History Main / ShockValueRelationship

SuperTrope of OperationJealousy.

** Averted by Lane Pryce and the literal PlayboyBunny Toni; it's clear that despite him being white and her black, to say nothing of the [[MayDecemberRomance age element]], ''and'' his being married (if separated), ''and'' the other chasms between them (e.g., he's a well-off business executive and named partner at an advertising agency, she's a working-class cocktail waitress; he's English, she's American) they actually have a legitimate relationship and aren't trying to shock anybody.

This seems to mostly happen with girls, due to the popular belief that women form romantic bonds out of convenience while men do so only out of instinct. The character who's serious about the relationship will probably come across as TheWoobie for their [[AllLoveIsUnrequited one-sided affections]].

* Series/MurphyBrown and her black boss at one point found it really amusing to "shock" people, especially by sending them kahlua and cream drinks. Eventually they figured out that the one thing they had in common was liking to screw with people.

* Series/{{Frasier}}'s feud with his SitcomArchNemesis Cam Winston winds up their respective single parents to the point that they decide to play a prank on them by pretending to be going out. They succeed in getting their sons to make up, but hint that they're [[BecomingTheMask not planning on breaking up right away...]] (although they appear to have [[OffscreenBreakup done so by the next episode]], [[SnapBack of course]]).

* ''Website/TheOnion'' did a couple of articles on this topic [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33858 here]] and [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38823 here]].

** Lady Rose then proceeds to avert this in Series 5, when she marries Atticus Aldridge, the son of Lord Sinderby; the Aldridges are Jewish, and the proposal causes quite a stir...among the Aldridges, particularly Lord Sinderby, as (1) Lady Rose's parents are getting divorced and (2) they want their grandchildren to be raised Jewish (as Judaism runs in the maternal line, the children would have to convert as adults to be considered Jewish under Jewish law). Lord Sinderby calls Rose everything but a [[ShiksaGoddess shiksa]]. (Mind you, it's not that there isn't some racism on Rose's side of the family, but the Crawleys--who are pretty much her main family by this point--have already had the much-more-shocking marriage to Branson and are relieved to see Rose marry a man of her own class.)

** Averted by Lane Pryce and the literal PlayboyBunny Toni; it's clear that despite him being white and her black, to say nothing of the [[MayDecemberRomance age element]], ''and'' his being married (if separated), ''and'' the other chasms between them, they actually have a legitimate relationship and aren't trying to shock anybody.

* Phat and Vivisector from [[MarvelComics Marvel's]] ''[[ComicBook/XForce X-Statix]]'' comic pretend to be gay to steal the media spotlight back from their teammates. Phat breaks with the ruse, and eventually [[spoiler:he and Vivisector conclude that they are both gay, but not attracted to each other]].

SuperTrope of OperationJealousy and DatingWhatDaddyHates.

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-->-- '''Megan Heller''', ''TheOnion''

* ''TheOnion'' did a couple of articles on this topic [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33858 here]] and [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38823 here]].

** In Series 4, Lady Rose, daughter of the [[KnightFever Marquess of Flintshire]], secretly dates the Black American jazz singer Jack Ross (and of course, even in 1922, "American" and "singer" would be bad enough, but "Black" and "''jazz'' singer"...). While she does have ''some'' real attraction to Jack, a major factor in her decision to pursue him is simply the desire to spite her mother (Lord Grantham's cousin on his mother's side).

* MurphyBrown and her black boss at one point found it really amusing to "shock" people, especially by sending them kahlua and cream drinks. Eventually they figured out that the one thing they had in common was liking to screw with people.

* A particularly nasty version of this is part of Dr. Mann's backstory in ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan''.

** In another episode she tries to freak out her parents by suggesting that she might move to France and start a relationship with someone named "Simone." They remain stoic until she points out that that's a woman's name.

* On ''MyWifeAndKids'', Claire breaks up with her Christian abstinence-practising boyfriend, who her father approves of, for a gang banger who goes by "1040 EZ".
* {{Frasier}}'s feud with his SitcomArchNemesis Cam Winston winds up their respective single parents to the point that they decide to play a prank on them by pretending to be going out. They succeed in getting their sons to make up, but hint that they're [[BecomingTheMask not planning on breaking up right away...]] (although they appear to have [[OffscreenBreakup done so by the next episode]], [[SnapBack of course]]).

'''Note:''' This trope was recently expanded from dealing with only homosexual relationships, hence their predominance in the examples section. Please help add other examples.

* Ja'maie King from ''SummerHeightsHigh'' does this ''twice'' over the course of an eight episode series: First by going out with a year 7 boy four years her junior, and again when she asks another girl to the year 11 Formal.

* Played with in ''Series/BostonLegal'' - [[spoiler: it turned out that they were still seeing each other, and had ''faked the break-up'' and an ensuing court case to maintain the publicity]].

* A particularly nasty version of this is part of Dr. Mann's backstory in ''YTheLastMan''.

** In Series 4, Lady Rose, daughter of the [[KnightFever Marquess of Flintshire]], secretly dates the Black American jazz singer Jack Ross (and of course, even in 1922, "American" and "singer" would be bad enough, but "Black" and "''jazz'' singer"...). While she does have ''some'' real attraction to Jack, a major factor in her decision to pursue him is simply the desire to spite her mother (Lord Grantham's cousin on his mother's side).

* ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}''. Poor, poor Leslie. Robin does eventually [[ThrowTheDogABone kiss her]], however. Eventually they become girlfriends for real.

** In Series 4, Lady Rose, daughter of the [[KnightFever Marquess of Flintshire]], secretly dates the Black American jazz singer Jack Ross. While she does have ''some'' real attraction to Jack, a major factor in her decision to pursue him is simply the desire to spite her mother (Lord Grantham's cousin on his mother's side).

** Averted by Lane Pryce and the literal PlayboyBunny Toni; it's clear that despite him being white and her black, to say nothing of the [[MayDecemberRomance age element]], they actually have a legitimate relationship and aren't trying to shock anybody.

* Andrew's relationship with Justin on ''DesperateHousewives''. Justin was in love, Andrew used him to drive his mother insane. Andrew's still gay, though.

* Miranda on ''SexAndTheCity'' pretends to date a lesbian in an early episode to curry favour with the boss at her law firm. Fun fact, Cynthia Nixon who played Miranda have later come out as a late-in-life lesbian.
** Oddly enough subverted with Samantha's short fling with a lesbian. At first it seemed like it would be a big shocking story line that would be played up, but it was oddly underplayed, with none of them treating it like a very shocking thing. Most likely because Samantha can't really surprise them anymore.
*** It was more shocking that Samantha was in a RELATIONSHIP than a lesbian one. Her friends were shocked by them waiting to have sex.

* On ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad,'' Hayley once dated an illegal immigrant just to tick off Stan. Stan winds up hiring her boyfriend for his factory, however, and Hayley, annoyed that he isn't spending any time with her anymore, calls immigration on him and his family.

** Averted by [[spoiler:Lane Pryce and the literal PlayboyBunny Toni; it's clear that despite him being white and her black, to say nothing of the [[MayDecemberRomance age element]], they actually have a legitimate relationship and aren't trying to shock anybody]].