6 Netflix shows that tell us love is blind

by Evan Mua

Valentine’s day is coming and everyone’s nervous to present their best selves to their date on the big day. Wanna watch some Netflix shows to calm those nerves?

If there’s one thing about love, it’s that it’s blind, and it’s stupid. People fall in love for strange reasons, just be yourself. Sure, you can go dressed in a chic Tom Ford dress, paired with a Hermes clutch. But do you have to? Here are 6 Netflix shows that prove my hypothesis.

Your Name Engraved Herein

netflix shows your name engraved herein
PHOTO: IMDB

I’d be more surprised if you hadn’t watched this yet, after countless covers of its theme song. Your Name Engraved Herein is a bittersweet tale of a young man in 80s Taiwan, trying to come to terms with his confusing romantic feelings.

What do you do when you fall in love with someone society says you shouldn’t? Maybe love is blind and you can’t control yourself. You’d feel a lump in your throat while experiencing the protagonist’s anguish—all for a forbidden love that’s so near, yet so far.

What’s good: It’s a rollercoaster ride of emotions which places all the deep, personal internal conflict under a microscope. It’s gonna be a bit of a tear jerker, but hey I love to cry to films. I hope you do too.

What’s bad: It’s in Chinese. Not exactly a problem with the film but it’s a limitation for many Singaporeans (@ing MOE). Subtitles are cool and all, but you miss a lot of nuances in a dialogue-driven film like this.

Watch here.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

netflix shows brooklyn nine nine
PHOTO: IMDB

On a more light-hearted note, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a great representation of how love is blind. Yes, it’s not quite the grand romantic tale. Yes, it’s a slapstick sitcom. However, there’s surprising depth to its characters.

The central romance revolves around how the uptight teacher’s pet Amy somehow falls madly in love with a rule-breaking class clown like Jake. How’s that for unlikely, blind love? “Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. No doubt, no doubt, no doubt.”

What’s good: Probably one of the most popular Netflix shows. The characters are quirky and likeable, and the shenanigans are just great light-hearted fun. Not to mention it’s as quotable as classics like The Office or Friends.

What’s bad: Brooklyn Nine-Nine ain’t really high-brow humour. It’s already one of the smarter sitcoms out there, but some people probably just can’t stand the slapstick. And there’s a lot of stick slapping—“title of your sex tape”

Watch here.

Attack on Titan

netflix shows attack on titan
PHOTO: IMDB

You might wonder why Attack on Titan is on this list. Well, if the relationship between protagonists Eren and Mikasa isn’t a textbook example of “love is blind”, I don’t know what is.

Mikasa just follows Eren and looks past all his unreasonable or braindead decisions. Often times, you wonder why Mikasa still sticks with Eren after all the danger she goes through for his sake. That’s blind, undying love.

What’s good: The animation in Attack on Titan is super sleek, which is amazing for an anime as action-packed as this. There’s a lot of moments that make you go “wtf”, the characters are well-written, and their relationships are fleshed out.

What’s bad: If you can’t take gore and edgy anime protagonists, this isn’t for you. Don’t go expecting Attack on Titan to be another typical shounen anime—it’s pretty far from that.

Watch here.

Her

PHOTO: IMDB

Can you imagine falling in love with Siri? Her explores the idea of love between man and technology, well advanced, sentient A.I. to be more precise. It’s a nice surprise that Netflix shows this award-winning film.

The film starts with Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) struggling to cope with the impending divorce with his childhood sweetheart. Everything changes when he buys and sets up his new A.I., Samantha.

What’s good: A very interesting idea supported by Oscar Award winner Joaquin Phoenix’s incredible performance. The blend of washed-out and pastel tones, quirky wardrobe, and vivid set design all paint a compelling futuristic landscape.

What’s bad: It’s a bit slow and takes a while to build up. But it is the patient buildup that makes this human-machine love story so compelling. Bear with it.

Watch here.

The Haunting of Bly Manor

PHOTO: IMDB

While part of The Haunting Netflix shows, The Haunting of Bly Manor is not like its predecessor. It centers more on the theme of regret as the ghosts in our life, instead of being anchored in the supernatural.

There are multiple romance subplots going on in the story. But there’s a common theme of seeing past each other’s flaws and traumas, and loving the person for who they are. Except for a certain lady in the lake, of course—she’s pure vengeance.

What’s good: An illuminating look into how past traumas shape us and how we should stop running from our problems. The show not only does a great job of building a nuanced account of the characters’ traumas and struggles with them, but also showing the emotional payoff of moving on.

What’s bad: If you’re a horror fan looking for those spine-chilling jump scares, you’d be disappointed. It’s a pretty tame series with only some fright scenes. But sometimes, the scariest things are not ghosts but people.

Watch here.

The End of the F**king World

netflix shows for valentines day
PHOTO: IMDB

One of the quirkiest Netflix shows. This is a story of young teenage love, but also not exactly. It’s a story of two damaged young people who slowly learn to accept each other despite all the flaws.

One is a self-proclaimed sociopath and one is an emotionally-abused rebel. They start off with a fake relationship but then things go haywire, which leads them on a wild adventure escaping from home.

What’s good: There are pretty thrilling moments, and the dynamic between the two teenage leads is hella cute. It brings several unexpected twists but then concludes quite sweetly at the end of 2 seasons. Absolutely no unnecessary fluff to extend the series.

What’s bad: It’s a dark comedy, so some of the scenes are pretty dark. It’s a British show, so humour is also slightly dry. But if you’re into morbid humour, this is worth a spin.

Watch here.

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