So, Why Do Women Watch Gay Romances?
Maybe for a rather elusive fantasy. And the latest case in point is the show Heated Rivalry
Two strangers meet under not-so-unusual circumstances. As it always happens, they end up not liking each other, before they actually do. There’s obviously some not so obvious impediment (or more) in their path and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to make it down the aisle. The road to eternity is a long one but when has any good destination ever succeeded a smooth ride? Standard rom-com tropes, familiarity breeding great viewing. But when the two leads happen to be men, why are female audiences queuing up in unison?
Why are gay romances such a hit with women?
Heterosexual or otherwise, they’re all watching it all. Currently, it’s Heated Rivalry. A while ago it was Red, White & Royal Blue. I’m sure there’ve been many shows and movies in between, all of which have been devoured by an audience that probably wasn’t the one kept in mind when conceiving these stories. It’s not the men who’re lining up to watch such shows—not the straight ones certainly. It’s women. And they can’t get enough of them.
Don’t come at me with those ‘every kind of cinema is for every kind of an audience’ bit; we all watch stories that resonate with us. Yes, it isn’t about gender or orientation but it’s certainly got to do with that commonality between the characters we seen on screen and the person we are (or would like to be). For a woman to relate with a tale of two of sets of testosterone-producing bodies can’t be all that simplistic, right?
Maybe they’re watching it for the fantasy of it all? Not the one where love is all it takes—for that they’ve got enough and more heterosexual options—but the one that’s even more elusive. A man with emotions. In love. Expressive. Vulnerable. Soft. Gentle. Not a hardened mess with muscles and not much else to offer. He’s a romantic and not Darcy-like to keep it conceited till the end. He’s got brain and brawn in equal measure.
He’s what women want their men to be except that he isn’t interested in women. Alas! But a woman can dream, can’t she? That’s what they’re doing. Binge-watching a version of men they seldom get to see in their own lives, or even on screen. So what if it isn’t real or relatable? Neither is Superman or anyone from Avengers!
Why don’t man-woman romances ever get it, right? Saiyaara, sure, and also those SRK romances. But since he’s moved on to muscle and machismo (for now), the ladies have to look elsewhere, perhaps? They're not complaining, so who are we to do so? Gay romances to the rescue. Love, lust, longing, all of it. To show ’em how it's done, or rather, should be.
In cinema, as in life—when a man loves another man, there’s always a woman rooting for them two.