Shippers have been around since long before the internet provided online community space that facilitated their congregation and naming. Cheering for romantic relationships, and particular pairings specifically, in the fiction we consume is incredibly natural. Not only do our pop culture stories tend to tell love stories, but love triangles spice up narratives and extend plot viability. So we find ourselves in this world where communities of (relation)shippers form teams in support of their preferred romantic outcome.
Lately, the urge to pair fictional characters has taken a turn for me. There’s still this desire to see two people be together – but in a much more literal sense. I’m just hoping that two of these characters realize that they want to spend time together, because they are compatible. None of that messy love or sex business required. I just think they’d be good friends!
This tendency to friend-ship surfaced while I was watching Pramface, a British dramedy in which a 16-year old boy has sex for the first time at a party, only to impregnate an older girl who had been planning on leaving for university within the next nine months. As these two near-strangers address this unexpected turn of events in their lives, they become linked. Just what kind of relationship should develop out of that link is uncertain, although romance hangs over them as an ever-present possibility. After all, the universe seems to be prompting them, you have already made a baby together.
For a short time, I jumped on the train heading for love and happy little family land. Yes, they do have a lot in common, I thought, they would be cute together. But the closer the characters got, the more awkward I felt. Yes, I wanted you to get together, but don’t kiss, that’s gross! You’d be a terrible couple – just be friends!
Friend-shipping now pops up ever so briefly as two characters who don’t normally hang out interact on screen. It happened as I caught up on the newest season of Orange is the New Black. It happened during My So-Called Life, as Sharon and Rayanne move past their competition over Angela’s friendship and just bond, because the two of them have so much they can talk about when they take jealousy out of the equation!
Because you can’t help rooting for certain relationship, but romance is too complicated, or just feels icky. Because when you really think about it, do we all really need more relationship drama? Because sometimes we just want to spend some time in each other’s company enjoying a conversation. Because people are multi-faceted and human interaction comes in all shapes and sizes – remember, friend-shipping is an underappreciated, but totally viable option.
