Don’t lift up your eyebrows just yet. This phenomenon of falling in love with a fictional character does happen. It happens all the time, in fact. If you’re passionate about a particular book, play, movie or game, you might just start assuming the character to be real and fall for it!
Don’t lift up your eyebrows just yet. This phenomenon of falling in love with a fictional character does happen. It happens all the time, in fact. If you’re passionate about a particular book, play, movie or game, you might just start assuming the character to be real and fall for it!
While this sort of love is harmless in most cases, it can turn obsessive and make the person lose his/her sleep over the character. For a long time, I was in love with Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice…I mean, c’mon! Who hasn’t fallen for Jane Austen’s charming character, full of flaws, yet so sexy? Many of you might have started looking for Darcy-esque traits in your suitors or at least wanted some bit of Rhett Butler (from Gone With The Wind) in your partner, eh?
For the guys, it would have been anybody from CatWoman to Lara Croft to Scarlett O’Hara. Is it natural to become so involved with a fictional character that you forget the real world? How does one draw the line between obsession and admiration? These are some questions we need to ask ourselves. Psychologically, the attraction could be because they are written or drafted in such a way that they come across as larger-than-life. They are suave and charming, full of crazy ideas that make us smile and care for them. They get what they want and of course, we look for their traits in our future partners. But most important reason for such a behaviour is, lack of rejection. The fictional character will not reject your advances and you’ll feel loved and desired, despite them not reciprocating your love.
Here’s what a bookaholic and self-confessed fangirl of fictional characters, Anupama Jha, has to share with us. ‘I read this glorious book called ‘The Birth of Venus’ during my vacations. And I fell hopelessly in love with the male character, who was so roguish, yet so sexy that I went mad for him. It was completely out of the world. I must have read the book fifty times!’ Well, she isn’t the only one. ‘I remember reading this Harlan Coben series on Myron Bolitar and Win. These two were the ultimate crime-solving, slick duo of America. I fell for the two’, says Nidhi Raje, a graphic designer by profession.
There is absolutely nothing wrong in this ‘affair’ as fantasy makes for a great companion. It’s especially useful when you’re looking for sexual release. As long as your love is not bordering on obsessions, there’s no harm in pursuing it!
What girls and boys should keep in mind, though is that they will not find a partner as colourful ,eccentric and heroic as their fictional lovers, because…well, it’s fiction. Real people are more complex and complicated. But you can have to loves, one that keeps your grounded and one that lets your dream.
