History Main / StalkingisLove

*** Roger Ebert's notes this in his review of the 2004 film version: "In the Lloyd Webber version, now filmed by Joel Schumacher, the mask is more like a fashion accessory, and the Phantom's 'good' profile is so chiseled and handsome that the effect is not an object of horror but a kinky babe magnet."

*** Roger Ebert's review notes this in his review of the 2004 film version: "In the Lloyd Webber version, now filmed by Joel Schumacher, the mask is more like a fashion accessory, and the Phantom's 'good' profile is so chiseled and handsome that the effect is not an object of horror but a kinky babe magnet."

* Just to clarify on ''[=~The Sorcerer's Apprentice~=]'' entry on the quotes page, Dave's "stalking" consisted entirely on being in a place he was sure to run into Becky. Plus they already were attracted to each other as kids, so it works out.

* The video for the Taylor Swift's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw You Belong With Me]]" takes some of the StalkerWithACrush vibe out of it by casting the singer as an UnluckyChildhoodFriend, but by the lyrics alone you wouldn't be surprised if the singer had some sort of shrine.

--> -- ''Urban Dictionary'' on [[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=stalker stalkers]]

Most characters of this type are intended to be sympathetic; the lengths the fella goes to is supposed to show just how much he loves his beloved. (Or she hers - this can happen to characters of any gender.) But characters like this can be ''very'' unnerving to readers and audiences who realize just how far things have gone; others will find it [[FetishFuel particularly arousing]].

In Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' (specifically the Daphne and Apollo chapter), Apollo tells Daphne that he chases her not as a foe, but from love, making this trope at least OlderThanFeudalism

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

* In ''StrawberryPanic'', Tamao is watching Nagisa while she sleeps, ''in the very first scene we meet her in.'' She continues this behavior on and off throughout the series, although it [[FanPreferredCouple doesn't seem to deter fans.]]
** They're roommates, so it's not ''that'' bad. When the beds are few feet apart by default, it's not exactly difficult to watch the other person sleep in a non-creepy way.
** Yaya's treatment of Hikari [[RapeIsLove is even worse]], [[FanPreferredCouple and yet]]....

** Arguably, the series (if only for RuleOfFunny) shows the philosophy validated. After a while, Itoshki seems completely used to Matoi following him everywhere, even into the bathroom, and is quite comfortable in one episode with her living in his home, and is also comfortable with Kiri Komori living in his closet, and she also followed him into the bathroom at least once.

* ''[[{{ptitlecr52i41p}} Zetsuai1989]]'' is about a male singer named Kouji who's childhood crush on a male soccer star named Izumi that he fell for as a kid, leads to assorted sexual harassment when the two meet in person years later. The series romanticises stalking and rewards the attacker in the end when the victim becomes comfortable with his stalker and stops running away.

[[AC:{{Fan Fiction}}]]
* In the ''Twilight'' fan fiction[[FanFic/{{TheNotSoShortSecondLifeOfBreeTanner}} The (Not So) Short Second Life of Bree Tanner]] the main character, Bree, is the object of some restraining order worthy affection from [[spoiler:Alec]], though - unlike Bella with Edward - she's not nearly as charmed by the creepily felonious antics or isn't shy about mentioning it.
* In ''Fanfic/CodeGeassMaoOfTheDeliverance'', Mao travels hundreds of miles to find C.C. again while listening to her voice constantly [[HeadphonesEqualIsolation on his headphones]]. She actually recorded this for him, however, and he is really just trying to [[spoiler: save her life (albeit against her wishes).]]

* Lloyd Dobler in ''SayAnything''. [[spoiler: Standing outside her window holding up a boombox playing "In Your Eyes"? Come on!]]
** Considering that by that point, they had [[spoiler: made love in the back of her car, and she'd never dated before at all and was ultra-confused with everything happening in her life at that point]], that was less 'stalker', more 'I'm showing you how much I love you, so why did you [[spoiler: dump me?']] Bit of a different, possibly strange way to show it, but he was at least bothering to make the effort.

* The RomanticComedy ''Management'' was completely undermined by the fact that Steve Zahn and {{Jennifer Aniston}}'s otherwise sweetly quirky relationship consisted of him stalking her across the country.

* The 2004 film ''Closer:''
--> '''Anna:''' Because you stalk me outside my studio.
--> '''Dan:''' I don't stalk, I lurk, and when I'm not there you look for me.
--> '''Anna:''' How would you know I look for you if you're not there?
--> '''Dan:''' Because I ''am'' there, lurking from a distance.

* In KissingJessicaStein, Jessica ends up with the guy who, IIRC, quite obsessively went through her personal files (including letters) at work. Apparently, because he was motivated by jealousy from their past relationship, this is fine.

* Just to clarify on ''[[{{Ptitlege21stnh}} The Sorcerer's Apprentice]]'' entry on the quotes page, Dave's "stalking" consisted entirely on being in a place he was sure to run into Becky. Plus they already were attracted to each other as kids, so it works out.

** It doesn't help that most people know the story via the musical which framed Erik in a ''FAR'' more sympathetic light and kind of glossed over the majority of the really nasty stuff he did. It also changed the ending to make him less repellent. And he's always played by really handsome men too. What's up with that?
*** In the musical's sequel ''Love Never Dies'', [[spoiler: Christine realized long ago that she wasn't "looking with her heart" when she chose Raoul over the Phantom. So stalking and murder IS love in this version!]]

