A
supercouple (also known as a
power couple or
dynamic duo) is a popular or financially wealthy pairing that intrigues and fascinates the public in an intense or even obsessive fashion. The term originated in
AmericaThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and was coined in the early 1980s when intense public interest in
fictionFiction is a branch of literature which deals, in part or in whole, with temporally contrafactual events...
al
soap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name "soap opera" stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble,...
couple Luke Spencer and Laura Webber from
General HospitalGeneral Hospital is an American daytime television drama and is currently credited by the Guiness Book of World Records as being the second longest-running soap opera in production and the second longest running drama in television in production. It premiered on the ABC television network on April...
made the pair a
popular culturePopular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture...
phenomenonA phenomenon is any observable occurrence. In popular usage, a phenomenon often refers to an extraordinary event. In scientific usage, a phenomenon is any event that is observable, however commonplace it might be, even if it requires the use of instrumentation to observe it...
. Outside of the soap opera medium, the supercouple title has proliferated as a way of referring to certain fictional couples from
primetimePrime time or primetime is the block of programming on television during the middle of the evening.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period, for example, from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm...
television dramas and film, such as
Gone with the WindGone with the Wind is a 1939 American drama romance film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name and directed by Victor Fleming...
, whose
Rhett ButlerRhett Butler is a fictional character, and one of the main protagonists of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.-Role:In the beginning of the novel, we first meet Rhett at the Twelve Oaks Plantation barbecue, the home of John Wilkes and his son Ashley and daughter India Wilkes...
and
Scarlett O'HaraScarlett O'Hara is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and in the later film of the same name...
characters popularized the
catch phraseA catch phrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn". The supercouple created by the ill-fated ex-lovers Rick and Ilsa in
CasablancaCasablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in the words of one...
has been called one of cinema's most beloved couples.
With real-life
celebrityA celebrity is a person who is famously recognized in a society or culture.Generally speaking, a celebrity is someone who gets media attention and most frequently has an extroverted personality. The desire to be notable is implied by some to be a part of Western culture and more specifically the...
couples, the tabloid and even the
mainstreamMainstream is, generally, the common current of thought of the majority. However in the reality, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct. It is a term most often applied in the arts...
media have become fascinated with some wealthy or famous power couples, such as the former pairing of
Ben AffleckBen Affleck is an American actor, film director and screenwriter. He became known in the mid 1990s, after his involvement in the film Mallrats and later played the lead role in Chasing Amy in 1997. Affleck has since become an Academy Award winner for his screenplay in Good Will Hunting in 1997...
and
Jennifer LopezJennifer Lynn Lopez , often nicknamed J.Lo, is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, fashion designer and television producer. She is the richest person of Latin American descent in Hollywood according to Forbes, and the most influential Hispanic entertainer in the U.S...
(which became known by the portmanteau "Bennifer", for
Ben and J
ennifer) and the relationship of
Brad PittWilliam Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. He has been cited as one of the world's most attractive men, a label that entices the media to report on his off-screen life...
and
Angelina JolieAngelina Jolie is an American actress and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. She has received three Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and an Academy Award. Jolie has promoted humanitarian causes throughout the world, and is noted for her work with refugees through...
("
BrangelinaBrangelina refers to the supercouple consisting of Brad Pitt, an actor from Fight Club, Se7en, 12 Monkeys and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Angelina Jolie, an actress from Hackers, Girl, Interrupted, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Changeling.-Brad Pitt:Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s,...
"). In addition, the term has entered
psychologyPsychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the systematic, and sometimes scientific, study of human or animal mental functions and behavior...
, as a type of mental stress called "Supercouple Syndrome" which occurs when two overachieving individuals within a romantic pairing are both striving for success.
Definition
Supercouples are defined as popular or financially wealthy, nearly perfect pairings that are widely admired in an intense or obsessive fashion and influence society's expectations of what a great love story or relationship should be; they may or may not be romantic or high-profile, but are often culturally significant. Their existence takes form in television, celebrity, high school and upscale environments, comic books, literature, musicals, as well as in various other incarnations.
The term first appeared in 1981, with the wedding of
General HospitalGeneral Hospital is an American daytime television drama and is currently credited by the Guiness Book of World Records as being the second longest-running soap opera in production and the second longest running drama in television in production. It premiered on the ABC television network on April...
s Luke and Laura. 30 million viewers tuned into the event, and the widespread media attention it received from prominent newspapers and magazines set the pairing up as "the model" for other soap opera supercouples. The "model" Luke and Laura originally followed, which contributed to their mainstream success, consisted of action stories, romance, and obstacles for the couple to overcome. This
paradigmThe word paradigm has been used in linguistics and science to describe distinct concepts....
subsequently became ideal of supercouples, and extended to other genres. In Queer TV: framing sexualities on US television
, Nancy Martin says, "Actively desiring heterosexual pairs not bent on reproduction became a required advertising device and a narratologicalNarratology denotes both the theory and the study of narrative and narrative structure and the ways that these affect our perception. While in principle the word may refer to any systematic study of narrative, in practice its usage is rather more restricted. It is an anglicisation of French...
mainstay on daytime and primetime." In Russian television today: primetime drama and comedy, David MacFadyen concludes, "Even the busiest, most rambling soap operas are often neatly and conclusively distilled in the public's mind by a 'supercouple' or tiny, central pair of protagonists." Luke and Laura's popularity resulted in fictional supercouples being generally regarded as
soulmateSoulmate is a term sometimes used to designate someone with whom one has a feeling of deep and natural affinity, love, intimacy, sexuality, spirituality, and/or compatibility...
s. They are extraordinarily popular couples who have overcome numerous obstacles or significant strife in order to be together. The couple's popularity may sometimes take precedent over the amount of upheaval they have faced.
Though a successful model, the term has been criticized for hindering the growth of characters' relationships with other love interests; this has resulted in alternate definitions for the concept. In her essay criticism of the term, The Siren Call of the Super Couple (ed. Suzanne Frentz, 1992), Diana Reef describes the love of a supercouple as:
...so perfect that they are incapable of having romantic feelings for anyone else under any circumstances. In addition, the two have no personal flaws or idiosyncrasies that could interfere with their perfect love. Only an evil, outside force could disturb their relationship.
For the term's original meaning, celebrity couples are often attributed as well; celebrity pairings who fascinate and intrigue to the point of obsession are typically regarded as supercouples. They can be couples that incite mania or couples whose combined finances and prominent allure contribute to the supercouple title, which often earns them the alternate name of "power couple".
Supercouples are not limited to positive influence. The "dangerous love" of
Depression-eraThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
gangsters
Clyde Barrow and Bonnie ParkerBonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were well known outlaws, robbers, and criminals who, with their gang, traveled the Central United States during the Great Depression. Their exploits were known nationwide...
(popularly known as Bonnie and Clyde) has maintained an enduring international popularity in film, television, music and poetry. In 1967,
a film based on their relationshipBonnie and Clyde is a American crime film about Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the bank robbers who operated in the central United States during the Great Depression. The film was directed by Arthur Penn, and stars Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow and Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker...
was released and cemented the duo's impact on popular culture. Their romance was tragic, with a graphic death. This and "their ceaseless appeal" resulted in the couple's status as an American legend. Writer Joseph Geringer, in his article Bonnie and Clyde:
Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "star-cross'd lovers" whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet and Macbeth, is...
in a Getaway Car, explained part of their appeal to the public then, and their enduring legend now. "Americans thrilled to their '
Robin HoodRobin Hood is a hero in English folklore, a highly-skilled archer and outlaw. In particular, he is known for "stealing from the rich and giving to the poor," assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men"...
' adventures," he said. "The presence of a female, Bonnie, escalated the sincerity of their intentions to make them something unique and individual—even at times heroic."
The appeal of supercouples has evolved into a societal phenomenon; interest in the pairings is usually a combination of chemistry,
physical attractivenessPhysical attractiveness is the perception of the physical traits of an individual human person as aesthetically pleasing or beautiful, and can include various implications such as sexual attractiveness and physique...
, and a seemingly "meant-to-be" union. Due to this, supercouples provide a sense of "grand romance" and a love story to live vicariously through. They symbolize the existence of true love, and are considered to be couples who unbelievably inspire.
Internet and media trends
Fans often use portmanteaux to refer to their favorite couples on online message boards, a significant aspect of the
"shipping fandom"Shipping, derived from the word "relationship", is a general term for fans' emotional and/or intellectual involvement with the ongoing development of romance in a work of fiction...
. The "shipping fandom" scene, whose name is derived from the word "relationship", is a general term for fans' emotional and/or intellectual involvement with the ongoing development of romance in a work of fiction. Though technically applicable to any such involvement, it refers chiefly to various related social dynamics observable on the Internet, and is seldom used outside of that context. "Shipping" can involve virtually any kind of relationship — from the well-known and established, to the ambiguous or those undergoing development, and even to the highly improbable and the blatantly impossible. People involved in shipping (or shippers) assert that the relationship does exist, will exist, or simply that they would like it to exist.
"Portmanteaux first came about with
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer...
" as a way to blend words, relayed Jonathan Gabay, author of the Copywriter's Compendium — a reference guide to the English language. Gabay added that people blend words in this fashion because sometimes there are words an individual wants, but those words do not actually exist. "There's a feeling you are trying to get out," he said. For fictional pairings, examples showcase themselves as
LoganLogan Echolls is a fictional character on the UPN/The CW television series Veronica Mars, which debuted during the fall 2004 season on UPN.He is portrayed by Jason Dohring.- Background :...
and
VeronicaVeronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas. The series premiered on September 22, 2004 during UPN's last two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network...
(
Veronica MarsVeronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas. The series premiered on September 22, 2004 during UPN's last two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network...
) becomes "LoVe," Josh and RevaJoshua "Josh" Lewis and Reva Shayne Lewis are fictional characters and the signature supercouple from the American CBS daytime drama Guiding Light. Josh is played by Robert Newman and Reva is played by Kim Zimmer. The popular couple has been nicknamed the portmanteau name "Jeva" on internet...
(Guiding LightGuiding Light is an American daytime television drama and is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as being the longest-running soap opera in production and the longest running drama in television and radio history...
) becomes "Jeva," JackDr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Jack is the leader of the crash survivors and the main character of the series. He is the antithesis of John Locke and the love interest of both Kate Austen and Juliet Burke...
and KateKatherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
(LostLost is an American serial drama television series. It follows the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island, after a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney, Australia, and Los Angeles, United States, crashes somewhere in the South Pacific...
