History Main / ItMeantSomethingToMe

Compare BecomingTheMask. May also be stated after asking the question, "WasItAllALie"

* In ''{{Devilman}}'', [[spoiler: Ryo gets his memories back, remembering he is Satan]] betrays Akira and leaves him with an impression that their friendship was just a lie. Not only it isn't true, [[spoiler: Ryo is in love with Akira]].

Alice may or may not have feelings for Bob, but even if she does she'll defiantly say that their time together "[[ItDoesntMeanAnything meant nothing to me]]", to which Bob will plead his love with "It meant something to me, dammit!" This might be substituted with "I felt something!" and "I felt nothing!" Of course, Bob will storm off heartbroken that the woman he loves has just shot him down like a World War One observation balloon.

* ''Fanfic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40K'': Subverted. In chapter 36 Asuka feels betrayed and wonders if Kaworu -and even Shinji- were playing with her feelings. Shinji insisted that, although he hates Nagisa, he knows that Kaworu loves her. And Nagisa knows the same thing about Shinji.

--> '''Ernie:''' Happens to me at least once every party. Some guy comes up to me and says "Thank you for making this happen... I needed this. This really meant something to me." And they nod... and I nod back.

* After having sex, the titular characters of ''Film/ZackAndMiriMakeAPorno'' feel something for each other. Zack is the first to admit it, with Miri denying she felt anything because she thought Zack had sex with another actress and didn't reciprocate her feelings... and then Zack leaving, because he thought Miri had had sex with one of the porno's actors. This may be a theme in Creator/KevinSmith's films.

* In ''Film/SomeKindOfWonderful'', [[GreenEyedEpiphany Watts]] [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy tries to coach]] best friend Keith on his date with [[LovableAlphaBitch Amanda Jones]] with a PracticeKiss - followed by Keith ribbing her because she was blushing.

* In ''[[TheSwordOfTruth Stone Of Tears]]'', after one of Richard's teachers (the one closest to him) is revealed as a villain (after trying to drain his gift and life out of him), Richard said that he thought she cared about him... and she answered that maybe she did, and that's why she tried to '''drain''' his gift instead of bleeding it out of him - which is normally accomplished by FlayingAlive the person in question.

-->'''Cordelia:''' Doyle! I thought our kiss meant something. And instead, he-he used that moment to pass [prophetic visions] on to me. Why couldn't it have been mono or herpes?

* Subtle version in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': Mal and Inara dress up and pretend to be a couple to go stake out the villain of the week together at a theater. No big deal is made of this. Mal agrees to help a friend of Inara fight against the villain, one thing leads to another, [[CryCute Inara]] [[LoveHurts finds out]].

-->'''Leo:''' [[BigWhat "WHAT?!"]]

** Also invoked during Chandler and Monica's FriendsWithBenefits relationship when Monica is (unwillingly) set up with another guy. Chandler is hurt and claims ItDoesntMeanAnything because they were 'goofying around' but later admits that he cares about her and it isn't just a fling.

* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', when Joy was still married to Earl [[YourCheatingHeart (but having an affair with Darnell)]], a recurring problem in Joy and Darnell's illicit relationship is that it's all about sex. Joy is OK with that [[spoiler: (she actually did love Earl and wasn't ready to leave him at that point)]], but Darnell wants to actually go out on dates and be a real couple. Joy tells him that it's out of the question because she's already married, and the two proceed to argue. [[spoiler: She angrily dumps him for a while, but they eventually get back together...and a few years (and a ChocolateBaby) later she finally leaves Earl for Darnell.]]
* In ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'', Daya became pregnant in the midst of a SecretRelationship with Officer Bennett. She knows that because the relationship is an UnequalPairing, he could lose his job...[[DontSplitUsUp and be imprisoned himself]]. When her mother won't allow her to [[GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion abort]], the women devise a plan to conceal the baby's real paternity. Namely, sleep with the JerkAss correction officer Mendez (better known as PornStache), and then make a FalseRapeAccusation against him. Although Daya (and really everyone else) despises Pornstache, he actually falls in love with her [[LovingAShadow (or rather some idealized fantasy version of her)]].

