Is Romance Dead?

Let not my love be called idolatry,
Nor my beloved as an idol show,
Since all alike my songs and praises be
To one, of one, still such, and ever so.
Kind is my love to-day, to-morrow kind,
Still constant in a wondrous excellence;
Therefore my verse to constancy confined,
One thing expressing, leaves out difference.
Fair, kind, and true, is all my argument,
Fair, kind, and true, varying to other words;
And in this change is my invention spent,
Three themes in one, which wondrous scope affords.
Fair, kind, and true, have often lived alone,
Which three till now, never kept seat in one.

William Shakespeare
Sonnet 105

We've heard a thousand songs, seen a million movies and memorized Shakespeare's sonnets. It's been a weird hundred of years! Even Vampires from the movie "Twilight" has shone their own light on the idea of romance. It's an on-going debate and a supreme mind-altering mindwar regarding the thought of romance. Speaking as a single (read: unmarried and no plans of getting married in the near future) woman in Manila's urban hub, I can honestly say that yes, romance is dead.

It's a particularly gloomy idea. I have to state that. You can say that chivalry is dead and you know that when men in buses enjoy being seated instead of letting an older, slightly chunkier lady occupy that seat they're warming up, you've driven your point across. Whereas for saying that romance is dead, you'd have to prove first that the ideals of love died a long time ago, that the idea that flowers and chocolates are only commercial assets that only take the stage during Valentines' and surf n' turf is indeed just a meal.

Don't get me wrong, I never said love is dead. I said romance is dead. I said so and I believe it to be so. Life has become a dreary, everyday routine. Everyday, you come to work tired because of lack of sleep out of thinking of some bills you haven't paid... you clock in, wishing for at least a little fantasy, yet you need to make coffee - a fresh batch for your bosses and you just wish for the 9-hour humdrum to just speed up, hence you click away on your farm on Facebook wishing for a chance to win X amount of dollars,that is not real money, so you can farm some more... you reach the 5 o'clock mark, unaware that life has indeed materialized over the last 9 hours while you sit on your comfy ergonomic chair inside your office, wasting time... you reach home at 6, and immediately call the love of your life and realize that he too, was bored and yet challenged and there would be no poetry from his lips tonight. No songs of love will be heard. No praises or lauds would be there to uplift you after a day of nonsense. It's all a matter of just saying that "I had a long day"...

The whole idea of romance stems from the ancient Greeks. When Aristophanes mentioned that humans once had connected and conjoined limbs. Each "creature" had two parts - that of a man and woman, and these limbs functioned perfectly. It almost tore up the heavens because there was no need for the gods anymore. Everyone had sufficient strength and happiness. Then the gods were furious and thus, punished the humans. They were separated. And up to this day, humans would always search for the missing part of themselves to be found in another being, another soul, so together they would have enough strength, enough happiness - sufficient to last a lifetime. Romance was all about expressing that need - that ideal - that extreme and utter yearning that shakes you to your very core as a human being needing another human being.

Yet when you look closely, the Greeks failed to state that duh, Hercules is not human. When he defeated the many monsters to be loved by his nation, he did so with superhuman strength. Neither are the Princes Charming that women have long dreamed about. No one can actually ride from the sunset on a white horse and a full-metal gear and rescue you from your frustrations with your bosses or your career (or lack thereof). Superman was all-alien when he landed in a field in Kansas, thus the ability to kill Lex Luthor with a single swoop and win his prize - a willing, able and beautiful Lois Lane. And if you argue that Jerry Maguire was human, I can wittingly argue that it is the testosterone-laden area of football management that prompted him to say all those amazing things to Renee Zellweger. It all exists in a plane that is superficial and non-existent. The films, the songs, the movies are all just horrible antics to get you to believe that romance is real and true. It's all meant to catalyze women into mushy, cheesy and die-hard romantics that they are eventhough they run Fortune 500 companies and help run nations by being presidents, queens and prime ministers.

So honestly, I want to know, before I theorize a million or so conspiracy theories in my mind, is romance really dead?