) becomes "Jate," MichaelMichael J. Scofield is the main protagonist in the American television series Prison Break. He is portrayed by Wentworth Miller...
and SaraDr. Sara Tancredi is a fictional character from the American television series, Prison Break. She is played by Sarah Wayne Callies. Her role in the first season of the series is a prison doctor.-Background:...
(Prison BreakPrison Break is a drama television series created by Paul Scheuring, which premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company on August 29, 2005. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an elaborate plan to help his...
) becomes "MiSa," and so on. Seth CohenSeth Ezekiel Cohen is a fictional character, played by Adam Brody, on FOX series The O.C.. Seth is one of the core characters on The O.C., alongside Summer Roberts , Ryan Atwood , and Marissa Cooper ....
of the show The O.C.The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons...
parodied this when he talked about real couples' overexposure to one another; he wondered whether or not his pairing with
Summer RobertsSummer Roberts is a fictional character on the FOX television series, The O.C. played by Rachel Bilson.-Background:Summer lived in Newport Beach, California, with her father, plastic surgeon Dr. Neil Roberts . For much of the series, she also lived with a stepmother, an unseen character who viewers...
would be called "Summereth" or "Sethummer".
Gabay noted that portmanteaux "...giv[e] people an essence of who they are within the same name. In double-barrelled names, the hyphen is almost pushing one name away from the other. Meshing says 'I am you and you are me', which is rather romantic". Occasionally, even anti-fans come up with names for couples, such as General Hospital's
Sonny CorinthosMichael "Sonny" Corinthos, Jr. is a fictional character on the popular ABC soap opera General Hospital. Maurice Benard has played the role, that of a manic depressive Mob boss living in Port Charles, since the character's storyline originated on August 13, 1993.- Background :Michael "Sonny"...
and Emily Quartermaine. The unpopular pairing of the mob boss and his enforcer's sweet younger sister became known as "Soily". Similarly, name-blending exists with celebrities' first names. Said to be a sign of commitment and togetherness, meshing is also seen by some as an attempt to banish what might be considered a "sexist" tradition of a woman taking her husband's name when she marries.
In other Internet trends, fans often take part in making fan videos (also referred to as fanvids, a compilation of favorite scenes stylishly intercut as
music videoA music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music/song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the...
s or other various forms of entertainment) and writing fanfiction (alternative endings and stories to the show's outcome) for their favorite pairings. Of this,
YouTubeYouTube is a video sharing website on which users can upload and share videos. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005. In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion, and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google...
and
Fanfiction.netFanFiction.Net is an automated fan fiction archive site. It was founded on October 15, 1998 by Los Angeles computer programmer Xing Li, who also runs the site. The first fics to be posted were a few stories about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. , FanFiction.Net is the largest and most popular fan...
are two of the most frequented outlets.
Origins
- See also: List of soap opera supercouples
Soap operas are most well-known and remembered for romance, said
Leah LaimanLeah Laiman is an American soap opera writer and romance novelist.- Background :This Emmy Award winning writer got her start on daytime television during the early 1980s when General Hospital's Head Writer, Pat Falken Smith, quit the show with the entire writing team...
, an American soap opera writer and romance novelist. With romance, daytime dramas are significantly characterized by bringing couples together, splitting them up, and starting the cycle over to ensure that viewers remain invested in the pairings if popular. This is a strategy that often succeeds within the medium. A supercouple storyline is typically detailed by the couple facing seemingly insurmountable challenges, such as a difference in
social classSocial classes are the hierarchical arrangements of people in society as economic or cultural groups. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political economists and social historians...
, strong family interference, simple disagreements, marriages to other people, children with other people, etc.
Two characters making up a supercouple will usually reunite and marry. The most significant obstacle for the pairing is the soap opera genre; it is neverending, and subsequently there is no closure for the couple unless both characters leave the show together or one of them dies. It is because of this, that after the usual fairytale wedding, if the supercouple remains on the series, writers do not allow the item to live happily ever after as a couple in a
fairy taleA fairy tale is a fictional story that may feature folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, gnomes, and talking animals, and usually enchantments, often involving a far-fetched sequence of events...
would but rather subject them to a continual cycle of being separated and reunited. This factor has contributed to two characters of a supercouple normally divorcing and re-marrying each other a few or several times. Reef argues the supercouple phenomenon as creating "serious storyline problems" for producers and writers due to characters being destined for only one lover:
The problem supercouples create for storytellers is that, as characters, therefore, they are unchanging in a narrative form that emphasizes evolving characters and relationships... and as ideals, supercouples bring closure to a relationship in a world that is based in continuing expectations of change.
Creators within the medium generally focus more on the benefits of supercouples rather than the potential problems the pairings can produce. Former
One Life to LiveOne Life to Live is an American soap opera which has been broadcast on the ABC television network since July 15, 1968. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
co-head writer Josh Griffith-Career:During the WGA strike, he took over as Head Writer of CBS Daytimes The Young and the Restless. To do this, he accepted Financial core status with the WGA. Maria Arena Bell, a former writer at The Bold and the Beautiful and daughter-in-law of Y&R creator William J...
said, "What's key to the success of a show is passionate, romantic storytelling and pairings, and that's what creates a supercouple." He added that supercouples embody love and passion.
Legends
Though the term was not coined until the early 1980s, and early supercouples could be noted as Jeff Baker and Penny Hughes and Bob and Lisa HughesRobert "Bob" Hughes and Lisa Miller Hughes were a supercouple on the American CBS soap opera As The World Turns in the 1960s. Bob is played by Don Hastings and Lisa is played by Eileen Fulton....
on As the World TurnsAs the World Turns is an American television soap opera that airs each weekday on CBS.Set in the fictional town of Oakdale, Illinois, the show debuted on Monday, April 2, 1956 at 1:30pm EST. Prior to April 2, 1956 all serials were fifteen minutes in length...
, the first supercouple is primarily considered to be Doug Williams and Julie OlsonDouglas Williams and Julie Olson Williams are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American daytime drama Days of our Lives. Doug and Julie are considered to be the first supercouple in daytime television history. Doug is portrayed by Bill Hayes and Julie is portrayed by Susan Seaforth...
from Days of our LivesDays of our Lives is an American soap opera which has aired nearly every weekday since November 8, 1965 on the NBC network in the United States, and has since been syndicated to many countries around the world. It also broadcasts on SOAPnet weeknights at 11PM ET/PT...
. From 1970 until 1976, Doug and Julie's relationship wavered between love and hate. The chemistry the portrayers exhibited became evident offscreen; the real-life couple, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth, were married in 1974. This set off a commotion among thousands of fans, who wrote endless letters to the show asking that the couple also be allowed to marry in the story. Since the actors were already married, they felt this was a valid request.
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
worked the tension and lengthened the anticipation of the wedding but eventually caved into the audience's pressure. Doug and Julie are married in October 1976 within the series. They are the first soap opera characters to appear on the cover of
TimeTime is an American newsmagazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong. As of 2009, Time no longer publishes a Canadian advertiser edition...
magazine.
Luke Spencer and Laura Webber, portrayed by Anthony GearyAnthony Geary is an American actor. He has starred on the ABC daytime drama General Hospital as Luke Spencer from 1978 to 1984 and from 1993 to present.-Career:...
and Genie FrancisGenie Francis is an American actress known for her portrayal of Laura Spencer on the ABC daytime drama General Hospital, a role she played from 1976 to 2002, and then again, briefly in 2006 and 2008.-Personal life:Francis's father, Ivor Francis, a Canadian actor of English descent, died in 1986...
from General HospitalGeneral Hospital is an American daytime television drama and is currently credited by the Guiness Book of World Records as being the second longest-running soap opera in production and the second longest running drama in television in production. It premiered on the ABC television network on April...
, are considered the most famous soap opera supercouple. Their romance enthralled viewers; when they wed on November 16, 1981, American daytime television recorded its highest-ever ratings, with 30 million people tuning in to watch them say "I do."
Elizabeth TaylorDame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, DBE , also known as Liz Taylor, is an English-born British-American actress. Known for her acting skills and beauty, as well as her Hollywood lifestyle, including many marriages...
made a
cameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television. Short appearances by film directors, politicians, athletes, musicians, and other celebrities are common. These roles are generally small, and...
during the wedding, and
Princess DianaDiana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. Their sons, Princes William and Harry, are second and third in line to the thrones of the United Kingdom and fifteen other Commonwealth Realms.A public figure from the announcement of her engagement to Prince Charles, Diana...
reportedly sent champagne. The couple was featured on the covers of
PeoplePeople is a weekly American magazine of celebrity and human-interest stories, published by Time Inc. As of 2006, it has a circulation of 3.75 million and revenue expected to top $1.5 billion. It was named "Magazine of the Year" by Advertising Age in October 2005, for excellence in editorial,...
and NewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly newsmagazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
and credited with having brought "legitimacy to daytime serials" and its fans by crossing boundaries and becoming celebrities in the mainstream media. As a result, Luke and Laura have become regarded as daytime television's quintessential and most iconicA cultural icon can be an image, a symbol, a logo, picture, name, face, person, or building or other image that is readily recognized, and generally represents an object or concept with great cultural significance to a wide cultural group....
couple. While Guiding LightGuiding Light is an American daytime television drama and is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as being the longest-running soap opera in production and the longest running drama in television and radio history...
has the smallest number of supercouples, the series still had prominent pairings, notably Quint and Nola, as well as Josh and Reva, one of the central supercouples from the 1980s onward. In 1982, All My ChildrenAll My Children is an American soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970; repeat episodes air weeknights on SOAPnet. Created by Agnes Nixon, the show is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia...
s Jesse and Angie became the first
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
supercouple.
"Dirty" DenDennis "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well-known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den"....
and
Angie WattsAngela "Angie" Watts is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Anita Dobson from the first episode of the show until 1988 when the actress decided to quit and the character was written out....
, portrayed by
Leslie GranthamLeslie Michael Grantham is an English actor best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the soap opera EastEnders...
and
Anita DobsonAnita Dobson is an English television actress.- Career :Dobson trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts in London....
on the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
soap opera
EastEndersEastEnders is a long-running, popular and award-winning television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985...
, generated an audience response similar to that of the supercouples on American soap operas. Den and Angie are renowned as arguably Britain's most iconic soap opera couple, having broken the record for episode ratings to 30.1 million viewers in 1986 on the episode of their divorce, a record that remains unbeaten by any British soap opera episode today.
Golden Age: 1980s
The 1980s is known as the "Golden Age" of supercouples. Shows such as
All My Children,
As the World TurnsAs the World Turns is an American television soap opera that airs each weekday on CBS.Set in the fictional town of Oakdale, Illinois, the show debuted on Monday, April 2, 1956 at 1:30pm EST. Prior to April 2, 1956 all serials were fifteen minutes in length...
and along with the aforementioned
General Hospital and
Days of our Lives were well-known for their supercouples.
