# Movies That Would Have Been Better With No Love Interests **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 18, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628 "2019-11-18T21:27:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/61 "2019-11-19T23:22:53Z")
The Great Outdoors is one of my favorite John Candy comedies. It would have been even better with more John Candy or Dan Aykroyd and less angst ridden teenage son and local girl romance. That subplot really detracts from the silly lighthearted tone of the rest of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/62 "2019-11-19T23:30:49Z")
_Back to School_ starring Rodney Dangerfield has a pointless romance between his son and a random fellow student. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/63 "2019-11-20T01:01:20Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > …What should he have done with the Hobbit? Ignore the cries for a strong female character in films? He pretty much had to create a new character, the Hobbit book being a complete sausage party. Of course, when it was written that was fine, but today? The problem with The Hobbit, is there’s a lack of stuffing to the narrative, beyond it being a series of picaresque adventures that happen to Bilbo and his party. They keep falling downhill, from one adventure to the next, out of control, until they end up at the Lonely Mountain. But there’s no real point, no greater significance or theme in their world, other than it’s exciting. Unlike LOTR. My thought was, if you have to bloat the plot to get three movies, then really go into just what the Necromancer was getting up to at Dol Whatever, show how its resolution was fundamentally different, yet ultimately more important, than what happens with one single dragon and his hoard, and show that settling the Necromancer problem didn’t ultimately solve the Sauron problem. Evil has to constantly be watched out for, fought—even if you’d rather ignore it, or deny it’s happening—and afterwards, you still might not be done with the problem. That’s a theme. For that, Galadriel (and plenty of her Wood Elves) should play a gigantic role. And not some stupid [expletives deleted] bit with some covered-in-birdshit wizard riding a rabbit sled. Add Tauriel too, that’s fine. But the love triangle was just asinine. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/64 "2019-11-20T02:19:23Z")
Cate Blanchett as Galadriel was so good that she’d probably have knocked it out of the park, no matter what you had her doing in the movie. Just increase her role. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/65 "2019-11-20T03:55:25Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > The problem with The Hobbit, is there’s a lack of stuffing to the narrative, beyond it being a series of picaresque adventures that happen to Bilbo and his party. They keep falling downhill, from one adventure to the next, out of control, until they end up at the Lonely Mountain. But there’s no real point, no greater significance or theme in their world, other than it’s exciting. Unlike LOTR. > > My thought was, if you have to bloat the plot to get three movies, then really go into just what the Necromancer was getting up to at Dol Whatever, show how its resolution was fundamentally different, yet ultimately more important, than what happens with one single dragon and his hoard, and show that settling the Necromancer problem didn’t ultimately solve the Sauron problem. … > Add Tauriel too, that’s fine. But the love triangle was just asinine. Yes, and if you read the Appendices, the whole Hobbit thing was the B side to the White Council taking out the Necromancer. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/66 "2019-11-20T04:13:32Z")
Aragorn and Legolas had more chemistry in LOTR, 😉 I say mostly tongue-in-cheek, than Aragorn and Arwen. And Eowyn’s girly crush seemed mostly sad. But yes, those movies needed some women. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/67 "2019-11-20T04:18:36Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > 34 posts and no one’s mentioned Top Gun? Less romantic blah blah, more jets! I thought the Iceman-Maverick sexual tension was adorable but you do you. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/68 "2019-11-20T04:30:58Z")
> [@cormac262](#): > > Though still flawed, I think “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” would have been much improved with just Indy and ShortRound. > Except for incessant screaming, I don’t think Capshaw added anything to the movie/story (unlike Karen Allen who played a much bigger part of “Raiders”). in the crystal skull, they have a line where she asks “so whatever happened to that blonde nightclub floozy you used to drag around ? and he says she married a dentist and moved to Minnesota” and she deadpans i bet you were relieved (or an exchange close to that ) ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/69 "2019-11-20T04:36:08Z")
Love Story. They meet on an ice hockey rink, hang out as friends, then she dies. It’s more about the things that _don’t_ happen. Might have to change the title though. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/70 "2019-11-20T07:00:27Z")
