No love for Valentine’s Day

Valentine's can be too much to take sometimes...

It’s that time of year again. The January sales have ended; the drudgery of winter continues to thwart my optimism, and then, surprise, surprise I am greeted with an avalanche of putrid pink and red tack every time I enter a shop. The same old lacklustre cards, gifts and adverts engulf my vision. Why do companies feel the need to smother everything with giant pink and red hearts? Valentine’s Day promotes the most contrived displays of affection; the whole affair seems more obligatory than anything else.

Let’s be honest, Valentine’s Day is a ‘holiday’ (I use this term loosely) exclusively for those in relationships and those deluded individuals who believe their knight in shining armour is finally going to swoop into the picture on this ridiculous day. Cupid’s arrow is unlikely to strike, the person you have been pining after is not about to declare their love for you, unless you are in fact living in a Taylor Swift song, which I doubt. Maybe you have a secret admirer who will declare their adoration of you. In these modern times I’ll settle for a Facebook stalker, thanks. And who said romance was dead?

Once again a host of soppy films are being thrown out to cash in on the festivities. The winner of the most grossly titled is ‘Love Happens’ which was released on DVD this week. The same old Rom-Com stories pumped out, displaying mildly different variations of the same characters. We all know they are going to end up together in the end. If you really want to indulge in these fantasy stories then why not go and see Disney’s newest animation ‘The Princess and the Frog’, it’s about as realistic as most of the Rom-coms around. ‘The Time Traveller’s Wife’ is being released on DVD in time for Valentine’s Day; it’s actually one of the few vaguely romantic films I would ever recommend watching.

The notion of Valentine’s Day I can deal with. I understand that most couples are usually busy, become complacent in their relationships and perhaps need a day to really show their appreciation and love for one another. But why does it have to be such a holiday devoid of any originality? The commerciality of it all just makes the whole venture so insipid. Red roses, chocolates and a tacky card, wow, the whole thing makes you feel so special. Most couples spend the day in the same way as pretty much every other couple. Hopefully, as Valentine’s Day falls on the weekend this year, most couples will venture on weekend breaks away and spare us all their cringe-worthy public displays of affection.

Anyhow, I’ll be spending this Valentine’s Day alone. Better yet I am going to a wedding to celebrate someone else’s happy relationship. There’s nothing like watching a friend get married to make you feel both old and alone. I honestly wish them all the happiness but can’t I just live up to a stereotype, grow a paunch and live in my parent’s basement- I’m clearly developing into the male equivalent of a spinster anyway.

Not that I am an expert, but romance should be spontaneous and exciting, not dreary, repetitive and generically packed with a love heart. How important is celebrating Valentine’s Day whilst in a relationship anyway? It’s more of a throw-away gesture these days. It’s generally regarded that it means something if you don’t celebrate it when you’re in a relationship. It’s become an obligatory and dutiful holiday.

If you are going to indulge in this particularly horrific day of the year at least try to do something original or personal and don’t encourage companies to produce the same pink and fluffy tripe they regurgitate every year. It’s definitely about time I indulged in some Ben & Jerry’s and wallowed in my bitter state.

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