# Automatic romance between opposite sex (or two gay) characters **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 12, 2022, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084 "2022-06-12T21:49:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2022, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/1 "2022-06-12T21:49:56Z")
Though inspired by TV and movie plots, in which a man and a woman (or two gay characters (though I haven’t seen this in a movie I assume it happens as well)) are thrown into some situation and eventually fall in love, I’m m curious about the accuracy and/or probability of this occurrence IRL. I’ve seen and met some women who I absolutely would not want to touch. And I’m sure that there are zillions of women who would feel the same way about me. Have any studies been done about this wrt some deep seated need to perpetuate the species, that would even include overriding personal indifference or even distaste? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2022, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/2 "2022-06-12T22:30:20Z")
It would be hard to study this without arranging some kind of global thermonuclear war, or launching the participants on a one-way trip to colonize Mars. Maybe maroon them on an island for 10 or 20 years? I will confidently say that the gay characters are not going to be motivated by a deep-seated need to perpetuate the species. Actually, I know: following the mutiny on the _Bounty_, the mutineers and accomplices holed up on Pitcairn Island. That was 1790. Within a few years most succumbed to alcoholism, extreme violence, murder, disease, and suicide. That’s not a controlled experiment, though. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2022, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/3 "2022-06-12T22:52:08Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > That’s not a controlled experiment, though. Yeah, I s’pose it would be tricky to ethically design an experiment for this. In Canada, though, we do have a zillion arctic islands we could use. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2022, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/4 "2022-06-12T23:09:32Z")
All the women get prettier at closing time. ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2022, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/5 "2022-06-12T23:16:09Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > Have any studies been done about this wrt some deep seated need to perpetuate the species, that would even include overriding personal indifference or even distaste? Have you ever heard of workplace affairs? Honestly, the sort of highly charged situations typically seen in movies are going to be catnip to the average person as far as instigating romance. It is the situation, not the people. Think about online dating. A fair number of people meet this way and form long term couples. Even higher for groups with demographic issues, i.e. gays. Despite this, the format is generally hated, because of the impersonal mechanics necessary. Given the types of situations detailed in movies, this is one area where they are absolutely spot on. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2022, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/6 "2022-06-12T23:26:17Z")
A workplace affair saves you the trouble of chatting someone up at the bar, sure, but would you really start an affair with someone you find distasteful? I suppose that it must be true if you are forced to interact with someone for a length of time, that would compensate for any misleading first impressions, so maybe you would start an affair with someone you would otherwise ignore. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/7 "2022-06-13T00:58:59Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > All the women get prettier at closing time. I have not found this to be the case. In fact, the closer it is to close, the uglier the crowd seems to get in general. Maybe I need to drink less whiskey. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/8 "2022-06-13T01:14:49Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > Have any studies been done about this wrt some deep seated need to perpetuate the species, that would even include overriding personal indifference or even distaste? I cannot speak to any formal studies done. I travel for a living. I fall in lust nearly nightly wherever I go. Although I do NOT act on that lust, I certainly might on any given day. Right this instant minute I’m on the road and would easily take my current target upstairs to my room if she was willing (which she might well be) **and** I was less invested in my ongoing lfe with my real love & wife back home. So tonight will remain theoretical, not real. But it’s enormously entertaining to think about. Childless at 60-something I can’t claim any desire to actually perpetuate the species as such. But _practicing_ perpetuating the species is Job #1. All else is details. Distracting details. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/9 "2022-06-13T01:25:53Z")
There are some guys that seriously can’t go more than a day without getting laid. Put them on a desert island and they’ll fuck a tree if the knothole looks sexy enough. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/10 "2022-06-13T01:36:24Z")
didn’t we have a question that was like " you’re lost on an island with one person of the opposite sex and you’ve been getting rebuffed for years… would it be bad just to take them and damn the consequences? " recently and the consensus fell between hard a hard yes its evil and depends on how long " ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/11 "2022-06-13T02:45:22Z")
There are also TV and movie plots where two gender-appropriate people are put in a similar situation and develop a deep antipathy toward each other. While those are often the plots of comedies, it suggests that the writers do not believe instant attraction is always the rule. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/12 "2022-06-13T03:26:28Z")