There’s an interesting Luc Besson movie from the 1980s called _The Big Blue_ based on the lives of 2 world-champion free-divers (who were childhood friends). It’s quite a beautiful and spiritual movie, well worth a look, but for some reason (US marketing, probably), they shoehorn in a completely useless Rosanna Arquette to be a love interest (and the character she lusts after isn’t particlarly interested in her, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/71 "2019-11-20T10:19:19Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > 34 posts and no one’s mentioned Top Gun? Less romantic blah blah, more jets! This. And it didn’t help that Kelly McGillis was pretty bad in the role. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/72 "2019-11-20T10:42:08Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > People justifiably complain a film is sexist if there are no strong female characters. I heartily applaud his decision to have Arwen take the place of Glorfindel and make her part stronger. > > Jackson was hamstrung by the Studios decision to make it into a trilogy. He had to pad, and the padding isnt good. Otherwise, the trilogy isnt bad, the first film is great. Well, not if there is no good reason for there to be a female in it. If I’m watching a movie about, say, merchant mariners in WW2 I don’t mind if there aren’t any females. Or token females if it’s Tolkien because that’s how he saw women. But don’t film, say, a movie about the Viet Nam anti-war movements and not put women in because you don’t think they belong there. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/73 "2019-11-20T14:43:39Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > 34 posts and no one’s mentioned Top Gun? Less romantic blah blah, more jets! It needed _more_ romance, but the understated one, not the obvious one. Marverick and Ice Man should have hooked up. You know they wanted to. > [@zimaane](#): > > Freddy Mercury’s relationship with his wife was a significant part of his life. To omit it from his biopic would really do the story a disservice. She was the “Love of My Life” after all. omitting her would leave a big hole in the story. (and since it actually is true, it shouldn’t be left out of a biopic. Reality is stranger than fiction.) > [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I had no interest in seeing \*Titanic \*when it came out because of the dopey love story(I do regret not having seen it on the big screen now). I don’t know exactly how they could have filled out the rest of the movie but it seems there were enough other characters’ lives that could have been explored or something. > Also, Jack would have survived if Rose hadn’t hogged the whole dame piece of wood 😛 > > Today, I really enjoy the movie but the romance angle is my least favorite part. This is one of my pet peeves about people that “hate” Titanic for the romance - they forget that everyone’s favorite Titanic movie A Night To Remember also has a teenage romance. There was even a scene in front of the clock with Andrews exactly like Titanic. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/74 "2019-11-20T15:40:56Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > It needed _more_ romance, but the understated one, not the obvious one. Marverick and Ice Man should have hooked up. You know they wanted to. > > She was the “Love of My Life” after all. omitting her would leave a big hole in the story. (and since it actually is true, it shouldn’t be left out of a biopic. Reality is stranger than fiction.) > > This is one of my pet peeves about people that “hate” Titanic for the romance - they forget that everyone’s favorite Titanic movie A Night To Remember also has a teenage romance. There was even a scene in front of the clock with Andrews exactly like Titanic. Totally agree with your first two comments but I haven’t seen _A Night to Remember_ so I’m just speaking about the Titanic on it’s own terms. Maybe if the two leads had better chemistry (I adore both actors individually but they did not mesh in this case)or if they weren’t the core of the film. Anyway, I definitely love the film; just saying the love tory, for me, didn’t add anything. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/75 "2019-11-20T17:42:46Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > As much as I liked Peter Jackson, I feel the entire second movie was unnecessary. I suspect Peter Jackson agrees with you, since his original plan was to make two movies, but studios insisted on three. A whole lot of what is wrong with The Hobbit can be traced back to that. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/76 "2019-11-20T17:55:49Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > The problem with The Hobbit, is there’s a lack of stuffing to the narrative, beyond it being a series of picaresque adventures that happen to Bilbo and his party. They keep falling downhill, from one adventure to the next, out of control, until they end up at the Lonely Mountain. But there’s no real point, no greater significance or theme in their world, other than it’s exciting. Unlike LOTR. Well, I think The Hobbit does indeed have a theme, which is Bilbo growing in many ways (from scared nobody to hero to wise enough to want to avoid fighting). But agree that there’s certainly not enough to justify three movies. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/77 "2019-11-20T18:22:16Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > I thought the Iceman-Maverick sexual tension was adorable but you do you. 😃 Just made my day. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/78 "2019-11-20T18:36:41Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > I thought the Iceman-Maverick sexual tension was adorable but you do you. When I do me I have sexual tension. Damn split personality. :eek:😛 ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/79 "2019-11-20T20:14:05Z")
Rose are red, Violets are blue, I have DID, and so do I. Also, me as well. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628/80 "2019-11-21T04:25:10Z")
I think the _Sherlock Holmes_ movies (the ones with Robert Downey Jr. ) would have been better without a love interest for Holmes. Everybody always tries to turn Irene Adler into a love interest, and it didn’t help that Downey and Rachel McAdams had zero chemistry IMO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-would-have-been-better-with-no-love-interests/843628.md?page=5)