Days of our Lives in particular had a significant number of supercouples —
Bo and HopeBeauregard "Bo" Brady and Hope Williams Brady are fictional characters and the signature supercouple on the American daytime drama Days of our Lives. Bo is portrayed by Peter Reckell and Hope is portrayed by Kristian Alfonso. On internet message boards, the couple is often referred by the...
, Shane and Kimberly, Steve and Kayla and
Jack and JenniferJack Harcourt Deveraux and Jennifer Rose Horton Deveraux are fictional characters and a supercouple from the NBC daytime drama Days of our Lives, whose history spans from 1989 until 2006. The two have been portrayed by more than one actor/actress since their inception, but were originally, most...
all going on at roughly the same time. The show soon featured John and Marlena.
All My Children was represented by Cliff and Nina,
Greg and JennyGreg Nelson and Jenny Gardner are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American soap opera All My Children.Greg was portrayed by Laurence Lau, and Jenny was portrayed by actress Kim Delaney....
, Jesse and Angie, and later by Tad and Dixie.
As the World Turns had the popular couples
Holden and LilyHolden Snyder and Lily Walsh Snyder are fictional characters and the signature supercouple of the American daytime drama As the World Turns. Holden is portrayed by Jon Hensley and Lily is portrayed by Noelle Beck, and formerly by Martha Byrne...
,
Craig and SierraCraig Montgomery and Sierra Estaban Montgomery are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American daytime drama As the World Turns. Craig has been played by Scott Bryce , Hunt Block , Jeffrey Meek and Jon Lindstrom...
,
Tom and MargoThomas "Tom" Hughes and Margo Montgomery Hughes are fictional characters and a supercouple on the American CBS daytme drama As The World Turns. Currently, Tom is played by Scott Holmes and Margo is played by Ellen Dolan...
, and Steve and Betsy with
Betsy StewartElizabeth "Betsy" Stewart was a fictional character on the American soap opera As the World Turns. Betsy was played most notably by Meg Ryan and Lindsay Frost . Her pairing with Frank Runyeon's Steve became one of the show's most popular supercouples of the 1980s....
being portrayed by future star
Meg RyanMargaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra , professionally known as Meg Ryan, is an American film actress whose lead roles in five 1990s romantic comedies - When Harry Met Sally..., Sleepless in Seattle, French Kiss, City of Angels and You've Got Mail - grossed over $870 million worldwide.-Early years:Ryan was...
. Along with Luke and Laura,
General Hospital also boasted Alan and Monica and
Frisco and FeliciaAndrew "Frisco" Jones and Felicia Jones are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American soap opera General Hospital. Frisco was portrayed by Jack Wagner, and Felicia was portrayed by Kristina Wagner.-Storyline:...
. At the same time,
Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara is an American decade-long and award-winning television soap opera, first broadcast in United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show covered the exciting, eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California...
introduced another supercouple,
Eden and Cruz CastilloEden Capwell and Cruz Castillo are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American daytime drama Santa Barbara. Eden was portrayed by American actress Marcy Walker from September 28, 1984 to August 9, 1991, and Cruz was portrayed by actor A Martinez from August 13, 1984 to September 11,...
.
The supercouple phenomenon spread to foreign shores, with Scott and Charlene, portrayed by
Jason DonovanJason Sean Donovan is an Australian actor and singer. He has been recently linked to the fast growing Australian show, Catch the Kanga. In the UK he has sold more than 3 million records, and his début album Ten Good Reasons was the highest-selling album of 1989 with sales of over 1.5 million...
and
Kylie MinogueKylie Ann Minogue, OBE is an Australian pop singer, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actor on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing her career as a recording artist in 1987...
on the
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n soap opera
NeighboursNeighbours is a Logie Award-winning Australian soap opera, which began airing in March 1985. The series follows the lives of families who live in the six houses at the end of Ramsay Street, a short cul-de-sac in the fictional middle-class suburb of Erinsborough. Storylines explore the romances,...
. The success of their romance prompted a fellow Australian daytime drama
Home and AwayHome and Away is a Logie Award-winning Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney by the Seven Network since July 1987. It premiered in January 1988 and is the second longest-running drama on Australian television, winning more than 30 Logie Awards.The show initially focused on the...
to shelve out their own supercouple, Shane and Angel, and Den and Angie from
EastEnders emerged as Britain's most famous soap opera couple.
Sheraton Kalouria, NBC's Vice President of Daytime Programming, said she believes in
the "it" factorThe it factor refers to an undefinable quality a person has that makes them charismatic or attractive in some way. While the term is generally used in the entertainment industry, politicians, religious leaders, and job-seekers could all be described to have the it factor.-References:*...
regarding fictional couples. "It's hard to imagine Bo and Hope as a supercouple and divorce that from the magnetic chemistry of
Peter ReckellPeter Paul Reckell is an American actor.Reckell has played Bo Brady on the American soap opera Days of our Lives from 1983 to 1987, 1990 to 1992, and from 1995 to the present...
and
Kristian AlfonsoKristian-Joy Alfonso is a Daytime Emmy-nominated American soap opera actress, and former figure skater and model. She is best known for her portrayal of Hope Williams Brady in Days of our Lives.-Early career:...
," she stated. "Or Cruz and Eden from
Santa Barbara days and
A MartinezAdolfo Martinez is an Emmy Award winning American actor and singer with prominent roles in the daytime soap opera Santa Barbara and the primetime dramas L.A. Law and Profiler.-Early life:...
and
Marcy WalkerMarcy Lynn Walker is an American actress known for her roles on daytime soap operas. Her most famous roles are that of Liza Colby on All My Children which she played from 1981 to 1984 and again from 1995 to 2005, and as Eden Capwell on Santa Barbara from 1984 to 1991.-Early life:Walker was born in...
. Or
McKenzie WestmoreMcKenzie Kate Westmore is an American actress/singer most popular for having portrayed the role of Sheridan Crane Lopez-Fitzgerald on the television soap opera Passions from 1999 to 2008. To fans of Passions, Sheridan is well-known for her popular pairing with Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, portrayed by...
as Sheridan and
Galen GeringGalen Gering is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald on the NBC daytime soap opera Passions.- Biography :...
as Luis, if I might be so bold as to dub them a supercouple. Actors bring a huge excitement to [their pairing]."
Decline and remolding: 1990s-2000s
Popular couplings on soap operas exist today, but few of them are called supercouples by fans and the soap opera media. Usually, the term is reminiscient of the 1970s and 1980s. As such, the few supercouples that are still on serials today are mostly from the 1980s, or at the latest, the early 1990s. After the mid-1990s, the supercouple phenomenon slowly faded and the nature of soap operas today allows few couples to define the nature of the show anymore as original supercouples once did.
Days of our Lives executive producer
Ken CordayKen Corday is an American television soap opera producer and music composer. He is the son of the late Ted and Betty Corday...
said that while he feels that "
love in the afternoon"Love in the Afternoon" was a well-known advertising campaign used by ABC to market its soap operas in the form of newspaper advertisements and television commercials...
" is still important to the genre, he takes exception with the supercouple title. "It disappeared from my vocabulary when
Al RabinAl Rabin is a producer of soap operas, specifically known for his work on Days of our Lives. Rabin served in multiple capacities in his sixteen years at Days, first as a director and then as a supervising executive producer to Mrs. Ted Corday, and from 1985 to 1992 as a co-executive producer.Since...
left the show," he said. Rabin, Corday's former supervising producer, had continually credited the word as the secret to the show's success. "By definition, supercouple excludes others on the show," said Corday. "Every time they walk into a room, every other character, no matter how important, becomes window dressing, I've never believed in it. Either people are involved in a good story or they're not. They're an interesting couple or they're not."
All My Children and
One Life to Live creator
Agnes NixonAgnes Nixon is an American writer and producer.She attended Northwestern University where she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority....
argued, "It is still a vital component whenever possible." She stressed the importance of creating "young love [stories], the
Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "star-cross'd lovers" whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet and Macbeth, is...
" of tomorrow.
Shows have attempted to revive the success of supercouples through modern couples. There are instances where a character becomes a part of two popular pairings, where both couples which include the character develop the same or close to the same amount of positive fan reaction from viewers. This causes a certain rivalry between the two couples, with both vying for the title of supercouple. An example of this was especially evident with the mid 1990s storyline of
General Hospital's Sonny CorinthosMichael "Sonny" Corinthos, Jr. is a fictional character on the popular ABC soap opera General Hospital. Maurice Benard has played the role, that of a manic depressive Mob boss living in Port Charles, since the character's storyline originated on August 13, 1993.- Background :Michael "Sonny"...
, Brenda Barrett, and
Jasper "Jax" JacksJasper "Jax" Jacks is a fictional character from the ABC soap opera General Hospital. He has been played by actor Ingo Rademacher from January 1996 to August 2000 and returned since August 2001...
, often referred to as "the hottest love triangle in soap opera history" by the soap opera media. The couple combinations within the love triangle were equally in demand, and which of the two is the "actual supercouple" remains in dispute. Though debated, both couples are referenced and listed as supercouples by the soap opera medium.
Yahoo! TVYahoo! Inc. is an American public corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, , that provides Internet services worldwide...
stated that "...
Vanessa MarcilVanessa Marcil is an American actress known for her roles in the long-running soap opera General Hospital, Beverly Hills, 90210 and the television series Las Vegas.-Early life:...
’s coupling with
BenardMaurice Benard is an American actor. He is known primarily for his Daytime Emmy Award-winning portrayal of romantic mobster Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, Jr...
, gave 'GH' its first legitimate heir to the 'Luke and Laura' throne of soap coupledom". The article commented that the Marcil’s Brenda Barrett character, "a spoiled, troubled beauty drawn to danger and dangerous men" created "... explosive sparks" with Corinthos, who was rumored to be involved in crime. The Yahoo article argued that this type of supercouple "... has not been seen on daytime television in some time — if ever", and that, "along with the return of Luke and Laura after a decade-long absence", it created a "second golden age" for soaps as "the daytime appointment television". The Sonny character eventually acquired second supercouple status in the pairing of Sonny and Carly, as he became a part of two successful on-screen romances.
In other instances, a character is part of two equally popular couplings, but the storyline does not lend itself to the scenario being referred to as a love triangle.
