Were Eric and Donna Really the Perfect Couple?

That 70’s Show is one of the most iconic television shows and young people are still crazy for it. Older generations can watch it for that seventies nostalgia, young adults reserve a different kind of nostalgia from watching it while new episodes were still coming out in the late nineties/early two-thousands, and young teens of today can still amazingly watch and relate to it. Perhaps one of the most iconic and well known parts of the show was the relationship between the charming main characters, Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti. Almost every television show includes a ‘will they or won't they’ couple for the audience to root for, adding that much more to invest in. Take shows like Friends with Ross & Rachel, Luke & Lorelai from Gilmore Girls, and one of the prime examples with Jim and Pam from The Office. What made Eric and Donna all the more interesting and engaging was their bright chemistry and the sweet sense of adolescent love that is easily shown in their song, "Thirteen" by Big Star. It was undeniably easy to fall in love with their love and still is. However, those two share a great deal of hardship and relationship problems that sometimes give the other couples of the show a run for their money. They are often built up as "the perfect couple" yet at times that was not what appeared on screen and many viewers didn’t have the heart to notice.

Possibly the biggest issue with the Eric/Donna storyline is the underlying fact that Donna gives off the vibe that she is not as interested in Eric as Eric is in her many times throughout the show. The biggest example of this involves the episode "The Promise Ring" when Donna seems to show she does not think of life with Eric as ideal. This idea within her is shown a lot during the episode such as in the dream sequence where she is presented with prizes behind three doors and Eric is shown as something lame and unwanted in comparison. Or when Eric asks her if she sees him with her in the future, Donna speaks her mind. “Not always.I mean, it's not like there's anyone else but sometimes I'm by myself. I mean all I mean is, I don't know. Neither of us does. And this ring is just a stupid high school promise.” (That '70s Show s03e25 Episode Script | SS.” Springfield! Springfield!) She even goes on to call it "a stupid high school promise" to Eric, which yes it can be in some cases, but Eric had made it clear to her that it’s more important than that (at least to him). Donna describing not picturing herself with Eric in the future is something that should have probably been said to him before but Donna never actually lets Eric know until it has to come out.

Eric very clearly loves her but Donna is kind of harder to read. Eric very clearly plans to be with her and shows that mindset a lot. When he pictures his future, it’s with her. And when she asks him where he sees the next twenty years and he says his idea and she expresses her own about other school options or Paris, he even makes it clear that he’d be willing to go with her by asking “The important thing is when you see yourself in Paris or wherever, I'm there, right?” (That '70s Show s03e25 Episode Script | SS.” Springfield! Springfield!). But the thing is, Donna doesn’t really picture him there. Eric has to face that pain of hearing someone he loves not wanting that kind of life with him.

That pain caused by the conversation comes across very well with one of Eric’s most heartbreaking lines of the show, “If you can see a future for yourself without me and that doesn’t, like, break your heart then we’re not doing what I thought we were doing here.” (That '70s Show s03e25 Episode Script | SS.” Springfield! Springfield!). Donna knew she was uncomfortable with that idea of the future yet she didn’t say anything until this conversation after accepting the ring. It lead Eric to believe that things were fine and to tell their friends that he and Donna were just dandy and they were wrong. His friends often had a lot to say on the subject of his and Donna’s relationship.

Something else that comes a lot into play with their relationship is the pressure Eric receives from his friends and family about it which can shift based on the problem at hand. There are times when everyone acts like Eric worrying about the idea of Donna leaving him is overreacting when in reality it’s actually very realistic for him to feel that way and be insecure. Donna always expects Eric to just know how she feels without telling him and we all know that never works out. To bring up the promise ring again, if Donna was unsure of accepting it she should have let him know instead of avoiding the idea of the commitment it held instead she almost waits for Eric to realize she felt that way. But that’s just who Donna’s character is. She had this idea that she couldn’t have a career of her own and be with Eric at the same time. However, those things aren’t mutually exclusive. Donna is independent and always has been, which is one her best and strongest characteristics. But the feeling comes up that maybe her and Eric don’t work for that exact reason.

Eric can be really stupid in their relationship at times but sometimes the audience find themselves siding with him a lot. Especially when he denies her offer to forget the whole break-up thing and get back together. “Donna, I mean if you come running back to me now I- Donna, I can't be your second choice.” (That '70s Show s03e25 Episode Script | SS.” Springfield! Springfield!). Not wanting to be her second choice is valid and shows his strength and self-respect. Donna does present that he’s her second choice even if she doesn’t believe that herself because she is fresh from an emotional breakup with another man. Once again, everyone makes Eric feel so stupid for doing that when in reality, he was completely valid to do so. He gets treated like the bad guy just because Donna’s "too good for him" when he really shouldn’t have been. They both made mistakes here and there. But Eric gave her that promise ring out of love so it sucks that that’s what lead to a breakup. He had nothing but good intentions. So of course, he would not want to just forget it all and take her back.

What it all comes down to is both of them had very different ideas of what the relationship was. Eric was in it for the long run because he loved her and Donna seemed to think of it more like chance. That "yeah, things were great and she loved him but who knows what the future will bring?" There’s no ‘bad guy’" in their relationship but it often seemed like they just couldn’t quite match up or be on the same wavelength. "The Promise Ring" and what follows really begins to show their problems. Of course, it leads to Donna’s understandable want to forget it all and just reunite but that’s not the way it goes nor should it have gone that way despite what their friends and family think. Eric will always love her but Donna takes Eric for granted a lot of the time. She can't just expect him to want to be with her when she's so afraid of commitment and unsure about their future. Though Donna and Eric are presented as such, are they really the perfect couple?