Line #9 PlayingWith/GirlfriendInCanada


1	'''Basic Trope''': A character pretends to be in a long-distance relationship.
2	* '''Straight''': Bob from Maine is with his buddies when the subject of girlfriends comes up and the others all talk about theirs. Bob has been dateless for a long time, possibly ever, but doesn't want to admit it, so makes up "Marie" who lives in Quebec. His buddies are dubious, but Bob mentions Marie every so often [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday to reinforce the idea]] that he's able to interact with a woman.
3	* '''Exaggerated''':
4	** Bob goes so far as to forge "evidence" that Marie exists; blurry pictures, letters postmarked in Quebec; he even uses his vacation time to go up to Canada to "visit Marie."
5	** Bob is roped into a trip up to Quebec. "Hey, we can visit your girlfriend! Right?" He quickly hires a local escort or actress to play "Marie" and hurriedly put together a dossier for the role.
6	** Bob claims to have a girlfriend "in another school", even though he and his friends graduated a long time ago.
7	* '''Downplayed''':
8	** "I used to have a girlfriend named Marie who lived in Quebec, but we broke up a while ago, so I'm free to date."
9	** Bob does have a girlfriend in Quebec, but their relationship is very casual.
10	** Bob is chatting with a girl in Quebec, in hopes of dating her. He tells everyone back home that she is already his girlfriend.
11	* '''Justified''':
12	** Bob is desperate to hide his dateless loser status, and he knows none of the other guys has been to Quebec. Besides, if he ever does get a real girlfriend, he can "dump Marie" with no problem.
13	** [[TransparentCloset Bob is gay]], [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday and wants his friends to think he's straight.]]
14	* '''Inverted''':
15	** [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend Bob is in a relationship with someone, but pretends he isn't.]]
16	** [[NotSoImaginaryFriend Bob really is in a long-distance relationship with Marie]], but she's TheGhost, and all Bob's stories about her and their relationship are so over-the-top and ludicrous that no one believes him.
17	* '''Gender Inverted''':
18	** Alice has a boyfriend, "Pierre," who lives in Canada, or so she claims.
19	** Or Alice claims she has a girlfriend named Marie to turn away guys hitting on her by [[DudeShesALesbian making her think she's a lesbian]].
20	* '''Subverted''':
21	** To everyone's surprise, [[NotSoImaginaryFriend Marie shows up in person]], [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight and verifies all Bob's wild stories]].
22	** Bob says he has a girlfriend in Canada and his friends have even met her a few times, but they keep claiming that he has made her up.
23	* '''Double Subverted''':
24	** "Marie" is actually Alice in a WigDressAccent disguise, paying off a ''huge'' favor she owes Bob. Bob can't reveal her without exposing his own lies.
25	** However, Bob's friend Charles is faking a long-distance relationship.
26	* '''Parodied''':
27	** "Marie" is treated like a Bigfoot-esque urban legend; Bob's friends spend their time studying supposed "sightings" of her.
28	** After Bob claims he has a girlfriend, we cut to Marie insisting to her friends that she has a boyfriend in the US.
29	** Bob's friends have seen Marie in person several times and can confirm her identity, but they act as if she's fictional anyways since Bob ''[[WhatDoesSheSeeInHim should]]'' have no chance at scoring a date.
30	** [[PsychopathicManchild Bob]]'s relationship with "Marie" ascends to marriage, and he eventually has imaginary children with her. His real friends are greatly disturbed.
31	** Both Bob and Marie live on the US-Canada border, so it’s completely plausible that the two would have met and be involved, yet Bob’s friends still insist he’s pulling their legs.
32	* '''Zig-Zagged''': Later, someone notices a message from a Quebec French-speaking woman on Bob's answering machine, asking why he hasn't picked her up from the airport.
33	* '''Averted''': No one in the story pretends to have a relationship with an imaginary person, and there are not necessarily genuinely mistaken claims of relationship.
34	* '''Enforced''': "We want to underline just how much of a loser Bob is. Make him claim he has a GirlfriendInCanada."
35	* '''Lampshaded''':
36	** "No, I've never seen a picture of Bob's girlfriend either. Odd, that." "I know how lame it sounds, but Marie just doesn't like having her picture taken."
37	** "I'm just typing an email to my girlfriend. Dear [[HelloInsertNameHere my girlfriend]], thank you for sending me a box of chocolates [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial on purpose]]. Don't ever change."
38	* '''Invoked''':
39	** Bob's buddies start a conversation about their girlfriends in full knowledge that Bob is dateless, just to see what he'll do when it's his turn.
40	** Bob decides to impress Alice (and possibly [[OperationJealousy give her something to envy]]) by saying he's in a long-distance relationship.
41	* '''Exploited''': Bob's FairWeatherFriend David mentions Marie when both men meet a really attractive single woman, so she'll think Bob is taken.
42	* '''Defied''': Bob tells the truth about his single status.
43	* '''Discussed''': "I'm not going to lie. I am between girlfriends. I was going to pretend I was in a long-distance relationship or something, but I decided against it. Now that you've made me say it, do you guys have any sisters who are single?"
44	* '''Conversed''': "I thought I might like ''Generic Sitcom'', but they're being way too mean to Bob with this imaginary girlfriend RunningGag."
45	* '''Deconstructed''': Real women who might be interested in Bob are discouraged because they think he's taken.
46	* '''Reconstructed''': Most single women don't believe Bob's story.
47	* '''Played for Laughs''': "Marie" shows up, but it's Bob in a WigDressAccent disguise. He fools almost no one, except [[HandsomeLech Bob's rival]] [[SmallNameBigEgo Ethan]], who tries to steal "Marie" before Bob "returns".
48	* '''Played for Drama''': Bob's imaginary girlfriend is just a symptom of much deeper psychological problems caused by his social maladjustment. Over time, he becomes more and more engrossed in his fantasy of a perfect relationship, until he loses the memory that Marie doesn't actually exist.
49	* '''Untwisted''': Bob makes up the GirlfriendInCanada as a joke, and only sticks to the story because he thinks it's funny that his friends believe it. (He ''thinks'' they believe it, anyway.)
50	* '''Implied''': Of the male characters said to be in romantic relationships, Bob is the only one whose partner is never seen.
51	----
52	[[Theatre/AvenueQ Was her name Alberta and she lived in Vancouver, or was it vice versa?]] Either way it's back to your GirlfriendInCanada.

Context PlayingWith / GirlfriendInCanada