Samantha "Sami" BradySamantha Gene "Sami" Brady is a fictional character on the American soap opera Days of our Lives. Born onscreen October 16, 1984, Later SORASed to October 16, 1977, Sami has been portrayed by Alison Sweeney since early 1993.- Casting and Awards :The character was previously portrayed by seven...
of the soap opera
Days of our Lives is romantically desired by the two men,
Lucas RobertsLucas Desmond Horton is a fictional character on the American soap opera Days of our Lives. He is portrayed by Bryan Dattilo.-Fictional character history:...
and EJ Wells. However, she was not considered to be actively involved in a love triangle, and both couples (
Lucas and SamiLucas Desmond Horton and Samantha Gene "Sami" Brady are a fictional couple on the American soap opera Days of our Lives. Lucas is played by Bryan Dattilo and Sami is played by Alison Sweeney. They are often referred by the portmanteau "Lumi" on internet message boards...
and
EJ and SamiEJ DiMera and Samantha "Sami" Brady are fictional characters and a pairing from the American soap opera Days of our Lives. Since 1993, the role of Sami Brady has been portrayed by actress Alison Sweeney. James Scott has portrayed the role of EJ since the character's introduction on May 30, 2006...
) resonate with fans and appear to be at least equal in comparison and popularity.
In today's soap opera medium, there are couples which come close to gaining supercouple status in terms of popularity. Although these pairings have perceived chemistry and potential, the couple's story is cut short, often due to the actors leaving to pursue jobs outside of soap operas or due to the writers changing direction in a storyline. These couples do not last long enough onscreen to garner the long history of what is often considered a genuine supercouple. Such couples include
Leo and GreenleeLeo du Pres and Greenlee Smythe du Pres are fictional characters and a couple from the American daytime drama All My Children. Leo was portrayed by Josh Duhamel, and Greenlee was portrayed by Rebecca Budig...
(
All My Children), Ryan and Gillian (
All My Children), Dusty and Lucy (
As the World Turns),
Simon and KatieSimon Frasier and Katie Peretti Frasier were a popular couple on the American soap opera As the World Turns. Simon was played by Paul Leyden and Katie is played by Terri Colombino. The couple is often referred to as the portmanteau "SKatie" .- Storyline :Simon Frasier and Katie Peretti met one...
(
As the World Turns), Robin and Stone (
General Hospital),
Jonathan and TammyJonathan Randall and Tammy Layne Winslow Randall, portrayed by Tom Pelphrey and Stephanie Gatschet, were a couple on the American soap opera Guiding Light. The pair, often referred to by the portmanteau "Jammy"...
(
Guiding Light), and Todd and Téa (
One Life to LiveOne Life to Live is an American soap opera which has been broadcast on the ABC television network since July 15, 1968. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
). These couples were or are popular with critics and fans, and may have become beloved supercouples.
Soap opera columnist Carolyn Aspenson stated that the "supercouple formula" should be redefined. She argued that tragic couples such as Leo and Greenlee are a better love story than if they had stayed together with a "boring" everyday life. "A super couple shouldn’t be designed to be a couple that beats the odds and sticks it out no matter what," she said. "We’re left with nothing on those terms. Instead, try redefining a super couple by the intensity of their love, their loss and their ability to move on without their other half. It leaves us frustrated, heartbroken and yearning for more. To me, that is the definition of a super couple."
Gay and lesbian
Soap operas are traditionally
heterosexualHeterosexuality consists of sexual behavior, practices, and identity predicated on preference or desire for the opposite sex. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, physical or romantic attractions primarily to...
when featuring romance and true love. For American soap opera, this began to change with characters
Bianca MontgomeryBianca Christine Montgomery is a fictional character from the American daytime drama All My Children. She is portrayed by actress Eden Riegel; others who have portrayed this role include Lacey Chabert, Nathalie Paulding, Gina Gallagher, Caroline Wilde, and as a baby, Jessica Leigh Falborn...
,
Lena KunderaLena Kundera is a fictional character from the American soap opera All My Children. She was portrayed by Polish actress Olga Sosnovska. The character became the first recurring bisexual character on daytime television.- Polish businesswoman :...
, and
Maggie StoneMary Margaret "Maggie" Stone is a fictional character from the American daytime drama All My Children. She is portrayed by actress Elizabeth Hendrickson, who also portrayed Maggie's identical twin sister, Mary Frances "Frankie" Stone. The character comes to Pine Valley in early 2002 after the death...
from
All My Children. Bianca's unveiling as a lesbian marked uncharted territory for daytime television. By being a core character and the daughter of legendary
divaA diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and by extension in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
Erica KaneErica Kane is a long-running fictional character from the American daytime drama All My Children. Along with Dr. Joe Martin, she is one of two original characters remaining since the series' premiere episode. Created in the 1960s, the character has been portrayed by actress Susan Lucci since the...
, "the show initiated an innovative discourse about the possibility, location, and representation of lesbian and gay characters in a television genre historically predicated on the celebration of heterosexual courtship, romance, and family life".
In 2003, Bianca's relationship with Lena resulted in American daytime's first lesbian kiss. The two became American daytime's first lesbian couple, and received significant press. Though
Lena and BiancaLena Kundera and Bianca Montgomery are fictional characters from the American daytime drama All My Children. Commonly referred to by the portmanteau "Lianca" , they were the first lesbian couple on an American soap opera. Lena was portrayed by Olga Sosnovska, and Bianca is portrayed by Eden Riegel...
's romance was well-received, popular, and the couple became responsible for several historic moments within daytime television, it was Bianca's relationship with close confidante Maggie that thoroughly captivated viewers. What made the romance especially unique was the show's insistence that character Maggie was not gay; the show's insistence did not deter viewers from wanting the two romantically paired, and they often wrote in to the network (
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
) pleading and demanding that Bianca and Maggie become an official item. Eventually, hints that Maggie might not be heterosexual started to appear throughout the series, complicated by Maggie insisting that she was not gay but rather "into guys" and only guys. The audience saw this as a case of a woman in denial of her sexual orientation. Fan mail for the Bianca and Maggie pairing was prominent. The show continued to tease the audience with subtext that implied that the two romantically desired each other, which included friendly and intimate kisses between the two characters. Bianca and Maggie's scenes were often written so that the pair would be on the verge of becoming a couple, even with declarations of clear romantic love from one to the other, but never quite making it there.
This coy approach by the writers infuriated viewers, but they remained entranced by the pairing. The couple's popularity grew beyond soap opera press, as newspapers and television magazines became fascinated by the love story as well.
TV GuideTV Guide is a North American weekly magazine about television programming.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews. Some issues have also featured horoscope listings and crossword puzzles.-Annenberg/Triangle era: The...
,
The AdvocateThe Advocate is an American lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender monthly newsmagazine. Established in 1967, it is the oldest continuing LGBT publication in the United States....
,
Daily News, among others, were of the media taking interest. The pairing eventually became the most popular gay couple in soap opera history, which shocked industry insiders that a gay pairing could be as significantly in demand as heterosexual pairings. Though Bianca and Maggie's romance was not made official until both were offscreen, it made clear the answer to writers and executives who had been conflicted about including gay and lesbian love stories — daytime was interested.
Bianca and MaggieBianca Montgomery and Maggie Stone are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American daytime drama All My Children. Bianca is portrayed by Eden Riegel, and Maggie is portrayed by Elizabeth Hendrickson....
subsequently became American soap opera's first
same-sexA same-sex relationship can take one of many forms, from romantic and sexual, to non-romantic close relationships between two persons of the same gender....
supercouple.
"While the past decade has witnessed a growing number of lesbian, gay,
bisexualBisexuality is sexual behavior with or physical attraction to both sexes , or a bisexual orientation. People who have a bisexual orientation "can experience sexual, emotional, and affectional attraction to both their own sex and the opposite sex"; "it also refers to an individual’s sense of...
, and
transgenderTransgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to diverge from the normative gender roles....
ed characters in primetime dramas and situation comedies, daytime soap operas offer unique challenges (and possibilities) regarding the inclusion and 'normalization' of varied sexualities in entertainment television." Daytime television has been ahead of primetime for some time in exploring diverse or controversial storylines and characters, with the one glaring exception being
homosexualityHomosexuality is the romantic or sexual attraction or behavior among members of the same sex, situationally or as an enduring disposition. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is considered to lie within the heterosexual-homosexual continuum of human sexuality, and refers to an individual’s...
. Gay and lesbian issues or characters were invisible in 1950s and early 1960s TV. When it came to the mainstream shows, audiences were built up as "replications of the idealized, middleclass nuclear family, defined as
monogamousMonogamy is the state of having only one sexual partner at any one time. The word monogamy comes from the Greek word monos "μονός", which means one or alone, and the Greek word gamos "γάμος", which means marriage or union...
heterosexual couples with children" (Buxton, 1997, p. 1477). Because of this perception of what was ideal, networks geared programming toward it, feeling that viewers were exactly like these images on their television screens.
In contrast to primetime, daytime dramas have different obstacles to developing innovative programming, with their advertising sponsors being more conservative, their audience smaller and "genre restrictions that emphasize continuity and respect for history over innovation". Soap opera tried its first chance at including a gay character back in 1983 on
All My Children. Actress
Donna PescowDonna Pescow is an American film and television actress.-Life and career:Pescow was born in Brooklyn, New York to a Jewish family. Her father owned and ran a news stand in downtown NYC at Battery Place. Pescow attended Sheepshead Bay High School in Brooklyn, NY and she took drama classes with...
portrayed Dr. Lynn Carson, who "
came outComing out of the closet, or simply coming out, is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people disclosing their sexual orientation and gender identity...
" as a lesbian to patient and confidante Devon Shepherd McFadden (
Tricia PursleyTricia Pursley is an American actress.She is best known for her role as Devon Shepherd McFadden, the daughter of Ellen Shepherd , on the soap opera All My Children...
). The two women admit to having romantic feelings for each other — "and that’s about as sexual as the good doctor, or any other gay soap character, would get for quite some time. A gay man whose never-seen partner with
AIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus ....
came later, followed by a couple of gay teens who battled community
homophobiaHomophobia is defined as an "irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals", or individuals perceived to be homosexual; it is also defined as "unreasoning fear of or antipathy toward homosexuals and homosexuality", "fear of or contempt for lesbians and gay...
in the 1990s."
