About a month ago, I made a disturbing discovery. After a quick doom scroll on TikTok, I saw a video recommending a movie promising to exceed my expectations on young adult romance stories and even rival the beloved “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” franchise.
I was dubious at first, but nevertheless, I decided to give this movie a shot. After all, I’m certainly not immune to the idealistic cliché of rom-coms.
The opening credits began to roll, and just as I prepared to turn my brain off for the next 90 minutes, the screen flashed with a logo I didn’t expect and I nearly jolted out of my seat: Wattpad Studios illuminated the screen, proudly presenting “Sidelined: The QB and Me.”
Truth be told, I probably should’ve known that a movie with such a title could only come from the one place where quarterbacks and high school relationships are still relevant storylines. Though, it still shocked me to know that a page where one could once upon a time find Draco Malfoy fanfiction and “y/n” stories had expanded beyond the realms of the online world and become popular. It seemed out of place.
A new form of storytelling has taken over the mainstream. Writers, who strive to publish their work, have the chance to craft stories that reimagine existing worlds or even form entirely new ones. Fanfiction and Wattpad stories have made great leaps in recent years, jumping from the computer screens, to bookshelves, and into theaters. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for authors, though this seemingly innocent transgression of events has a dark underbelly. Many of these stories peddle dangerous fantasies, exposing the majority teenage audiences to the romanticization of toxicity. Twisted love stories that once existed solely within the niche communities of Wattpad and the internet transitioned to mainstream media. Here, these stories bring their toxic and abusive baggage to a new generation of young adults, potentially shaping their own romantic expectations.
Wattpad is known for being a “storytelling community” in which anyone with an internet connection and a keyboard can publish a story. As a concept, this site is somewhat revolutionary, providing aspiring authors the chance to publish their work and jumpstart their careers. However, at times, the site can get concerning, especially when it comes to the portrayal of romantic relationships. Most follow a predictable pattern in which a toxic cycle ensues, consisting of manipulation, break-ups, and sometimes even violence but always somehow ending in love. Take Wattpad’s crown jewel, the “After” saga, as the prime example of this phenomenon.
Nearly a decade ago, Anna Todd published a Harry Styles fanfiction in an alternate universe where not only is the singer in college, but also a complete idiot who toys with the protagonist, Tessa Young, in a disgusting bet. Later, the series became a set of books, and now a saga of movies that revolve around the destructive relationship between these two college students.
When I watched the first movie, I was 12 years old and completely unprepared for what I was about to witness. My friends dragged me to the movie theatre the day it was released, excited to relish in the romance on screen. Sitting down and enjoying the movie, even as a young teen, proved to be nearly impossible. Through emotional mind games and unsettling moments of inexplicable violence, Tessa and her impossible love interest Hardin somehow fall for each other.
The story translated to be more of a horror movie than a romantic film as fake Harry Styles continues to gaslight who he claims to be the “his Elizabeth Bennet.” And as Hardin threw yet another tantrum on screen, I looked over to my friend to commiserate in what I believed to be collective misery. Instead, I found tears rolling down her cheeks, insisting that Hardin was merely misunderstood and that I would be lucky to find love like theirs one day.
Hardin was the villain, yet somehow martyred despite basically torturing his partner who continued to forgive him for everything he did. We were basically kids when we were first introduced to the distorted world of “After,” and it’s a shame that the toxic nature of the relationship portrayed was glorified. At that age, I shouldn’t have had access to such a gross representation of love, and although I was annoyed enough to ignore the toxicity back then, not everyone was as lucky. However, with even more Wattpad stories being converted to books and movies nowadays, these malignant stories continue to haunt newer generations. My only hope is that the impressionable audiences being introduced to this material don’t accept its messed up plot as affection.
Despite my initial apprehension, I wound up finishing the movie about the quarterback from the beginning. The original story, titled “The QB Bad Boy and Me” (thank goodness for the title change), was yet another depiction of toxic love somehow being able to conquer all. The quarterback, who rides a motorcycle and hates his father, is also completely wrong for the protagonist, an ambitious cheerleader eventually boiled down to her relationship with the bad boy who changed her mind. However it’s worth noting that the movie transformed this toxic love story into a more subdued version of itself, where teenage love isn’t necessarily synonymous with misery. Nonetheless, violence and manipulation is seen throughout the published version of the book which raise enough red flags to also raise concern on the fact that this is available not only at your local Barnes & Noble, but also your computer.
Whenever I see one of these stories, movies, or books circulating I can just think of one thing: I thought we were better than this. Because if becoming violent out of jealousy, or screaming words of hatred for the sake of “self-preservation,” or even up-ending one’s future for a high school relationship is the pinnacle of romance, we’re all screwed.
These adaptations aren’t necessarily bad and we should not shame the impressionable teenage audiences that love them. However, we should exercise caution, especially since the problematic source material is within anyone’s reach if they’re curious enough to take a little foray to Wattpad and delve into the dark world that is their romance section.
So here’s my warning: These stories are for entertainment purposes only and they don’t reflect reality. Don’t view them as the end-all-be-all for relationships or love because they’re not. Enjoy the stories if you want, but please, don’t be convinced that toxicity is normal just because Wattpad Studios says so.