* The whole initial basis behind the relationship of Buffy/Angel in ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' has ''Angel'' stalking Buffy in the very first episode. He goes into full blown dangerous stalking when he loses his soul and becomes Angelus. He often watched her sleep, and drew very realistic pictures of her and left them for her. This wasn't shown as anything but creepy, and Angelus is unapologetically evil.

** Alpha gets a bit of this, too, with a lot less subtlety. He's AxeCrazy and obsessed with Echo, but in TheFinale he's apparently reformed, and it's hinted he still loves her (though he [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy would rather see her happy with Paul]]). So he apparently ''did'' really love her, despite his earlier psychotic actions.

* Played with on ''[[ThirtyRock 30 Rock]]'' when Jenna is upset after her creepy stalker loses interest in her. Not because she loved him, but because his obsession with her fed her ego. Their "break up" is played for DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything.
-->'''Maynard''': I don't think I can stalk you anymore.\\
'''Jenna''': No! You don't mean that!

* "Possession" by SarahMcLachlan is subject to similar FanDumb. In fact, Sarah wrote the song about an actual stalker fan of hers; she said writing it was very therapeutic for her.

* "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2smz_1L2_0 Papparazzi]]" by Lady Gaga. ''" I'm your biggest fan. I'll follow you until you love me ..."''

* In ''PaperMario: The Thousand-Year Door'', the artificially intelligent computer, [=TEC-XX=], expresses to [[DistressedDamsel Princess Peach]] (at the time, [=TEC=]'s master's captive) that he has been overcome by strange feelings that compel him to continuously observe and eavesdrop on Peach. Peach's logical conclusion is that [=TEC=] is in love.
** Let's not forget that TEC first experinced these "strange feelings" when he ''observed her taking a shower.''

* Fangirls in the OfficialFanfictionUniversity series are often under the impression that their "Lust Objects" will like them back if they're just persistent enough. They generally get disabused of this notion with the application of extreme violence.

* Despite giving a page quote, ''{{Up}}'' is an aversion. While Dug does follew Carl around, Dug is a [[TalkingAnimal Talking Dog]] that's only interested in the platonic realationship of a dog and his owner. Besides, this is pretty much how dogs display affection.
* Heloise on ''{{Jimmy Two-Shoes}}'' is portrayed as having a {{yandere}} level crush on Jimmy, complete with a StalkerShrine, and yet it remains one of her most sympathetic aspects. Then again, considering [[EnfantTerrible her]] [[ForTheEvulz other]] [[MadScientist personality]] [[CuteBruiser quirks]], including working with ''{{Satan}}'', this really shouldn't come as a suprise.

<<|LoveTropes|>>

* In ''FullMetalPanic!'', Sousuke is assigned a mission in which he must follow Kaname around and protect her from terrorists, all the while not letting her know. Although his actions are ''way'' overboard by any normal standards and could easily be constructed as stalking, Kaname seems to view it with a mixture of curiosity, annoyance, attraction, and a bit of amusement. The reasons are probably a mix of the factors that Sousuke's actions are ''extremely'' [[RefugeInAudacity outlandish even by stalking standards]], he appears to have [[ChasteHero as much grasp of romance and sexuality as her hamster]], and of course that he is [[BeautyEqualsGoodness extremely attractive]]. This disappears when she finds Sousuke on her balcony [[NotWhatItLooksLike with a pair of her panties in his hand]], at which point she attempts to beat him to death with a baseball bat and completely refuses to trust or talk to him until he reveals the truth behind his actions.

* Just to clarify on ''[[{{Ptitlege21stnh}} The Sorcerer's Apprentice]]'' quote above, Dave's "stalking" consisted entirely on being in a place he was sure to run into Becky. Plus they already were attracted to each other as kids, so it works out.

->''I was hiding under your porch because I love you.''
--> -- Dug from ''{{Up}}''[[hottip:* : Well, he's a talking dog, so he gets a free pass.]]

->''Were you'' stalking ''me?''
->''Not like, in a'' threatening ''way.''
--> -- '''Becky''', '''Dave''', the ''[[{{Ptitlege21stnh}} Sorcerer's Apprentice]]''

* "Possession" by [=SarahMcLachlan=] is subject to similar FanDumb. In fact, Sarah wrote the song about an actual stalker fan of hers; she said writing it was very therapeutic for her.

* "Possession" by Sarah McLachlan is subject to similar FanDumb. In fact, Sarah Mclachlan wrote the song about an actual stalker fan of hers; she said writing it was very therapeutic for her.

* Heloise on ''{{Jimmy Two-Shoes}}'' is portrayed as having a {{yandere}} level crush on Jimmy, complete with a StalkerShrine, and yet it remains one of her mosy sympathetic aspects. Then again, considering [[EnfantTerrible her]] [[ForTheEvulz other]] [[MadScientist personality]] [[CuteBruiser quirks]], including working with ''{{Satan}}'', this really shouldn't come as a suprise.

* ''{{Ponyo}}'' features possibly the cutest, most innocent application of this trope you'll ever find, combined with the most cataclysmic consequences.