A prominent obstacle for gay and lesbian characters on daytime television is interference from television network executives who fear a decline in their ratings. The characters are often denied fulfilling and lasting romances with others of the same sex. "Before Bianca's gay character was written into
All My Children, the purpose of gay characters was to make a point or explain homosexuality for the audience — a task handled within the course of a few episodes. The distraught parents or angry bullies who caused the early gay characters so much turmoil would suddenly see the light. Then the story — and the character — would simply vanish." It was not until Bianca that prominent gay characters and couples seemed possible within American daytime. Since then, American soap operas have tried to replicate the success of the Bianca character with the introduction of their own gay and lesbian characters. One soap opera in particular,
As the World Turns, has been successful in launching the first popular romance between two men on an American daytime drama,
Luke Snyder and Noah MayerLuke Snyder and Noah Mayer are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American CBS daytime drama As the World Turns. Luke is portrayed by Van Hansis, and Noah is portrayed by Jake Silbermann. On Internet message boards, the couple is referred to by the portmanteaus "Nuke" and "Loah"...
. In late 2007, the two make television history by carrying out the first kiss between two male lovers on an American soap opera. The popularity of the pairing borders on the same fascination level that centered around Bianca and Maggie's lesbian romance. Not even months into the romantic aspect of their relationship,
TV Guide named the male duo a top power couple.
Noah MayerNoah Mayer is a fictional character on CBS's daytime drama As the World Turns. He is portrayed by Jake Silbermann and made his first appearance on June 1, 2007.Noah Mayer was an intern at WOAK television and is now a student at Oakdale University...
is one of the latest soap opera characters to "come out" and joins Bianca and others as visible gay characters in daytime. One year before Luke and Noah, the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
soap opera
HollyoaksHollyoaks is a long-running television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...
had already embarked on issuing their own gay male supercouple, between characters
John Paul McQueen and Craig DeanJohn Paul McQueen and Craig Dean are fictional characters and a supercouple from the long-running British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. John Paul is portrayed by James Sutton, and Craig is portrayed by Guy Burnet. On Internet forums, the couple is referred to by the portmanteau "McDean"...
; the storyline became one of the show's most successful, gaining "legions" of fans. The budding same-sex romance on
Guiding LightGuiding Light is an American daytime television drama and is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as being the longest-running soap opera in production and the longest running drama in television and radio history...
between
Olivia Spencer and Natalia Rivera AitoroOlivia Spencer and Natalia Rivera Aitoro, often referred to by the portmanteau Otalia, are a fictional couple from the American CBS daytime drama Guiding Light. Olivia is portrayed by Crystal Chappell, and Natalia is portrayed by Jessica Leccia....
became popular with fans in 2009.
While gay male romances are garnering attention, their female counterparts are garnering the most affection. In either aspect, fictional gay and lesbian romances are making an impact. "These stories have the ability to reach the many different generations of viewers who watch daytime and share with them stories of our lives," stated Damon Romine, media entertainment director for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation organization. "What viewers are seeing is that more and more of their own neighbors and friends are dealing with these issues, and the soaps are merely reflecting the reality of the world we live in."
Primetime television
- See also: List of primetime supercouples
Primetime supercouple formulas are usually less evident than those of soap opera couples, but often include
paradigmThe word paradigm has been used in linguistics and science to describe distinct concepts....
s as well; one paradigm is the typical
love-hate relationshipA love-hate relationship is a personal relationship involving simultaneous or alternating emotions of love and enmity. This relationship does not have to be of a romantic nature, and may be instead of a sibling one...
. Characters Krystle and Blake (
Linda EvansLinda Evans is an American actress known primarily for her roles on television. She rose to fame as Barbara Stanwyck's daughter, Audra Barkley, on the 1960s Western, The Big Valley...
and
John ForsytheJohn Forsythe is an American stage, television and film actor. Forsythe starred in three television series, spanning three decades, as single playboy father Bentley Gregg in the 1950s sitcom Bachelor Father ; as the unseen millionaire Charles Townsend on the 1970s crime drama Charlie's Angels ,...
) from the television series
DynastyDynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
are seen fighting for years, through ex-lovers and a host of other interferences. Krystle winds up in a coma and Blake spends years in jail, but their love eventually conquers all. They subsequently became one of television's classic supercouples. Other early primetime power couplings include Ricky and Lucy (
Desi ArnazDesi Arnaz was a Cuban-American musician, actor and television producer. He gained international renown for leading a Latino music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra...
and
Lucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedienne, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy...
) from
I Love LucyI Love Lucy is an American television sitcom, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951 to April 1, 1960 on CBS...
, Pam and Bobby (
Victoria PrincipalVictoria Principal is an American actress, best known for her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing on the CBS nighttime drama Dallas from 1978 to 1987.-Early life:...
and
Patrick DuffyPatrick Duffy is an American television actor. He is best known for his roles as Bobby Ewing on the CBS drama Dallas , and as Frank Lambert on the ABC television sitcom Step By Step .-Career:In 1976, Duffy landed the role of Mark Harris in the short-lived television series Man from Atlantis...
) from
DallasDallas is an American prime-time television soap opera that originally ran from 1978 to 1991. It revolved around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries...
, and Cliff and Clair Huxtable (
Bill CosbyWilliam Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, The Bill Cosby Show,...
and
Phylicia RashādPhylicia Rashād is an American actress, best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the 1984-1992 NBC sitcom The Cosby Show....
) from
The Cosby ShowThe Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, first airing on September 20, 1984 and running for eight seasons on the NBC television network, until April 30, 1992...
, among others.
Sometimes television shows produce the occasional tragic love story, as in the case of
BuffyBuffy Summers is a fictional character from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer, before going on to appear in the television series and subsequent comic book of the same name...
and Angel from the series
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The pair's long and tortured fight to be together cemented their place in supercouple history. Voted #2 on
IGNIGN is a multimedia news and reviews website that focuses heavily on video games...
's list of Top 10 Favorite TV Couples, and #5 on
AOLAmerica Online, LLC is an American global Internet services and media company operated by Time Warner. It is headquartered at 770 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City...
's list of Greatest TV Couples of All Time, the sites categorized the pairing as "the ultimate"
star-crossed"Star-crossed" or "star-crossed lovers" is a phrase describing a pair of lovers whose relationship is said to be doomed from the start. The phrase is astrological in origin, stemming from the belief that the positions of the stars ruled over people's fates...
couple. IGN stated of the pairing's early gloomy angst:
Creator of the series,
Joss WhedonJoseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American director, executive producer, occasional actor, and creator and head writer of the television programs Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse...
, said, "'Becoming', Parts 1 and 2... really sort of charted the main points of the Buffy/Angel relationship in all its difficulty and romance." Buffy's portrayer,
Sarah Michelle GellarSarah Michelle Prinze, better known by her birth name of Sarah Michelle Gellar, is an American film and television actress...
, said, "I think deep down Buffy will always love Angel and she will never love anyone the way in which she loves him. I think they found a wonderful supercouple in Buffy and Angel."
Not all shows are adequately suited for telling a tragic love story. For comedies, there is often the mismatched couple approach, and for dramas, there tends to be the "will-they-won't-they" setup. Website Cinemablend states, "There’s two general formulas for a 'will-they-wont-they' setup."
The first one is when one person pursues the other, then finally gives up and dates someone else, and the other scenario is when the two characters are so different and often do not get along with one another, they fight and argue constantly, but then one thing or a series of 'things' happen and they are forced to put up with each other.
Examples of popular couples cited for having displayed this formula are Buffy and Spike (of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer),
RossRoss Geller, Ph.D. is a fictional character on the popular US television sitcom Friends , played by David Schwimmer. The character is noted for his geeky, lovelorn demeanor.- Personality :...
and
RachelRachel Karen Green is a fictional character on the popular U.S. television sitcom Friends , played by Jennifer Aniston, who received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her performances.-Background:...
(of the show
FriendsFriends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994. The series revolved around a group of friends in the area of Manhattan, New York City, who occasionally live together and share living expenses. The series was produced by...
),
LoganLogan Echolls is a fictional character on the UPN/The CW television series Veronica Mars, which debuted during the fall 2004 season on UPN.He is portrayed by Jason Dohring.- Background :...
and
VeronicaVeronica Mars is a fictional character in UPN/The CW the television series, Veronica Mars, which aired on the UPN and CW networks from 2004 to 2007. She is portrayed by Kristen Bell.- Background and details of plot:...
(of the show
Veronica MarsVeronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas. The series premiered on September 22, 2004 during UPN's last two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network...
). One of the well-known "will-they-won't-they" setups is the sexual-tension filled relationship of supercouple
Agent Fox MulderFBI Special agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence...
and
Agent Dana ScullySpecial agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character on the Fox television series The X-Files . She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series, played by Gillian Anderson...
from the science fiction/thriller series
The X-FilesThe X-Files is an American cult science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. It first aired in September 1993 and ended in May 2002...
. Mulder and Scully, two FBI agents investigating cases that involve the
paranormalParanormal is a general term that describes unusual experiences that lack a scientific explanation, or phenomena alleged to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
, are showcased as having a relationship which borders on subtle hints of romance throughout the series without the two being heavily romantically involved. While the anticipation for Mulder and Scully to romantically commit to each other was widespread, romantic intimacy between the two was considered as not having happened as soon as fans would have hoped for; when the two are finally shown sharing a kiss in 1999 after seven seasons of buildup, some viewers felt that the show waited too long to script the event. In this case, if a series goes on too long with sexual tension before finally acting on romantic intimacy between the characters, it may result in viewers feeling that the best part of having watched the pairing was their "will-they-won't-they" status.
With some fictional supercouples from soap opera or primetime, the couple may have started out as an unexpected pairing, in which case they may not have followed a paradigm. However, due to viewers becoming excited over the prospect of chemistry between the two, the show's producers and writers decide to pair the unlikely lovers.
Film
- See also: List of film supercouples
Of all the various forms of entertainment, film is considered the most influential medium that defines a supercouple. Given that films inherently have a shorter amount of time to develop characters and carry out storylines, the task of convincing the audience that the two main lovers within the film are true loves can be somewhat daunting. With film, if not enough of the plot focuses on the buildup of the two lovers' interaction, it can leave the love story seemingly more contrived than a soap opera or a primetime drama putting together a quick romantic union. An aid to this can be a classic line (otherwise referred to as the
catch phraseA catch phrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...
) spoken between the couple, which may create an iconic supercouple.
Film love stories will often resort to the fairytale notion that romance is a solution to life's problems, tapping into the audience's need for "love to conquer all". In tales of doomed romance, the underlying message may be that while the love story was cut short, the love itself was not. Not all romances will have an impact on observers, but on occasion there are two lovers within a film that manage to captivate the audience in a way that the two achieve supercouple status. In film, a supercouple may be a coupling that appears with the same actors over the course of few or several films, to where it is the actors rather than the characters who are the supercouples. Couples such as
Spencer TracySpencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 74 films from 1930 to 1967. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Tracy among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time, ranking 9th on the list...
and
Katharine HepburnKatharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, television and stage.Hepburn holds the record for the most Best Actress Oscar wins with four, from 12 nominations. Hepburn won an Emmy Award in 1976 for her lead role in Love Among the Ruins, and was nominated for four other Emmys, two...
