History Main / SillyRabbitRomanceIsForKids

* ''Literature/AFrozenHeart'': In this TieInNovel to Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', [[spoiler:Prince Hans of the Southern Isles]] believes LoveIsAWeakness and a laughable concept only good for fairy-tale romances, considering that he grew up in an abusive household that emphasized SocialDarwinism over genuine care. On top of that, his entire family is dysfunctional as his father and 12 older brothers don't get along with each other or their spouses, [[HappyMarriageCharade but keep up appearances for social reasons]]. Worst case scenario, it leaves him clueless on what an actual happy relationship is supposed to be like, be it familial or romantic.

* Oddly, the king of ideal romances, Creator/{{Disney}}, had this with Megara in ''Disney/{{Hercules}}''. She was devoted to her first lover, made a ''[[DealWithTheDevil deal with Hades]]'' to save his life, and then watched him dump her for another girl, leaving her to serve Hades for some number of years. She ends up following the "learn to love again" angle.

* Kiri Luchile of ''Manga/DoubleArts'' swore this to himself at the age of fifteen, after [[spoiler:his childhood friend Sui dated and dumped him three times. ''In three days'']]. It took him all of [[spoiler:[[LoveAtFirstSight one glance]] at Elraine Figarette]] to summarily defenestrate that decision, though.

* ''Literature/AFrozenHeart'': In this TieInNovel to Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', [[spoiler:Prince Hans of the Southern Isles]] believes love to be a laughable concept only good for fairy-tale romances, owing to the fact that he grew up in an abusive household that emphasized SocialDarwinism over everything else, including genuine care and friendship. On top of that, his entire family is dysfunctional as his brothers don't get along with each other or their spouses, while his parents have been stuck in a loveless marriage for over 30 years, [[HappyMarriageCharade but keep up appearances for social reasons]]. This leaves him clueless as to what an actual happy relationship is supposed to be like, be it familial or romantic.
** During the climax, [[spoiler:he's baffled when Anna asks him for a TrueLovesKiss to thaw her out from the freezing heart curse accidentally triggered by Elsa, and instead of doing the obvious, he rubs it in her face and states he only faked his romance so he'll usurp the Arendellian throne. He even calls Anna "dumb" for going after her sister, showing he [[EvilCannotComprehendGood never understood]] the concerns the sisters had for each other.]]
** Likewise, [[spoiler:when he notices Elsa grieving upon hearing her sister supposedly died of the freezing heart curse, he thinks it makes her look spineless and cowardly.]]

* ''Literature/AFrozenHeart'': In this TieInNovel to Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', [[spoiler:Prince Hans of the Southern Isles]] believes love to be a laughable concept only good for fairy-tale romances, owing to the fact that he grew up in an abusive household that emphasized SocialDarwinism over everything else, including genuine care and friendship. On top of that, his father and brothers don't get along with their wives, [[HappyMarriageCharade but keep up appearances for social reasons]]. This leaves him clueless as to what an actual happy relationship is supposed to be like.
** During the climax, [[spoiler:he's left confused when Anna asks him for a TrueLovesKiss to thaw her out from the freezing heart curse accidentally triggered by Elsa, and instead of doing the obvious thing, he rubs it in her face and states he only faked his romance so that he'll seize control of Arendelle.]]

* ''Literature/AFrozenHeart'': In this TieInNovel to Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', [[spoiler:Prince Hans of the Southern Isles]] believes love to be a laughable concept only good for fairy-tale romances, owing to the fact that he grew up in an abusive household that emphasized SocialDarwinism over everything else, including genuine care and friendship.

** Likewise, [[spoiler:when he notices Elsa grieving upon hearing her sister supposedly died of the freezing heart curse, he thinks love can make a powerful being like her look cowardly.]]

* Semi-inverted in ''Cabaret'', as most of the overtly romantic numbers in the show take place between the elderly fruit vendor and landlady, while the younger characters get together for much more pragmatic reasons, mainly economic. [[spoiler:However, ultimately the sweet elderly couple split because the landlady decides she is too old to do something as dangerous as marrying a Jewish man just as Hitler is rising to power.]]

