Friday Review: Modern Love

          Meandering through the streets of Midtown Manhattan, I saw people of all cultures, backgrounds, and ages. The majority of these people traveled alone, but once in a while, I saw couples and families scattered throughout the city. The sea of people walking by inspired me to rewatch a television series called Modern Love, a show that explores a wide range of expressions of love. This Amazon Prime series, based on a New York Times column that shares stories submitted by people from various walks of life, features a different love story and distinct obstacles its protagonists face every episode. 

          The singular episode that prompted the most tears for me was “When the Doorman Is Your Main Man,”  a story about a doorman named Guzmin who helps the protagonist, Maggie, through the hardest time of her pregnancy. Unlike other episodes that focus on conventional ways of  understanding love— such as romantic love between partners —Guzmin’s fatherly affection for a long-time resident in the compound where he serves as a doorman, seems pretty bizarre. Somehow, the love portrayed in this episode is simultaneously easy and insanely hard to understand: even when understanding that love is an extremely random occurrence, it was still hard for me to justify Guzmin’s love for Maggie based on their limited interactions. As viewers, we were not able to witness how their relationship evolved and grew through their lens, and I simply couldn’t fathom why Guzmin decided to step into Maggie’s life in a father-like role. I have never been an optimist to the extent of believing in pure altruism. To me, it feels almost absurd to be loved unconditionally by those other than my parents. Nevertheless, this episode demonstrates the magic and comfort of unconventional love most perfectly.

          Another episode I loved is “Take Me As I Am, Whoever I Am,” in which the protagonist, played by Anne Hathaway, suffers from Bipolar disorder. In the episode, she struggles to find love as she passes through phases of extreme euphoria and depression. I loved this episode because of another element of love that it depicts flawlessly, as shown by the protagonist as she eventually loses her love interest: the fragility of relationships. In this specific episode, the man whom the protagonist is infatuated with never got to know that she loved him, nor did she get to explain to him that she wasn’t able to make their dates because she was diagnosed with her severe disorder. And that is real life—love is never a smooth sailing ship (at least not that I know of). Although the unpredictability of love is beautiful, love also arrives upon those who aren’t prepared, and that doesn’t lead to the happiest endings. In reality, no one can get into someone else’s head and hear their thoughts, leading to inevitable regrets. At the end of the day, most episodes that concern passionate love end in regret.

          After immersing myself in an eight-hour journey of trying to understand love, I still have not grasped the multitude and possibilities that love encompasses. After all, love is love, and the show Modern Love showed me that the format of love does not influence its strength. Love can be fierce, but it can also be gentle; love can be vulnerable, but it can also be powerful; love can be young, but it can also be old. After all, love is love, so there are no rules to what love can or cannot be. And most importantly, we all deserve to be loved.