,
Humphrey BogartHumphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor.After trying various jobs, Bogart began acting in 1921 and became a regular in Broadway productions in the 1920s and 1930s. When the stock market crash of 1929 reduced the demand for plays, Bogart turned to film...
and
Lauren BacallLauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her husky voice and sultry looks....
, or
Tom HanksThomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title role in Forrest Gump, Commander James...
and
Meg RyanMargaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra , professionally known as Meg Ryan, is an American film actress whose lead roles in five 1990s romantic comedies - When Harry Met Sally..., Sleepless in Seattle, French Kiss, City of Angels and You've Got Mail - grossed over $870 million worldwide.-Early years:Ryan was...
are examples of this. A supercouple could take place in an epic style of film such as Rocky and Adrian from the
Rocky seriesRocky is a boxing saga of popular films all written by and starring Sylvester Stallone, who plays the character Rocky Balboa. The films are, by order of release date: Rocky , Rocky II , Rocky III , Rocky IV , Rocky V and Rocky Balboa...
, or
ForrestForrest Gump is a fictional character who first appears in the 1986 eponymous novel by Winston Groom. Forrest Gump also appeared on screen in the 1994 film of the same name directed by Robert Zemeckis. Gump was portrayed as a child by Michael Conner Humphreys and portrayed as an adult by Tom...
and Jenny from
Forrest GumpForrest Gump is a American comedy-drama film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film, directed by Robert Zemeckis, stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright Penn, and Gary Sinise...
.
Audiences continually seek out fictional romances for what they consider "thrilling, unequalled love stories". The love story in
CasablancaCasablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in the words of one...
, between ill-fated ex-lovers Rick Blaine, an American expatriate, and Ilsa Lund, the wife of a Czech resistance fighter, is often considered the greatest romance in American film history. A classic phrase is uttered by Rick when Ilsa enters his café for the first time after their Parisian affair: "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine," he says. Their relationship is a combination of drama, comedy, and suspense. A notable obstacle given to the pairing is Ilsa's emotional struggle of who she really loves — Rick, or her husband, Laszlo. "In the end, Rick sacrifices a lasting relationship with Ilsa because solving the world's problems is far more important than personal love." The most iconic line of the film becomes "Here's looking at you, kid.", uttered to Ilsa by Rick.
Other classic romances such as
Rhett ButlerRhett Butler is a fictional character, and one of the main protagonists of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.-Role:In the beginning of the novel, we first meet Rhett at the Twelve Oaks Plantation barbecue, the home of John Wilkes and his son Ashley and daughter India Wilkes...
and
Scarlett O'HaraScarlett O'Hara is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and in the later film of the same name...
from
Gone with the WindGone with the Wind is a 1939 American drama romance film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name and directed by Victor Fleming...
and Tony and Maria from
West Side StoryWest Side Story is a 1961 American film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. It is an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, which itself was adapted from Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, and...
remain two of cinema's most beloved couples. In the 2005 film
Brokeback MountainBrokeback Mountain is a 2005 American romantic-drama film that depicts the complex romantic and sexual relationship between two men in the American West from 1963 to 1981....
,
Jack TwistJack Twist is a fictional character of the short story "Brokeback Mountain" by Annie Proulx and the 2005 Academy Award-winning film adaptation of the same name directed by Ang Lee, where he was portrayed by American actor Jake Gyllenhaal...
and
Ennis Del MarEnnis del Mar is the fictional main character of the short story "Brokeback Mountain" by Annie Proulx and the 2005 Academy Award-winning film adaptation of the same name directed by Ang Lee...
entranced audiences "like no other romance in recent years". The love story between the two male ranch hands depicts a clear love between the two characters, but they find it hard to show each other affection, because of the sense that a
cowboyA cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century became a figure of special significance and legend. A subtype, called a wrangler,...
must be the ideal American man. The social norms of the era make it difficult for them to create a life together. Before
Brokeback, writer/director
James CameronJames Francis Cameron is a Canadian film director, producer and screenwriter. His writing and directing work includes The Terminator and Titanic. To date, his directorial efforts have grossed approximately US$1.1 billion domestically, unadjusted for inflation...
released the 1997 epic
TitanicTitanic is a 1997 American romantic drama film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson and Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater, two members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the...
. The film's love story "captured the hearts of movie-goers all over the world" and became a media sensation. The star-crossed romance detailing its lovers, Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater, and the pairing's short but fulfilling time together on a sinking ship became
the highest-grossing film of all time with a worldwide total of $1.8 billion, a record still unbeaten to this day.
Celebrity
The media often focuses their attention on celebrity couples. Celebrity couples who are viewed as fascinating or create a power coupling due to finances are singled out as supercouples. Since the term was coined, classic
HollywoodHollywood is a district in Los Angeles, California, United States, situated west-northwest of Downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word "Hollywood" is often used as a metonymy of American cinema...
couples have been regarded as supercouples. In 1939,
Clark GableWilliam Clark Gable was an American film actor, nicknamed "The King of Hollywood" in his heyday. In , the American Film Institute named Gable seventh among the greatest male stars of all time....
and
Carole LombardCarole Lombard was an American actress. She was particularly noted for her comedic roles in several classic films of the 1930s, most notably in the 1936 film My Man Godfrey...
were the focus of media attention. The couple were titled "The King of Hollywood and the Queen of Screwball Comedy". They eloped during a break in production on Gable's
Gone with the WindGone with the Wind is a 1939 American drama romance film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name and directed by Victor Fleming...
in 1939. She died three years later in a plane crash on her way home from a war bond rally.
Spencer TracySpencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 74 films from 1930 to 1967. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Tracy among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time, ranking 9th on the list...
and
Katharine HepburnKatharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, television and stage.Hepburn holds the record for the most Best Actress Oscar wins with four, from 12 nominations. Hepburn won an Emmy Award in 1976 for her lead role in Love Among the Ruins, and was nominated for four other Emmys, two...
appeared in nine films together, and are regarded as a supercouple.
Desi ArnazDesi Arnaz was a Cuban-American musician, actor and television producer. He gained international renown for leading a Latino music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra...
and
Lucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedienne, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy...
were the stars and producers of
I Love LucyI Love Lucy is an American television sitcom, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951 to April 1, 1960 on CBS...
, which has since earned them the power couple and supercouple titles for being an onscreen and offscreen supercouple. They divorced in 1960 after 20 years of marriage. Other classic supercouples have been
Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by the...
and
Ava GardnerAva Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared in supporting roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, admired for her beauty, and highly regarded for her...
,
Hume CronynHume Blake Cronyn, OC was a Canadian actor of stage and screen, who enjoyed a long career, often appearing professionally alongside his second wife, Jessica Tandy.-Early life:...
and
Jessica TandyJessie Alice "Jessica" Tandy was an English stage and film actress.She first appeared on the London stage in 1926 at the age of 16, playing, among others, Katherine opposite Laurence Olivier's Henry V, and Cordelia opposite John Gielgud's "King Lear". She also worked in British films...
,
Joe DiMaggioJoseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, Jr., was an American baseball player for the New York Yankees. He was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955...
and
Marilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe , born Norma Jeane Mortenson, but baptized Norma Jeane Baker, was an American actress, singer and model....
,
Gracie AllenGrace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , better known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedienne who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
and
George BurnsGeorge Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.His career spanned vaudeville, film, radio, and television, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became familiar trademarks for over three quarters of a century...
,
Ossie DavisOssie Davis was an American film actor, director, poet, playwright, writer, and social activist.-Early years:Davis was born Raiford Chatman Davis in Cogdell, Clinch County, Georgia....
and
Ruby DeeRuby Dee is an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and activist.-Early years:Dee was born Ruby Ann Wallace in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Gladys Hightower and Marshall Edward Nathaniel Wallace, a cook, waiter, and porter. After her mother left the family, Dee's...
,
Richard BurtonRichard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award and was at one time the highest-paid actor in Hollywood...
and
Elizabeth TaylorDame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, DBE , also known as Liz Taylor, is an English-born British-American actress. Known for her acting skills and beauty, as well as her Hollywood lifestyle, including many marriages...
, June Carter and
Johnny CashJohnny Cash , born J. R. Cash, was an American singer-songwriter and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, and
Joanne WoodwardJoanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American actress. Woodward is also a television and theatrical producer.-Early life:...
and
Paul NewmanPaul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and auto racing enthusiast...
.
The supercouple title has been similarly prolific with modern celebrity couples. In 1997, rapper/actor
Will SmithWillard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. is an American actor, film producer and rapper. He has enjoyed success in music, television and film. Newsweek has called him the most powerful actor on the planet...
married actress
Jada PinkettJada Koren Pinkett-Smith is an American actress, producer, director, model, author, singer-songwriter and businesswoman. She began her career in 1990, when she made a guest appearance in the short-lived sitcom True Colors. Her success began to build when she starred in A Different World, produced...
. The couple were titled a supercouple due to their combined film star allure and
physical attractivenessPhysical attractiveness is the perception of the physical traits of an individual human person as aesthetically pleasing or beautiful, and can include various implications such as sexual attractiveness and physique...
. In 2003 and 2008,
PeoplePeople is a weekly American magazine of celebrity and human-interest stories, published by Time Inc. As of 2006, it has a circulation of 3.75 million and revenue expected to top $1.5 billion. It was named "Magazine of the Year" by Advertising Age in October 2005, for excellence in editorial,...
magazine categorized them as a supercouple due to the pairing's long marriage and widespread celebrity status. Smith spoke of the power of love as a connective force to
EssenceEssence is the first monthly magazine for African-American women between the ages of 18 and 49, and has become a cultural institution in the African-American community. The magazine covers fashion, lifestyle and beauty with an intimate girlfriend-to-girlfriend tone.-History:The magazine was...
magazine. "The truth about life is that we're all alone," he said. "But when somebody loves you, that experience is shared. Love is the only real connective tissue that allows you to not live and die by yourself." In addition, in 1997,
Ellen DeGeneresEllen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television hostess and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and is also a judge on American Idol, having joined the show in its ninth season.She has hosted both the Academy Awards and the Primetime Emmys. As a...
and
Anne HecheAnne Celeste Heche is an American actress, director, and screenwriter.-Early life:Heche was born in Aurora, Ohio, the daughter of Nancy and Donald Heche. Her father was an organist, church founder, Baptist minister, and choir director. In her book, Call Me Crazy, she claimed that her father...
began dating; the two emerged as "the world's first
gayThe term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637....
supercouple". Their relationship lasted three years. In 1998,
Brad PittWilliam Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. He has been cited as one of the world's most attractive men, a label that entices the media to report on his off-screen life...
met
FriendsFriends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994. The series revolved around a group of friends in the area of Manhattan, New York City, who occasionally live together and share living expenses. The series was produced by...
actress
Jennifer AnistonJennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress. She became famous in the 1990s for her role as Rachel Green in the US sitcom Friends, a role for which she won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award....
