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The Masochism Tango: Difference between revisions
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In fictional relationships, there's a gray area between a [[Destructive Romance]], a [[Friendly War]] and [[Romanticized Abuse]]. Sometimes [[Ambiguous Situation|the writers make it hard for the audience to figure out if the relationship is even supposed to be a good thing or not]]. Sometimes the writers don't even know the answer themselves, and sometimes this question isn't even meant to have an answer - the characters are there for the audience to laugh at, and that's all there is to it.
Two characters are supposed to be [[Happily Married|deeply in love]] -- despite being [[Crack Pairing|blatantly unsuited for each other]]. They are constantly screaming at each other or worse, and yet the characters insist they like each other. Very often, the only [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other|indicator of the characters' affections for each other]] will be their [[Green Eyed Epiphany|jealousy]] when the other shows an interest (real or [[Not What It Looks Like|imagined]]) in a character outside of their tango.
Basically, there are two ways this trope can be played: either the writers ''really'' don't get that the pairing isn't working out, or the writers are fully aware and it's the ''characters'' who insist that their relationship is just great. In either case, the audience tends to quickly catch on, and you can bet that the [[Shipping|shippers]] are already thinking up [[Fan Preferred Couple|alternatives]].
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This is not the same as an [[Odd Friendship]] or [[Odd Couple]], where everybody knows the relationship is strange and the characters very grudgingly learn to respect each other. In [[The Masochism Tango]], the entire relationship hinges on the mutual hatred between the two lovebirds... for better or for worse.
The partners dancing to this particular beat have already resolved the [[Will They or Won't They?]] issue ([[They Do|they did]], and won't [[She Is Not My Girlfriend|deny they're a couple]]) -- it's just the saneness of their hook-up that's in question. This is often the result of resolved [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]].
For the platonic version, see [[With Friends Like These]] or [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]. For a milder version, see [[Slap Slap Kiss]], [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]], and [[No Accounting for Taste]]. If the characters ''aren't'' at each other's throats, but their relationship feels contrived and artificial nonetheless, they've been [[Strangled By the Red String]]. Compare [[All Take and No Give]]. If the sadism and the masochism part in the coupling is off balance, also compare [[Love Martyr]]. [[Played for Drama]], it can easily become [[Destructive Romance]].
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[[Do Not Confuse With]] [[Real Life]] [[Casual Kink|masochism.]] Or, for that matter, [[Mating Dance|real tango]] Or a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TytGOeiW0aE combinations of the two.] However, some ''works'' [[Abuse Mistake|don't really make a distinction between masochism and being victim of abuse]]...
{{examples
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
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* In Megan Whalen Turner's ''Thief of [[Sounis]]'' series, Gen has a rather unbelievable but somehow endearing version of this with {{spoiler|the Queen of Attolia, who imprisoned him and cut his hand off, and whom he must blackmail into marrying him.}}
* In the original novel ''[[The Princess Bride (Literature)|The Princess Bride]]'', Buttercup's parents were described as having this type of relationship, to the point that when her father died and her mother almost immediately followed, it was believed to be the sudden lack of opposition that killed her.
* ''[[Nineteen Eighty
{{quote| Under the spreading chestnut tree<br />
I sold you<br />
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* [[Friends With Benefits|Ricky and Adrian]] in ''[[The Secret Life of the American Teenager]]''. They mostly ethier just argued and or had sex. They never went on dates and Ricky never wanted to be seen in public with her. Their relationship consisted mostly of them cheating on each other and claiming eqach sexual conquest as retailiation. When asked about what she liked about Ricky , beside looks, by her father, Adrian couldn't answer. They mostly seemed to show genuine affection through jealousy towards those they viewed as threats to their relationship. {{spoiler|Their relationship later ended when Adrian had sex with their mutual friend, Ben.}}
* A list of all the times the various ''Degrassi'' series did this would be a Wiki in itself. Some of the more notable cases:
** Joey and Caitlin on ''[[Degrassi High]]'' were supposed to be [[Star
** The same thing happened in the fourth season of ''[[Degrassi the Next Generation]],'' which paired J.T. (goofy, irresponsible, and tactless) with Liberty (humorless, workaholic, and a world-class [[Control Freak]]). They insist that they're in love, but all we see is them arguing. (At one point, J.T. brags about their sex life in public, and Liberty pours cold soda down his pants.)
** Emma, the resident idealistic goody-two-shoes on ''[[Degrassi the Next Generation]],'' has had several boyfriends -- all of them ''[[All Girls Want Bad Boys|extremely]]'' [[All Girls Want Bad Boys|bad boys]]. First, she dated a [[Troubled but Cute]] boy whom she broke up with twice. Then she dated an amateur DJ whom she felt eternally awkward around. Then she began performing oral sex on the same boy whom she had tried to get expelled one season earlier. She wound up catching gonorrhea from him. Then Emma began dating Peter, whom she first met when he was blackmailing her best friend. And when she broke up with him, she went back to the very same [[Troubled but Cute]] boy she started with (for a while, anyway).
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*** {{spoiler|Although it's hard to tell how much of it is really them and how much of it is the fact that they've had their heads seriously messed with by someone with a seriously messed up head.}}
* Sean and Julia McNamera on ''[[Nip Tuck]]'' are so ungodly ill-suited for each other from the moment they appear onscreen that any other two people in the universe would have come to their senses and cut ties ''years'' ago: they tend to split up and recombine a minimum of once per season, swearing every time they do either one that ''this'' time, it's going to stick. It never does, and one wonders if even the ''writers'' can put up with their whining for much longer.
