Love is blind- or so they say. Sometimes in romantic movies and series’ however, lovelorn characters are more colorblind, as they ignore all the major red flags of their significant other and choose to fall in love anyway. But we’ve all been there, haven’t we?
Be it a serial killer, a sadistic sex maniac, a stalker, a playboy, or a woman who would do anything to keep you in her life; the romantic genre of Hollywood is filled with romanticized red flag romancers. Here are ten characters from romantic films or series’ who are major red flags.
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10. Connell Waldron – Normal People
Normal People was one of the best things to be released in 2020. And while the heartwarming, realistic love story of Connell and Marianne shook and broke everyone’s hearts, it’s quite hard to argue that Connell wasn’t a red flag.
For starters, he was ashamed to admit that he liked Marianne and chose his social status over her in school. In college he constantly finds himself being envious of whoever she dates. He might not be the biggest red flag in the Sally Rooney universe, but his treatment towards Marianne makes him enough of a jerk to make it to this list.
9. Summer Finn- 500 Days Of Summer
Let’s be honest, we all fell in love with Summer Finn just like Tom Hansen did. And we collectively got sad when she broke up with him and in a matter of months was married off to some other guy.
While many will argue that Summer never actually explicitly told Tom that she had feelings for him but it’s true that she did lead him on. Summer was aware of Tom’s feelings for her and she let it grow until she didn’t want to anymore.
Maybe not a shiny big red flag, but enough to make it to this list.
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8. Noah Calhoun- The Notebook
Yes, we all, at some point in our life wished for a love like Noah and Allie. But are we ignoring all the red flags he showed in the beginning?
For starters, Noah stalked Allie, despite her having a boyfriend. For seconds, Noah manipulated and blackmailed her into going on a date with him. It’s another thing that he was a nice guy who she ended up liking later, but really? A guy who stalked you and later blackmailed you to go out with him? Definitely a red flag.
Honourable mention is to Ryan Gosling who made the character a lot more likeable.
7. Edward Cullen- Twilight
The people who chose Edward Cullen over Jacob Black during the Wattpad wars in the early 2010s, how does it feel to romanticize a walking red flag just because he was a vampire, and not to mention, irresistibly attractive?
It’s hard to argue that Edward was not a red flag. He constantly controlled Bella’s actions, stalked her around, and treated her like a child. He also didn’t ever give her her own space and somehow it always seemed like he thought of Bella as weak and incapable. Misogynistic? I think so.
6. Christian Grey- 50 Shades Series
Fans on social media are often arguing over the fact that if Christian Grey wasn’t rich, his treatment of Anastasia Steele would be called abusive. That seems like an exaggeration but it’s not that hard to see that Mr. Grey was a controlling freak who had a hot/cold relationship with Anna and often controlled her in weird ways.
Like buying the company she works in? Or enforcing rules and regulations on her? Well, one thing’s for sure. Dating a millionaire guy isn’t as easy as it seems.
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5. Ross Geller- Friends
Do we really need to explain this one? His entire charade of ‘being on a break’ makes him an ultimate red flag and shows signs of a man who refuses to take accountability for his terrible actions. On top of that, he has cheated on almost all the women he dates, with Rachel and then he cheated on Rachel with the photocopy girl.
At times he has also tried to sabotage Rachel’s relationships and throughout the show, he keeps giving Rachel mixed signs.
4. Joey Tribbiani
Mr. Tribbiani was an incredible friend, but was he a good partner? Absolutely not.
Joey was a womanizer who often played with women’s hearts and hurt them. Like the time he threw a girl’s wooden leg on fire, or how he spent nights with girls and never called them again. Moreover, he kept on making sexual advances at the other female characters, often as a joke, yes, but still creepy.
3. Nate Cooper- Devil Wears Prada
C’mon now, we all know that the true villain of the movie wasn’t Miranda Priestley. It was Nate. Throughout the movie, he showed signs of an extremely insecure boyfriend who couldn’t, at any cost, tolerate the success of his girlfriend. He made her feel small and bad for working hard to be successful and was actually happy when she left her dream job and wanted to pursue a ‘normal’ life again.
If not for Nate, Andy would surely have gotten way more successful if she wasn’t constantly made to feel bad just because she is trying to work hard for her career.
2. Joe Goldberg- You
If there’s a walking red flag and a character with all the traits that are labeled as ‘red flags’, it’s probably Joe Goldberg.
Joe is a stalker, he’s manipulative, he is an obsessive freak, he is a narcissist, he likes to control women, he is a pathological liar, he uses violence as a measure when his empty sweet talks don’t suffice and he is great at wearing a false mask to hide his true self.
Over time, Joe has become a blueprint of guys who you should avoid.
1. Amy Dunne- Gone Girl
Are we really going to have a conversation about red flags and not mention Amy Dunne?
For starters, she fooled Nick into marrying her for a personality she was faking. She is deceitful and manipulative and would literally kill to get her way (which she did). Over the years she has become the image of a psychotic girlfriend; which is, of course, romanticized now, but doesn’t change the fact that it’s a huge red flag in relationships.
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