* AvrilLavigne's 'Losing Grip'. It...sounds less clunky in context.

* Given an interesting twist in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations''. Obviously Phoenix meant nothing to Dahlia...[[spoiler: but all the emotion moments Phoenix had with Dahlia were really with her substituted twin sister Iris. And to Iris, Phoenix ''did'' mean something.]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* Given an interesting twist in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney: Trials and Tribulations''. Obviously Phoenix meant nothing to Dahlia...[[spoiler: but all the emotion moments Phoenix had with Dahlia were really with her substituted twin sister Iris. And to Iris, Phoenix ''did'' mean something.]]

* In ''RurouniKenshin'', Tomoe lost her fiance [[spoiler: at the hands of Kenshin]], and Kenshin and Tomoe pose as a married couple for a time, but then they ''actually'' fall in love, and Kenshin tells her that their marriage needn't only be for show.

* Occurs often in the manga/anime ''PeachGirl''.

* Flay and Kira in ''GundamSeed''. Kira did like her, but when their relationship started she was ''definitely'' in {{Yandere}} mode, so she failed to realize that she did love him until it was too late. By the time she gets her emotional issues sorted out in that department, [[spoiler:Kira isn't around and she gets taken prisoner]] and it [[UnwittingPawn just goes downhill from there for her]].

* In an early episode of ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', Kyon gets Yuki a library card, since that's the only way to get her out of the library and to the meeting with Haruhi in a reasonable timeframe. Kyon thinks nothing of it, and [[EmotionlessGirl Yuki certainly doesn't make anything of it]], but during ''The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya'', [[spoiler:when Yuki rewrites the world so that she's a normal human, she is careful to keep that memory]].

* Jim and Michelle in AmericanPie2 exhibit a rare mutual version of this, realizing that their rather unromantic sexual experimentation and pretending to be a couple in order to make Nadia jealous has revealed a genuine connection between them. In the next film, they get married.

* This is various played straight, averted, and subverted in layers on ''{{Chuck}}'' between the title character and his CIA handler Sarah, who pretends to be Chuck's girlfriend as a cover for most of the first two seasons. This trope contributes a central part of the drama of the show.

* ''[[Film/CantBuyMeLove Can't Buy Me Love]]'', and its remake, ''Love Don't Cost a Thing.''

* Happens in ''NedAndStacey'' during [[spoiler: the series finale on the former's part]].

* On ''{{Friends}}'', Rachel's old college roommate denies Rachel's claims that they once [[GirlOnGirlIsHot drunkenly made out]], until Rachel finally kisses her again in frustration, saying "maybe you'll remember ''this''," and the girl reveals that she ''does'' remember their first make-out and [[PsychoLesbian has been obsessing over it ever since]], [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial but hastily denies picturing Rachel's face while having sex with her boyfriend.]] Whoops.

* On ''MadMen'' Don Draper had sex with Allison, his secretary, during one of his drunken binges and tries to pretend that it never happened. The woman seems to go along with it for a while and then snaps, throws stuff at him and quits.
-->'''Allison:''' this actually happened
* On ''MyNameIsEarl'', when Joy was still married to Earl [[YourCheatingHeart (but having an affair with Darnell)]], a recurring problem in Joy and Darnell's illicit relationship is that it's all about sex. Joy is OK with that [[spoiler: (she actually did love Earl and wasn't ready to leave him at that point)]], but Darnell wants to actually go out on dates and be a real couple. Joy tells him that it's out of the question because she's already married, and the two proceed to argue. [[spoiler: She angrily dumps him for a while, but they eventually get back together...and a few years (and a ChocolateBaby) later she finally leaves Earl for Darnell.]]

* Subtle version in {{Firefly}}: Mal and Inara dress up and pretend to be a couple to go stake out the villain of the week together at a theater. No big deal is made of this. Mal agrees to help a friend of Inara fight against the villain, one thing leads to another, [[CryCute Inara]] [[LoveHurts finds out]].

* Denise proposed a FWB arrangement with Brad on ''BostonLegal'', which ended when Brad realized he wasn't comfortable with it. When she found out she was pregnant with Brad's baby, she agreed to marry him.