* Dr. Cox and Jordan in ''[[Scrubs]]''. These two are stunning, simply because even when they are openly together and obviously planning on spending the rest of their lives together, they continue to insult, demean and torment each other, even when they're happy. Both also undergo significant [[Character Development]] and gradually show softer sides to their characters and let their defenses down, but this part of their relationship never changes. It also seems like their relationship actually ''thrives'' on the fighting, and that their shared hatred actually brings them together. This was showcased best in one episode where Jordan no longer wants to fight because of Jack. So Dr. Cox tries to initiate fights with other people, to which Carla says [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|that she won't fight with him.]] They eventually patch things up after Cox tells Jordan she's just like her mother, and they agree not to fight in front of Jack... but can do it all they want when he's not around.
* Blair and Chuck on ''[[Gossip Girl]]''. Blair actually explicitly says "Only a masochist could love such a narcissist." Frequently leans more towards [[Love Martyr]] with Blair, because although she's manipulated and insulted him too, Chuck's actions are generally more damaging.
* Kyle and Maxine from ''[[Living Single (TV)|Living Single]]''.
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* Proudly coarse Carla Tortelli and snooty John Allen Hill from ''[[Cheers]]''. Hurling insults were their favorite foreplay.
* ''[[Frasier]]'': A one-sided example came with Niles and Maris (starting about late S2 and finishing in S6). She manipulated him, dominated him, you could very well say that she was emotionally abusive and she put him through torment during their divorce. What's interesting is that Niles seems to go for or even cause these types (due to his submissiveness when it comes to women); His emaciated pet was Maris in dog form, Mel might have treated him better but was still dominating and even Daphne became shriller and bitchier after they got together.
** In the episode "The Focus Group", Niles actually intentionally attempts to instigate one of these between he and Daphne after they got into their first argument and he...enjoyed it so much. This, mind you, is before they got together, so it fails pretty miserably. Daphne's just too polite to take the bait and only argued with him in the first place because [[Rant
* Somewhat one sided in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. Vala is constantly teasing Daniel but it is revealed that this is her way of flirting and genuinely does have feelings for him. Daniel however completely misconstrues this and assumes she's just plain making fun of him (for having feelings towards her).
* One of the earliest television examples, Fred and Ethel Mertz from ''[[I Love Lucy]]''. To give an idea of how much they bicker and seem to dislike each other, when asked what he knew about rice, Fred remarked, "I had it thrown at me on one of the darkest days of my life." If divorce had been as common in the first half of the 20th century as it is now, they probably would have split up twenty years before the series began.
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* Steve and Karen McDonald from ''[[Coronation Street]]'' fit this trope. Despite marrying for a bet, the two quickly realized that they really did love one another after all. However, much to the amusement of fans of the show, their subsequent storylines focused on how Karen completely browbeat her husband. Eventually the couple split after both had affairs (including one scene where Karen had sex with her lover despite knowing that Steve could hear everything), but got back together and then divorced (Karen forced Steve to do this so she could have a proper wedding). Unfortunately their second wedding was ruined by Tracy Barlow, who had slept with Steve (when he was separated from Karen) and had his baby. Despite the fact that Karen chose to re-marry Steve many more arguments followed, but the final straw came when Karen suffered a nervous breakdown following a miscarriage and abducted Steve's daughter by Tracy. Steve decided to put an end to [[The Masochism Tango]] for good.
* While [[Word of God]] says that ''[[House (TV)|House]]'' and Stacy were meant to be deeply in love, onscreen it was more like this. She's deeply self-righteous about the whole "cutting up his leg without his consent" thing and hasn't seemed to learn her lesson when it comes to her ill husband either, doesn't believe that he has any human feelings whatsoever (even when he shows her and us his adorable, romantic/cheesy side by giving her a prescription for her "heart problem") and seems to act like she wants to kill him in his sleep. For his part, he can't decide whether he wants her to be with him or if he wants her to suffer and at one point, breaks into her therapy file so he can act like the nice guy. He ended it in ''Need To Know'' but it really, really doesn't make him any happier.
* The entire "[[Five
* A literal version in ''[[Burn Notice]]'', with Michael and [[Action Girl|Fiona]], as at one point they come to blows about it. They eventually resolve things and are back to a semi-dysfunctional couple, with the occasional outburst by Fiona, such as her slapping him when he was planning a trip to Cuba, "to remind [him] to be careful," just after giving him a kiss for luck.
* John and Aeryn in ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]''. From their very first meeting they're beating on each other (usually Aeryn is smacking John around but not always) and it becomes a common theme in the series.
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** That actually isn't gender specific for Echani. It's more like 'whoever wins can take the initiative if they want' (still rather unfortunate if you think about it). But the Handmaiden actually tries to tell the Jedi Exile that what they are doing for combat practise means something else in her culture.
* ''[[Touhou]]'' Fanon and Kaguya/Mokou Shippers often display Kaguya and Mokou in [[The Masochism Tango]] since Kaguya and Mokou have been trying to constantly kill each other for years and years. It doesn't work because of their Immortality. This Fan comic displays this interpretation [http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/486273/absurdres-comic-fujiwara_no_mokou-highres-houraisa rather well] (Warning: Ads are NSFW)
* [[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni]] contains a very creepy example of this: {{spoiler|Lambdadelta}} and {{spoiler|Bernkastel}} fight each other in a game whenever they come across each other {{spoiler|in the ocean of the kakera}}. The penalties for the looser are very severe cases of a [[Fate Worse Than Death]]. And yet they always assure how much they "love" each other. However, as we learn later in the story, this may be justified as theirs means {{spoiler|to escape the boredom that can literally kill them. By fighting each other, they relieve that boredom in order to survive and spend time with each other.}} And in the very end, {{spoiler|they get their [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other|Aww, Look!]] [[Heartwarming Moments|They Really Do Love Each Other]]-moment}}.
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