5 on-Screen Couples That Teach Us About Equality in Romance

I love on-screen romances. They're always interesting to watch and make you feel more personally invested in each of the characters.

I've always thought that really good TV couples enhance the entire show itself and make its viewers more emotionally connected to the stories being told. Not all shows and movies do this well, though. Many times we end up with couples that irritate us or couples that don't seem to belong together.

And then there are some couples that are simply too dramatic and unstable but have such good chemistry that we still ship them hard. Yes, I'm talking about Ross and Rachel.

My favourite kind of TV relationship is the long term type. With beautiful everyday moments. Ones that are equal, and don't have an overdose of the guy-winning-girl stereotype.

These are my favourite couples, and they don't get talked about enough!

Scrubs: Turk & Carla

Turk and Carla start dating right from one of the first few episodes and stay together till the very last one. Now, isn't that the dream? They're practically a modern-day fairy tale.

Except, they had their share of issues too. And they worked on them consistently. They put each other first, even when it was incredibly hard to put each other first. Their problems were not extremely dramatic stuff like infidelity or secret-keeping, but more relatable things like not being able to agree on life goals, having different levels of ambition. I think I am so drawn to this couple because it reminds me a lot about my own relationship.

They were not just in love, they were best friends.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Jake & Amy

The show starts off portraying these two as equals. They're the best detectives in the 99th precinct, and they're engaged in a tough contest where they're competing to see who makes the most number of arrests. We start to love the idea of them as a couple even before they think about it themselves.

Over the course of the seasons, they fall in love and give it an honest shot. They've always been an equal couple, and there's a beautiful moment when Amy is about to get promoted above Jake, and he tells her that was exactly how it was supposed to be. It's amazing to finally see a male character so secure with his identity that he doesn't feel the need to be "superior" to his girlfriend at work.

As if they weren't perfect enough already, they take it up a notch when they're unable to decide whether or not to have kids. They proceed to conduct a structured debate. So freaking amazing.

How I Met Your Mother: Lily & Marshall

The first time I saw How I Met Your Mother, I didn't pay much attention to Lily and Marshall. I dismissed them as a regular cheesy couple. I was single back then.

The next time I watched it was after being in a relationship for 6 years. That's when I realized how relatable this couple was. Bearing many similarities to Turk & Carla, this couple also stays together throughout the entire series, going through a rollercoaster of problems and challenges.

I've always been of the opinion that falling in love is the easy part, whereas staying in love is hard. This has been my personal experience, and it was beautiful to see the way Lily and Marshall portrayed this philosophy so well.

There's a scene where they talk to Barney and Robin and explain that winning the argument is never the most important thing. It's true, and it takes that many years in a relationship to internalize it.

Black Panther: T'Challa & Nakia

Image from MCU Fandom WikiHe's the king and she's an activist who goes on missions to help underprivileged people around the world. What a power couple!

In the movie Black Panther, we see very little of this couple. In fact, they're broken up during the course of this movie. But their story stuck with me.

Nakia leaves Wakanda because she believes in helping people in need. Her principles are far too important to be sacrificed.

"I've seen too many in need just to turn a blind eye. I can't be happy here knowing that there's people out there who have nothing."

- Nakia to T'Challa

The beautiful thing about their relationship is that T'Challa, being king, could have stopped her or ordered her back or even convinced her to prioritize him. But he doesn't. He respects her dreams and ends up creating a Social Outreach program where she could play a leading role and find fulfilling work while still being a part of his life.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Fitz-Simmons

Image from MCU Fandom WikiIf you've watched even just the first episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., you know that Fitz-Simmons is meant to be. They have the chemistry and the compatibility and are simply too amazing individually to settle for anyone else.

Their romance through the seasons is one of the rockiest journeys I've seen or read about. And this isn't because they didn't have clarity. They knew they always wanted to be together, whether as friends or something more. 

"Do you remember when we first met? I do. You were so quiet and pasty, and… so incredibly smart, handsome… Quite a strange feeling, isn't it? Never wanting to be without someone."

- Simmons to Fitz

But fate kept pulling them apart repeatedly. They had to save the world at the cost of their own lives. And they had to cross the universe and travel through time to be with each other (literally).

But no matter what happened, they never stopped trying. They never stopped moving forward, taking the next step that was needed to be together at last.

"The steps you take don't need to be big, they just need to take you in the right direction." 

- Jemma Simmons

It doesn't get said enough - but that's what all long term relationships are like. Problems keep getting thrown in your face. There's no stopping it. All you can do is try and try again to be with each other.