As a teenage girl in today’s society, it is almost impossible to scroll through Netflix without encountering a romance series where the two love interests are brothers or two rivals trying to win the girl over. 

Do not get me wrong, I am guilty of being a fan of “The Summer I turned Pretty.”  Not only did I spend my summer binge watching the show; I spent my winter break reading the novels attempting to nitpick at the differences between the two–and just to put it out there; I am team Conrad…but Jeremiah is the better looking brother. While I could go hours ranting about which brother is a better fit for the main character, Belly, a vast majority of the teenage girl population can as well. It is in our nature. 

It is not just teenagers that are attracted to these stories, people are naturally drawn to love triangle tropes. For every cringe worthy love triangle that is pushed to the side like Archie, Betty, and Veronica, from “Riverdale,” there is another that the teenage girl population can rave about.

From “The Vampire Diaries” to “My Life With the Walter Boys” and “Twilight,” a typical love triangle trope consists of a girl being openly attracted to one male character, while secretly being attracted to another. Each series whether it be television, movie, or book has a huge fan base and has people all over the world waiting for another season or book to be released. 

According to scholarlyblogs.edu, “…viewers find a way to connect to love triangles 

because they see the humanity in the situation. Rather than a one-true-love trope where perfection is showcased from the start, this trope shows the turbulence of a real relationship.”

Overall, the trope attracts an audience from different perspectives. There is a portion of the group that sympathizes with the love interest that is pushed aside, and the one who ultimately ends up with the protagonist in the end. While the genre has a large audience overall, it is more women based. 

According to younggov.today, “Though majorities of both genders express a positive opinion of the genre, women (74%) are somewhat more likely than men (62%) to say they love or like rom-coms.”

As entertainment continues to evolve, producers will continue to experiment with various tropes, however the love triangle trope will never fade. 

As humans, we are naturally attracted to the drama that comes with it and the never ending debate between who the better love interest is. 

Even these days people are still debating whether Jacob or Edward was better for Bella, it is 16 years later…and it is still one that will last “forever and forever and forever.”