* The contrarian Shakespeare critic Gary Taylor was writing about a play by one of Shakespeare's contemporaries. The premise is like a sequel to ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' -- they elope together, and instead of killing themselves, they live together, and he pimps her out to the local nobleman. Taylor called it "''Romeo and Juliet'' for grown-ups."
** Sounds like [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2006/feb/21/theatre this one]].
** Shakespeare also played a version of the trope more for laughs in the lead male characters of ''Love's Labour's Lost''.

* From ''Film/MoulinRouge'':

For some people, especially {{the cynic}}s and the [[StrawVulcan "logical" or "scientific"]], a point in life is reached where they consider ThePowerOfLove as a [[LoveMakesYouCrazy ridiculously]] [[LoveMakesYouDumb stupid]] fiction that can be [[LoveMakesYouEvil downright dangerous]], and focus their efforts on satisfying something else instead. Usually, it's caused by their realization that LoveHurts, sometimes due to [[TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest a lover who jilted them or cheated on them]], or because the lovers they witnessed only ended up living in poverty, slavery, DomesticAbuse, being TooDumbToLive, and other such forms of DestructiveRomance that would have been obviously avoided if they didn't let their heart take over their brain.

'''Natasha''': Love is for children, I owe him a debt..

* Natasha Romanov seems to think this in ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' based on a comment to Loki. Of course, she could have been lying to motivate him into saying something, but that's beside the point.
--> '''Loki''': Is this love, Agent Romanov?
--> '''Natasha''': Love is for children, I owe him a debt..

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* In Don Bluth's ''WesternAnimation/{{Thumbelina}}'', Mrs. Field Mouse, Mr. Beetle, and the frogs all try to convince Thumbelina that marrying for love is a stupid thing to do, and that she ought to instead choose a husband that has money and can provide for her. Of course, those characters all just want to use Thumbelina for their own ends.

Subtrope of JadeColoredGlasses and the PowerOfLove. See also SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids.

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* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': In the episode "Crushed", the normally snarky and brooding Mandy falls head over heels for a boy Billy befriended named Piff. Angry at her humiliation and fearful that such previously unknown feelings would reduce her into a simpering fool like [[LoveMartyr Irwin]], she demands that Grim cut out her heart so she would no longer experience love again. Initially delighted at the idea, Grim goes for a different method after Mandy explains her dilemma to him. Using makeup and cosmetics, Mandy's new appearance immediately catches Piff's attention, who falls head over heels for her, and pathetically asks her to the Spring Dance (just as Irwin had done earlier) only to be rejected and punched in the face. Considering [[CrapsackWorld where they live]], Mandy had good reason for thinking love was for the weak-minded.

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* In the TV miniseries adaptation of Anne Rice's ''The Feast of All Saints'', Dolly Rose references this trope when explaining her choice to open a brothel instead of going into [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pla%C3%A7age placage]] to Marie, who adamantly refuses to enter a placage relationship under any circumstances.

** It's not just the ''Legend of Korra'' fandom - any fandom with a prominent enough shipping faction (especially those with a somewhat even gender ratio) will get people who loudly complain about 'cancer' and 'delusional fangirls' regardless of how peaceful the shippers are. That in their eagerness to prove themselves the true fans they have become just as petty and stubbornly argumentative as their apparent enemy generally seems to escape them.

** Which completely misses the point since ''Romeo and Juliet'' is already one big slam against romance. It's not so much a critique of romance itself[[note]]note that Creator/WilliamShakespeare seemed to be mostly in favor of the sensation[[/note]] as a critique of dumbass kids who, as soon as they ''think'' they're in love, immediately overreact. They're so blinded by love that they kill themselves the moment something goes wrong. Plus all the people they get killed along the way. The message seems to be the opposite of this trope: Romance should only be for people mature enough to deal with it sensibly, and kids should stay out of it.