, and married her in a private wedding ceremony in
MalibuMalibu is an incorporated city in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population is 12,575....
on July 29, 2000. They were titled a supercouple, regarded as one of the film industry’s most powerful, and their marriage was considered a rare Hollywood success. In January 2005, Pitt and Aniston announced they decided to formally separate after seven years together. Two months later, Aniston filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. In 2000,
Michael DouglasMichael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. Douglas's first television exposure was that of Karl Malden's young college-educated partner, Insp. Steve Keller, in the 1970s crime drama, The Streets of San Francisco, a role he played from 1972 to 1976...
married
WelshThe Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
actress
Catherine Zeta-JonesCatherine Zeta Jones is a Welsh actress, currently based in the United States. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of UK and US television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as The Phantom, The Mask of...
on November 18, 2000, and the pairing has since been considered a supercouple; they were born on September 25, though 25 years apart. Zeta-Jones says that when they met in
DeauvilleDeauville is a town and a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region of France. With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches"...
, Douglas used the line "I want to father your children".
A modern celebrity supercouple who incited media frenzy was the former pairing of
Ben AffleckBen Affleck is an American actor, film director and screenwriter. He became known in the mid 1990s, after his involvement in the film Mallrats and later played the lead role in Chasing Amy in 1997. Affleck has since become an Academy Award winner for his screenplay in Good Will Hunting in 1997...
and
Jennifer LopezJennifer Lynn Lopez , often nicknamed J.Lo, is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, fashion designer and television producer. She is the richest person of Latin American descent in Hollywood according to Forbes, and the most influential Hispanic entertainer in the U.S...
, which began in 2002. The couple's popularity resulted in their being known by the portmanteau "Bennifer" (for
Ben and J
ennifer) to the media, as well as to fans using the name combination. The term
Bennifer itself became popular, and was eventually entered into
urban dictionariesUrban Dictionary is a Web-based dictionary of slang words and phrases. As of 2009, the site contains over four million definitions. Submissions are regulated by volunteer editors and rated by site visitors, who tend to be youths rather than adults...
or
neologismA neologism ; from Greek νές is a newly coined word that may be in the process of entering common use, but has not yet been accepted into mainstream language. Neologisms are often directly attributable to a specific person, publication, period, or event...
dictionaries as notable. The name blend started the trend of other celebrity couples being referred to by the combination of each others' first names. However, the Affleck and Lopez pairing eventually succumbed to overexposure, which caused public interest in their romance to result in less admiration and negatively affected their careers. In 2007, Affleck stated:
[The romance] was probably bad for my career. What happens is this sort of bleed-over from the tabloids across your movie work. You go to a movie, you only go once. But the tabloids and Internet are everywhere. You can really subsume the public image of somebody. I ended up in an unfortunate crosshair position where I was in a relationship and [the media] mostly lied and inflated a bunch of salacious stuff for the sake of selling magazines. And I paid a certain price for that. Then, in concert with some movies that didn’t work…
Definitions for what defines a celebrity supercouple vary slightly. sofeminine.co.uk defines a celebrity supercouple by the level of media and public obsession combined with profit:
"Bennifer's" decline in popularity did not stop the public's interest in supercouple celebrity pairings; a prominent celebrity supercouple to emerge after "Bennifer" was "TomKat" (the coupling of celebrity stars
Tom CruiseThomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known by his screen name of Tom Cruise, is an American actor and film producer. Forbes magazine ranked him as the world's most powerful celebrity in 2006. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and won three Golden Globe Awards...
and
Katie HolmesKate Noelle "Katie" Holmes is an American actress who first achieved fame for her role as Joey Potter on The WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek from 1998 to 2003...
), and years before, the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
had
Hugh GrantHugh John Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. They have also earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide....
and
Elizabeth HurleyElizabeth Jane Hurley is an English model and actress who became known as a girlfriend of Hugh Grant in the 1990s. Born in Basingstoke, Hurley was a struggling actress in 1987, when she met Grant while working on a Spanish production called Remando Al Viento...
(Grant n' Hurley) and
Posh and BecksPosh and Becks is the nickname for the English celebrity supercouple Victoria Beckham and David Beckham ....
(
VictoriaVictoria Caroline Beckham is an English singer, songwriter, dancer, fashion designer, author, businesswoman, actress and model....
and
David BeckhamDavid Robert Joseph Beckham,
OBE is an English footballer who currently plays in midfield for American Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy and the England national team....
), who still dominate today. The spotlight and attention given to these pairings seemed to be the height of celebrity supercoupling, until 2006, where the celebrity phenomenon dubbed "
BrangelinaBrangelina refers to the supercouple consisting of Brad Pitt, an actor from Fight Club, Se7en, 12 Monkeys and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Angelina Jolie, an actress from Hackers, Girl, Interrupted, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Changeling.-Brad Pitt:Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s,...
" triggered media obsession surrounding screen stars Brad Pitt and
Angelina JolieAngelina Jolie is an American actress and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. She has received three Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and an Academy Award. Jolie has promoted humanitarian causes throughout the world, and is noted for her work with refugees through...
. The two emerged as a prominent supercouple, and the mania centered around the pairing was described as having "reached the point of insanity, far overshadowing the hoopla that attended such couples as 'Bennifer' and 'TomKat'". The obsessive media attention now surrounding Pitt and Jolie's union was the result of rumors regarding Pitt's involvement with Jolie during the shooting of their 2005 film
Mr. & Mrs. SmithMr. & Mrs. Smith is a American romantic action comedy film, directed by Doug Liman and written by Simon Kinberg. The original music score was composed by John Powell. The film stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as a bored married couple who learn that they are both assassins hired by competing...
. Speculation that Pitt had been romantically involved with Jolie while still married to Jennifer Aniston was daily gossip and thought to be the reason for Pitt and Aniston's divorce. Jolie, however, stated that there was no romance between her and Pitt during filming and that she would never be intimate with a married man.
An official item soon following Pitt's divorce from Aniston, Pitt and Jolie became even more of a media fascination for their social activism and ever-growing family, with the couple adopting from foreign countries. The anticipated birth of Pitt and Jolie's first biological child together, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, was cited as the most influential celebrity baby, as the public pondered what the combined physical features of two people who have been cited as the world's most beautiful would produce in a child. The first baby pictures for Shiloh set a world record.
People paid more than $4.1 million for the North American rights, while British magazine
Hello!Hello! is a weekly magazine specialising in celebrity news and gossip, published in Britain. Hello! sells editions in Britain, Republic of Ireland, India, UAE, Spain, Mexico, Turkey, Russia, Thailand, Greece, Canada, and since 2007 Serbia....
obtained the international rights for roughly $3.5 million; the total rights sale earned up to $10 million worldwide, and was the most expensive celebrity image of all time. All profits were donated to an undisclosed charity by Jolie and Pitt. On July 26, 2006,
Madame TussaudsMadame Tussauds is a wax museum in London with branches in a number of major cities. It was set up by wax sculptor Marie Tussaud. It was formerly spelt "Madame Tussaud's", but the apostrophe is no longer used.-History:...
in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
unveiled a
wax figureA wax sculpture is a sculpture made in wax. Often these are effigies, usually of a notable individual, but there are also death masks and scenes with many figures, mostly in relief....
of two-month-old Shiloh; it was the first infant re-created in wax by Madame Tussauds. In 2008, the Shiloh
Hello! image was eventually "topped" by images of her siblings, twins Knox Léon Jolie-Pitt (a boy) and Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt (a girl). The rights for the first images of Knox and Vivienne were jointly sold to
People and
Hello! for $14 million, making the images the most expensive celebrity pictures ever taken. The money went to the Jolie/Pitt Foundation.
Robert Thompson, director of the Centre for the Study of Popular Television, said the coupling of A-list stars like Pitt and Jolie, or in years gone by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, was "a
paparazziPaparazzi is a plural term for photographers who take unstaged and/or candid photographs of celebrities caught unaware. Paparazzi take photos of celebrities at moments when the subjects do not expect to be photographed, such as when they shop, walk through a city, eat at a restaurant, or swim or...
's dream come true". He further relayed that "as silly as it sounds, this new tendency to make up single names for two people, like 'Bennifer' (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez) and 'TomKat' (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes), is an insightful idea'. 'Brangelina' has more cultural equity than their two star parts."
Polly Vernon of British newspaper
The GuardianThe Guardian is a British daily newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Founded in 1821, it is unique among major British newspapers in being owned by a foundation .The Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, provides a compact digest of four newspapers...
summed up her analysis of what makes a celebrity supercouple in her May 25, 2000 article:
Video game
- See also: List of supercouples in other media
Video game creators have realized the asset of incorporating supercouple romances within their products by stringing together epic stories of love and intrigue. While writing epic romances into video games is not a new phenomenon, the idea of capturing a video game player through emotionally-charged moments via the death of a hero's lover in order to produce feelings of attachment to the fictional environment has expanded, especially within action-adventure/
role-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which the participants assume the roles of fictional characters. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines...
s (RPGs). The goal is to make the gamer actually become emotionally invested in the characters and their actions, ultimately resulting in heightened gaming experience. Video game designer
Peter MolyneuxPeter Douglas Molyneux OBE, born 5 May 1959 is an English computer game designer and game programmer. He is responsible for well known God games Dungeon Keeper, Populous, and Black & White, among others, as well as business simulation games such as Theme Park and more recently, hit adventure role...
, when speaking of the main component he wanted in his game
Fable 2Fable II is an action role-playing game developed by Lionhead and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360. The sequel to Fable and Fable: The Lost Chapters, it was originally announced in 2006 and released in October 2008....
, spoke of more than just the romantic aspect, stating, "We want you to feel loved. You can have sex and you can have a baby. That baby will grow up and will kind of look like you."
In the early days of gaming, the idea of love and romance was used as little more than a plot point to urge the hero to complete the set of tasks put before him.