* On ''WillAndGrace'', it is revealed that an old girlfriend of Leo's, Diane, is the only woman Will ever had sex with. He attempts to comfort a jealous Grace by telling her it meant absolutely nothing and he only did it to verify his gayness, whereupon Diane bursts out that it meant a lot to her and was in fact the only time she'd ever had an orgasm.

* Played with in ''QuestionableContent''. [[spoiler:Sven and Faye]] are halfway into SlapSlapKiss territory when they start up a friends with benefits setup until [[spoiler:Sven]] screws it up by sleeping with another girl. After it falls apart, they both realize that it meant something to them. [[spoiler:Faye eventually forgives Sven, but they don't continue their relationship]].

* After having sex, the titular characters of ''Film/ZackAndMiriMakeAPorno'' feel something for each other. Zack is the first to admit it, with Miri denying she felt anything because she thought Zack had sex with another actress and didn't reciprocate her feelings... and then Zack leaving, because he thought Miri had had sex with one of the porno's actors. This may be a theme in KevinSmith's films.

* Happens in ''NedAndStacy'' during [[spoiler: the series finale on the former's part]].

* Possibly the most triumphant example being ''VanillaSky'', with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz's characters finally hashing it out in a moving car. Cameron Diaz is driving. She's very despondent. It doesn't end well.

* ''[[CantBuyMeLove Can't Buy Me Love]]'', and its remake, ''Love Don't Cost a Thing.''

* In ''SomeKindOfWonderful'', [[GreenEyedEpiphany Watts]] [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy tries to coach]] best friend Keith on his date with [[LovableAlphaBitch Amanda Jones]] with a PracticeKiss - followed by Keith ribbing her because she was blushing.

* Given an interesting twist in ''AceAttorney: Trials and Tribulations''. Obviously Phoenix meant nothing to Dahlia...[[spoiler: but all the emotion moments Phoenix had with Dahlia were really with her substituted twin sister Iris. And to Iris, Phoenix ''did'' mean something.]]

* In ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'', Daya became pregnant in the midst of a SecretRelationship with Officer Bennett. She knows that because the relationship is an UnequalRelationship, he could lose his job...[[DontSplitUsUp and be imprisoned himself]]. When her mother won't allow her to [[GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion abort]], the women devise a plan to conceal the baby's real paternity. Namely, sleep with the JerkAss correction officer Mendez (better known as PornStache), and then make a FalseRapeAccusation against him. Although Daya (and really everyone else) despises Pornstache, he actually falls in love with her [[LovingAShadow (or rather some idealized fantasy version of her)]].

* Played with in ''QuestionableContent''. [[spoiler:Sven and Faye]] are halfway into SlapSlapKiss territory when they start up a friends with benefits setup. [[spoiler:Sven]] screws it up by sleeping with another girl (nobody said they were monogamous, Faye had just said it would be over if he did anyone else). They both soon realize that it meant something to the both of them. [[spoiler:Faye does forgive Sven, but they don't continue their relationship]]

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'' has one of these, in an indirect and implicit way in episode 90, when Mai asks Jonouchi/Joey whether she was in the dream he had of all his friends after he's knocked out by a bolt of lightning caused by Odion [[spoiler:pretending to be Marik, summoning Ra by using a counterfeit card]] in episode 89, at which point Joey gets shy/flustered and lies to her. This could arguably be said to have [[spoiler: killed the chance of them developing a real relationship during the series, as it causes her to decide that she doesn't need friendship/bonds to win - which, after being defeated by Marik, even after regaining her memories, leaves her with nothing to keep her from descending into depression and going off on her own, eventually joining Doma.]]
** Note that in the manga, Jounouchi wasn't lying at all, [[spoiler:nor did Mai spiral into depression and despair afterwords.]]
** Also note that she does [[IGotBetter get better]] in the anime.

* In ''RurouniKenshin'', Tomoe lost her fiance [[spoiler: at the hands of Kenshin]], and Kenshin and Tomoe pose as a married couple for a time, but then they ''actually'' fall in love, and Kenshin tells her that their marriage needn't only be for show.

[[folder: Video Games/Visual Novel]]

* As does ''Disney/{{Tangled}}:''