* Tzipporah has shades of this in ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'', with one of her sisters commenting at one point "That's why Papa says she'll never get married". She warms up to Moses and the two are wed at the end of the "Heaven's Eyes" montage.
* In Don Bluth's ''WesternAnimation/{{Thumbelina}}'', Mrs. Field Mouse, Mr. Beetle, and the frogs all try to convince Thumbelina that marrying for love is a stupid thing to do, and that she ought to instead choose a husband that has money and can provide for her. Those characters all just want to use Thumbelina for their own ends.

* Doc Brown seems to play the scientist version of this to a degree in ''Film/BackToTheFuture''.

* Isabelle Lightwood from ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'', is quite young to be this cynical, but then she is privy to the fact that her parents have a HappyMarriageCharade going on. She openly questions how her brothers can so readily fall in love. But then, they aren't in on the family secret.

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', Robert and Cersei have a scene for themselves where both of them elucidate on this point: The two have been married (for political reasons) for 17 years and hate each others' guts, and both of them have long since lost people they had unrequited love towards and have problems genuinely feeling for anyone else (for Robert, it was Lyanna Stark. For Cersei, it was Robert. ''Ouch'').

-->'''Dolly Rose''': I deal in flesh, cher, and I don't make judgements about it, I merely know its value to the men who must have its pleasures. And I do it without the illusion of love or romance or some foolish dream of aristocracy that comes with placage.

** Which completely misses the point since ''Romeo and Juliet'' is already one big slam against romance. It's not so much a critique of romance itself[[note]]which Creator/WilliamShakespeare seemed to be mostly in favor of[[/note]] as a critique of dumbass kids who, as soon as they ''think'' they're in love, immediately overreact. They're so blinded by love that they kill themselves the moment something goes wrong. Plus all the people they get killed along the way. The message seems to be the opposite of this trope: Romance should only be for people mature enough to deal with it sensibly, and kids should stay out of it.

* Semi-inverted in ''Cabaret'', as most of the overtly romantic numbers in the show take place between the elderly fruit vendor and landlady, while the younger characters get together for much more pragmatic reasons, mainly economic. [[spoiler:However, ultimately the sweet elderly couple split because the landlady decides she is too old to do something as dangerous as marrying a Jewish man just as Hitler is rising to power]].

** Having been raised by a HumanoidAbomination, Morrigan claims that "love is fleeting and has no meaning." While she readily takes the PlayerCharacter to bed, she views it only as a [[FriendsWithBenefits sexual relationship.]] She panics when she begins to develop feelings beyond attraction for the protagonist.

-->Zevran: I grew up amongst those who sold the illusion of love, and then I was trained to make my heart cold in favor of the kill. Everything I've been taught says what I feel is wrong.

* Having not exactly had much good experience with [[LoveHurts love]] and being more of a masochistic sort, WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic is nearly always grossed out by the mushier displays of affection and states Valentines Day is the holiday where guys suffer the most.

* In Don Bluth's ''WesternAnimation/{{Thumbelina}}'', Mrs. Field Mouse, Mr. Beetle, and the frogs all try to convince Thumbelina that marrying for love is a stupid thing to do, and that she ought to instead choose a husband that has money and can provide for her. This is justified, because those characters all just want to use Thumbelina for their own ends.

* Oddly, the king of ideal romances, {{Disney}}, had this with Megara in ''Disney/{{Hercules}}''. She was devoted to her first lover, made a ''[[DealWithTheDevil deal with Hades]]'' to save his life, and then watched him dump her for another girl, leaving her to serve Hades for some number of years. She ends up following the "learn to love again" angle.

* In ''Fanfic/TheEndOfTheAffair'', a ''LightNovel/YahariOreNoSeishunLoveComeWaMachigatteiru'' fanfic, Hachiman's primary reason for shunning romance involves this. However, it also shows the real emotional pain that he experiences from this way of living due to emotionally still craving love but unable to allow himself to accept it on a mental level and experiencing a rather bittersweet aftertaste when he see's the lost opportunities of [[FondMemoriesThatCouldHaveBeen what could have been]].