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. |
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FollowingContext PlayingWith / GirlfriendInCanada
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