_[Travolti da un insolito destino nell’azzurro mare d’agosto](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073817/?ref_=ttmi_tt)_ explores this theme (BTW, this one is 1000x better than the remake). ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/13 "2022-06-13T04:52:58Z")
yeah but they usually end up together … ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/14 "2022-06-13T08:20:19Z")
I _think_ you’re thinking of of this thread, although the premise was thermonuclear war survivors not shipwrecked people: > [@Horrifically bad title replaced](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrifically-bad-title-replaced/950267): > > Continuing the discussion from [Do sexual preferences make one a bigot?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-sexual-preferences-make-one-a-bigot/948544/263): Here’s a sick hypothetical. In the aftermath of global thermonuclear war, everybody is dead except you and one other person who is of the opposite sex. You are both fertile. The other person absolutely refuses to consent to sex. Let’s say they are ideologically opposed to continuing the human species, but not a suicide threat, and get along pretty well with you. Do you rape him/her? ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/15 "2022-06-13T08:36:21Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > There are some guys that seriously can’t go more than a day without getting laid. Put them on a desert island and they’ll fuck a tree if the knothole looks sexy enough. Right, and for those of use who _aren’t_ that sex-crazed, we’re not going to be voluntarily celibate forever on the basis of not fancying anyone. For everyone it is just a matter of time. It could be months though. Which might be far beyond the kind of situation that the OP was alluding to. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/16 "2022-06-13T10:09:30Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > It would be hard to study this without arranging some kind of global thermonuclear war, or launching the participants on a one-way trip to colonize Mars. Maybe maroon them on an island for 10 or 20 years? I will confidently say that the gay characters are not going to be motivated by a deep-seated need to perpetuate the species. > > Actually, I know: following the mutiny on the _Bounty_, the mutineers and accomplices holed up on Pitcairn Island. That was 1790. Within a few years most succumbed to alcoholism, extreme violence, murder, disease, and suicide. That’s not a controlled experiment, though. You don’t need a set up that extreme. Just send your subjects on a treasure hunt through the jungle/desert or a cross country road trip. Maybe have some thugs chasing them for good measure. That always seems to do the trick in movies. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/17 "2022-06-13T12:48:27Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I have not found this to be the case. In fact, the closer it is to close, the uglier the crowd seems to get in general. I haven’t been out in a long time; perhaps things have changed. Experiment? > **[Castaway (1986) ⭐ 5.8 | Adventure, Biography, Drama](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092732/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_55)** > > 1h 57m | R Says [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castaway_(film)): ## Real life inspiration[[edit](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Castaway_(film)&action=edit§ion=1)] > In 1981, [Lucy Irvine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Irvine) responded to an advertisement placed by writer [Gerald Kingsland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Kingsland), and they became self-imposed [castaways](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castaway) for a year on the isolated and uninhabited island of [Tuin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Island,_Queensland), in the [Torres Strait](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torres_Strait_Islands) between [New Guinea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Guinea) and Australia. Chosen by Kingsland from over 50 applicants, Irvine agreed to marry him to satisfy [immigration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration) restrictions before they travelled to Tuin. She was 25 years old, and he was 49. After a year, they returned home, and in 1983, she published her account of the experience in _[Castaway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castaway_(book))_ , which was later used as the basis for the 1986 film.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castaway_(film)#cite_note-2) I remember liking it but I’m sketchy on the details. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/18 "2022-06-13T13:16:06Z")
And, yet, in real real life, [Thomas Neale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Neale) spent a total of 16 years living alone on a desert island. According to his own book, he toyed with the idea of going there with a woman (he was even married at one point), but decided, nope, no way. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/19 "2022-06-13T18:07:21Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > > In 1981, [Lucy Irvine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Irvine) responded to an advertisement Love the bit in the Wikipedia article: " Before writing _Castaway_ , she had been employed as a [charlady](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlady), monkey keeper, waitress, stonemason’s mate, [life model](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_(art)), pastry cook, and [concierge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concierge)." I can see her at a job interview: “Sorry, but the job requires 3 years experience as a monkey keeper _and_ 2 years as a sonemason’s mate.” ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084/20 "2022-06-14T15:05:52Z")
NM. Deleted. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-romance-between-opposite-sex-or-two-gay-characters/966084.md?page=2)