Mariois a fictional character in his eponymous video game series, created by video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
, hero of the
Super MarioIn video games:*Mario Pinball Land, also known as Super Mario Ball, a pinball video game for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance*Super Mario's Wacky Worlds, a canceled video game for the Philips CD-i...
series of games, has
Princess Peachis a fictional character in Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. series of video games. She is the princess of the fictitious Mushroom Kingdom, and often plays the "damsel in distress" role in the adventure series. She was known as Princess Toadstool outside Japan until late 1996, when the name "Peach" was...
to rescue from the main villain. Link and
Princess Zeldais the name of a fictional character in The Legend of Zelda of video games. The name has applied to every female member of Hyrule's royal family and plays an integral role in Hyrule's history. Though she is the eponymous character, the player controls the main protagonist, Link. Zelda is usually...
from
The Legend of Zelda series made gamers wonder why the two were not romantically together while rooting for the couple.
Double Dragon features the protagonist Billy Lee, as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend (Maria) from his evil twin brother (Jimmy), leader of a sinister street gang. This era of game-playing was not well-known for equal-opportunity in
gender roleA gender role is defined as a set of perceived behavioral norms associated particularly with males or females, in a given social group or system. It can be a form of division of labour by gender. It is a focus of analysis in the social sciences and humanities...
s.
Eventually, video games grew to become a respectable and rich source of storytelling. "Larger disk space, greater production staffs, and more impressive budgets allowed more fleshed out characters, more elaborate plot points, and greater instances of interaction between characters." The genre that benefited from this the most is the role-playing medium. The medium made romantic themes a prominent element of its story-telling, which became one of its staples. This subplot is featured through the exploits of supercouples, the primary pair of lovers.
"Usually, the 'supercouple' turns out to be the main hero and heroine of the game, though this is not always the case." The Lunar series, for example, has become famous for creating several romantic pairings from the hero's party in addition to the hero and heroine. In a role-playing plot, often the romantic feelings the characters feel for one another somehow becomes entwined with the main plot itself. In
GrandiaGrandia is a Console role-playing game series created by Game Arts. Games in the Grandia series have been published on Sega and Sony consoles, and Game Boy Color. The Grandia games have been published by Sega, Ubisoft, Enix and Hudson Soft...
, Justin, the main character, is compelled to fight against seemingly insurmountable odds in order to rescue the girl that he is in love with. In
Tales of Legendia, is a role-playing game that was developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was released in Japan on August 25, 2005 and in the United States on February 7, 2006. Tales of Legendia's characteristic genre name is . It is the seventh mothership title in the Tales...
, the romantic feelings Shirley has for main character and brother in law Senel is a focus of the game, even though the latter seems oblivious of the former's true feelings even after they are accidentally engaged in the ending of the primary story mode. "When the love between the supercouple somehow becomes threatened by the machinations of the antagonist, the heroes fight back with everything they have and usually prove, once and for all, that 'love conquers all.'"
The compilation of
Final Fantasy VIIis a console role-playing game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation, in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers, and released on the PlayStation Network...
has several notable couples, such as
Cloud Strifeis a fictional character and the main protagonist in Square's role-playing game Final Fantasy VII and several of its sequels and spin-offs. His original design was created by Final Fantasy VII character designer Tetsuya Nomura...
and his relationships with childhood friend
Tifa Lockhartis a player character in Square Enix's role playing game Final Fantasy VII. Created by character designer Tetsuya Nomura, she has since appeared in the fighting game Ehrgeiz and cameo appearances in other titles, as well as the CGI film sequel to Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children and related games...
and flower girl
Aerith Gainsborough—spelled Aeris Gainsborough in the English Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics—is a female protagonist in Square's console role-playing game Final Fantasy VII...
. The love triangle is rendered moot by Aerith's untimely demise before it can properly begin. Despite this, the ambiguity of Cloud and Aerith's relationship and the tragic circumstances which end it have resulted in the pairing being considered one of the most important couples in video game history.
Other popular couples from the
Final Fantasy games include
Squall Leonhartis the main protagonist of Square's role-playing game Final Fantasy VIII. He was designed by Tetsuya Nomura with heavy influences coming from game director Yoshinori Kitase. Squall has appeared in several other games, such as the Kingdom Hearts series, where he appears under the name "Leon",...
and Rinoa Heartilly (from
Final Fantasy VIIIis a console role-playing game released for the PlayStation in 1999 and for Windows-based personal computers in 2000. It was developed and published by Square as the Final Fantasy series' eighth title, doing away with magic point-based spell-casting and the first title to consistently use...
),
Tidusis the protagonist in the console role-playing game Final Fantasy X. As the lead character, the player controls Tidus through the game, manipulating his actions through the unfolding storyline in traditional Final Fantasy style...
and
Yunais a fictional summoner in the Final Fantasy series, and the female protagonist of Final Fantasy X and the sequel Final Fantasy X-2. After appearing in a conservative, long dress in Final Fantasy X, the designers changed her outfit to a skimpier one to reflect the more carefree world of Final...
(from
Final Fantasy Xis a console role-playing game developed and published by Square as the tenth title in the Final Fantasy series. It was released in 2001 for Sony's PlayStation 2. The game marks the Final Fantasy series' transition from entirely pre-rendered backdrops to fully three-dimensional areas, and is also...
),
Vincent Valentineis a fictional character in the role-playing game Final Fantasy VII and the protagonist in the third-person shooters Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode: Final Fantasy VII. He makes several appearances in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series, while also...
and his lost love Lucrecia Crescent, and
Zack Fairis a non-player character from the role-playing game Final Fantasy VII. Zack also appears in all the titles of Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. He originally was a minor character within Final Fantasy VII, but was given a basic backstory by a scenario writer. Zack was designed by Tetsuya Nomura...
and Aerith Gainsborough in the prequel
Final Fantasy VII game
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VIIis an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable. The game is a prequel to Final Fantasy VII and is also the sixth installment in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII...
.
Love stories such as
Solid Snakeis a fictional character and the main protagonist of Konami's Metal Gear series of stealth video games. Created by Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear is Konami's main franchise and has sold approximately 26.5 million units as of February 2009. Introduced in the first game of the series, Metal Gear , Snake...
and Meryl Silverburgh (from
Metal Gear Solidis a stealth action video game directed and written by Hideo Kojima. The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Kojimas early MSX2 computer games Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid...
), which takes on more of a subtle approach, and couples defined more by the their conflicts than their happiness, have also impacted the gaming industry. Video game insiders state that the need for these love stories within the gaming realm is valid and is a great addition to the gaming experience in most cases.
Criticism
In role-playing games, it has been argued that the use of supercouples has become
clichéA cliché , is a saying, expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, rendering it a stereotype, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel...
of the genre, and that it creates a significant problem for video games. In
Tales of Legendia though the game gives a heavy focus to the feelings Shirley has for main character Senel, it has the added complication of every female character, especially those on the player's team, somehow interested in being sexually intimate with Senel.
In soap opera, the love triangle causes the audience to wonder what the hero will do to solve it. The viewer is left wondering if the hero will remain true to his love for the heroine, whether or not he will succumb to "the heated and lustful" stares from "the insidious femme fatale", and what will happen between him and the female who has the schoolgirl crush on him. Unresolved conflict helps soap operas remain on the air for decades. In contrast, video games are an interactive media. Various role-playing love triangles are not as rational.
Final Fantasy VIII centers heavily on Rinoa’s feelings for Squall and his eventual realization that he feels the same in return, but the audience learns early on that Squall has another admirer: his former instructor, Quistis. What flaws this love triangle is that the character dynamic between Squall and Quistis is never developed during the course of the game, and leaves the player to wonder why it was even mentioned. The player has no control over whether to pursue Quistis’s feelings as opposed to Rinoa's. Games of this nature make gamers feel as though the more choices that are denied to them, the less they are actually in control of the action. Numerous video games have attempted to give players some sort of control in this regard. In
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doomis a traditional console role-playing game that was released for the Sega Mega Drive in Japan in April, 1990 and in the United States in the summer of 1991...
, the player is given the freedom to select the romantic pairing for three generations of heroes. "The choice results in the siring of a different set of protagonists for the following generation, thus allowing the player to actually breed his or her own choice of hero." The
Star Ocean series has implemented love story choices as well. In
Star Ocean: Till the End of Timeis the third main game in the Star Ocean series. The game was developed by tri-Ace and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2 console system. It was released in Japan, North America, and the PAL territories. The original Japanese release date was in February of 2003 by Enix, shortly before...
, the player is often asked questions that almost always affect how particular characters grow to like the protagonist more or less. "In the end, the player is treated to a finale where the hero is paired with the individual which garnered the most affection."
It is suggested that, to make video game love stories less redundant, in addition to giving more freedom to the player to choose his or her love interests, the women in these romances should be less
stereotypicalA stereotype is a commonly held public belief about specific social groups, or types of individuals.The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings. Stereotypes are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups, based on some prior...
; they should not simply pine for the hero’s attention while waiting to be rescued.
Literature, toys, comic book, and other
Romantic and tragic themes found in modern supercouple stories have often been borrowed from classic literary couples.
Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "star-cross'd lovers" whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet and Macbeth, is...
, due to their enduring legacy and popularity, are considered an ideal supercouple outline for forbidden or tragic love aspects, and the relationship between Anthony and Cleopatra has been described as fitting the power-couple trope.
In the genres of toys and comic books, toys were given their first prominent supercouple with the creation of
KenKen is a Mattel toy doll introduced in 1961 as the fictional boyfriend of toy doll Barbie introduced in 1959. Similar to his female counterpart, Ken had a fashionable line of clothing and accessories. In the Barbie mythos, Ken and Barbie met on the set of a TV commercial in 1961...
and
BarbieBarbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
by
MattelMattel Inc. is the world's largest toy importing company based on revenue. The products it produces include Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. It was founded in 1945 by Harold "Matt"...
in 1961 and comic book supercouples such as Clark Kent and Lois Lane (created in 1938) and
Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson"The Wedding!" is the title of the story from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 in which Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker get married. It was published in 1987 and written by David Michelinie, featuring cover art by John Romita Sr....
(created in 1966) are still popular today.
In psychology
In February 1998, the supercouple term entered
psychologyPsychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the systematic, and sometimes scientific, study of human or animal mental functions and behavior...
when husband and wife therapists Wayne and Mary Sotile coined what they call "Supercouple Syndrome." Explaining the syndrome as a leading source of burnout, marital discord, and divorce, the Sotiles state it as as "an all-too-common consequence of the '90s pursuit of the Big Life". They describe it as "the natural outgrowth of people's unrealistic determination to do everything right, to juggle marriage, family, and career, and be all things to all people". The couple provide insight into how lovers can beat stress, rekindle their passion for one another, and transform their relationship into what they cite as "the haven it was meant to be".
External links