to these and they just make me envious and depressed because they make me wonder why I can’t obtain what so many others seem to do so easily. Why do writers have to cram romance into everything? Does it make things more relatable for most people instead of less? I think I’d be a lot more at peace with not having a relationship if it wasn’t shoved in my face all the time about how good they supposedly are.

Have you watched the 2009 movie Adam ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185836/ ) with Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne? It is a romantic comedy, but ends up being quite serious. I think you might like it.

Same. If the love is real and it adds to the book I'm for it, but usually it just seems like a crutch or part of a checklist.

I feel the same about music. Making matters worse is that that's the kind of music my family brought me up on, making me a hopeless romantic in a world of hookups

Romance is just an expected thing in stories. When you have groups of single people together for a period of time you usually start getting couples popping up sooner or later, so it seems weird in a movie if that doesn't happen.

Why it happens in movies where people are preoccupied with robots and monsters firing lasers at them is anyone's guess.

Most people have at least some kind of romantical and/or sexual relationships in their lives, so including them in most books and movies is natural. Not that you have to like it because of that.

Yes, in general it makes the stories more relatable, not less. However, do take note that the romance stories in books & movies are fictional fantasy versions. Even those in relationships read/view them and want for something more out of their love life because chances are their relationships aren't nearly so perfect. It's all Hollywood daydream stuff people like to aspire to despite few ever really achieving such wonder in their own personal lives. It's all a part of the appeal to people - escapism in their entertainment, escapism into a world with a better love life.

That said, I when I was depressed I would avoid those sorts of movies in order not to be reminded of love and relationships. It was a relatively effective coping mechanism. If you're not in the mood to take anything positive away from a love/relationship type book or movie, don't subject yourself to it. Go for action/sci-fi/something else where relationship subplots are minimal.

I still don't seek out stories like these, as despite having an active sex life I'm still single as I've ever been and sometimes relationship stories bother me just as seeing others relationships in real life have bothered me. However, I'm very much indifferent at the moment. Heck, I see friends in their relationships and I'm happy for their happiness vs. sad for my singleness. I think one big turning point is having some Very long term goals that are best pursued solo, so I have very little desire to trade in my singleness for having a relationship. Maaaaybe someday you'll have a long term goal that serves as a beautiful distraction from being single? That's not to say you're bound to be single like me at 35, but just sayin' there are other things in life that make life full and worth living that aren't a relationship and maybe, just maybe, one of those things will enter your life someday and then IF you're single, maybe you won't care so much? I just kind of see my situation as sort of meant-to-be as if I were in a relationship it might make pursuing other long term goals incredibly difficult considering the amount of time and energy I'm likely to have to expend on them to achieve them.

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I don't mind it when it's done well.

Historical navel fiction has a lot less romance than other works. There is sometimes a bit but it's small and has little bearing on the overall story and rarely gets a mention while the main story (war, storms, rats, sadistic officers) is happening.

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian (I think a female childhood friend gets a short paragraph)
the first five of Simon Scarrow's Roman series have no romance,
Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels have minute romance that ends anyway.

I think it's trial and error, if an author is good at romance like Bernard Cornwell then you're going to find it in all of their books. If an author is really bad at it like Patrick O'Brian then it's only ruins their second one before publishers allow them to leave it out of future works.

Anything where a group of men go off to do something dangerous stands a chance of being romance free in books. Less so in films because then they can't put barely dressed women on the cover.

Yeah I feel like that too. I started a thread about it in the tv and movie section a while back. There weren't many suggestions for shows where characters had no love interest.

The only one I can think of is law and order criminal intent. Gorren and Eames always seem to be on their own romantically.

It's not even like you have to 'seek out' stories with a romance/sex element. It's just part of the story whether you're watching or reading a crime story or some other non-romance drama thing. They even gave Sheldon Cooper a love story grrr.