From ship to wreck: the origins of shipping and the compulsion to read romantic context into every exchange. Written by Sarah Gill.
For many, a movie is nothing without a little romantic flair thrown in to spice things up. Whether it's the main plot point, a supporting storyline or simply a scattering of sexual tension, it appeases the masses and draws the viewer in so that they become fully invested in these characters.
But what about the instances where there is no implicit romance? Is the knee-jerk desire to infer a connection based on chemistry part and parcel of the human condition, or does it only serve to invalidate any and all relationships that are not romantic in nature?
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The phenomenon of shipping found its origins in the 1900s, when Sybil Brinton picked up a pen (or quill) and reimagined some of Jane Austen's greatest works, pairing up the characters based on her own fantasies. The term itself wasn’t coined until the mid-’90s, when the relationship between Mulder and Scully of The X-Files was the source of much speculation.
Beginning as 'relationshippers’ and eventually being chopped up to ‘shippers’, these were the fans who pined to see the two FBI agents get together based on their undeniable chemistry and dichotomous characteristics. One was an optimistic believer, the other a skeptic, and fans were certain that opposites would attract.
A throughline that made sure the audience remained rapt as they investigated case after case, The X-Files aired in tandem with the rise of the internet and viewers were not shy about demanding their desired conclusions.
In a 2001 interview, series creator Chriss Carter said the relationship between the characters was purely cerebral, but throughout the many seasons and subsequent movies, the crowd got their way.
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In the years since, we’ve been rooting for Ross and Rachel and Harry and Hermione - Twilight even managed to commercialise the phenomenon with the Team Edward vs Team Jacob debacle. (Team Edward is the only correct answer, I won’t be elaborating.) More recently, we’ve seen pretty much every combination of Euphoria characters be shipped together while every other Netflix Original prompts its own array of romantic musings.
Speaking on the Jabbedu Education podcast, clinical psychologist Dr Lynn Zubernis said, "shipping is about exploring our own identity. We’re all going around looking for depictions of our own romantic, sexual and emotional fantastics… Shipping is self-narrative therapy."
Allowing viewers to externalise their own desires, shipping can also be an expression of empathy and allows for a greater level of engagement with a piece of fiction.
This yearning to see characters live happily ever after can quickly take on a toxic edge when the shipping comes off the screen and into a real life context. While we’ve seen (and obsessed over) the likes of Bennifer and Brangelina take their relationships off set and onto the streets, a new brand of shipping has emerged that takes things to another extreme.
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Ahead of The Batman’s release, Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz’s many press interviews and steamy photoshoots sparked a whole lot of excitement that the two might have a little liaison going on. Likewise, viewers of Pam and Tommy were left with seemingly no doubt that Lily James and Sebastian Stan had to have had a behind-the-scenes dalliance.
Regardless of the fact that all four actors are already in real life relationships and their entire profession revolves around authentically portraying the story of a character, viewers stubbornly deny the fictionality of acting. Similarly in the music industry, Directioners fiercely shipped Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson - or Larry Stylinson, to the stans - to the point that it affected the bandmates’ relationship.
So, why do we feel this compulsion to read into subtext and build our own narratives around a glimmer of possibility? As human beings, we’re compelled to love love. Way back in 1841, philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that rooting for love has always been part of human nature.
"What fastens attention, in the intercourse of life, like any passage betraying affection between two parties?" he wrote. "Perhaps we never saw them before, and never shall meet them again. But we see them exchange a glance, or betray a deep emotion, and we are no longer strangers. We understand them, and take the warmest interest in the development of the romance. All mankind love a lover."
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They say that we were put on this planet to love and to be loved, that love will prevail and conquer all. All you need is love, even though it may be a battlefield and really hurts without you. This infatuation with love is a beautiful part of the human condition, but the media perpetuates the narrative that the only form of love that is of any real value is romantic love.
Peddling the narrative that no two men and women can be just friends, platonic love is scarcely at the center of any given story. In 1989, Billy Crystal - as the eponymous Harry in When Harry Met Sally - boldly states that "men and women can’t be friends, because the sex part always gets in the way." This sentiment has been echoed time and time again in hundreds of rom-coms since, and gave rise to the dreaded friend zone.
Since Joey dubbed Ross ‘Mayor of the friend zone’ in 1994, the friends to lovers trope has pervaded television and movie storylines. Think of literally any sitcom ever. How I Met Your Mother had Ted and Robin, Scrubs had JD and Elliot, The Gilmore Girls had Luke and Lorelai, That ‘70s Show had just about every combination of male/female characters.
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I, like most people, absolutely adore nothing more than rooting for characters to get together and watching them gallop off into the sunset. Friends developing feelings for each other is a regular occurrence, but there’s no doubt in my mind that this is entirely over-represented in mainstream media.
Less so are genuine platonic friendships, that manage to survive multiple seasons or even a two-hour movie without a little (literal?) wink that there might be a flame under the surface that just needs to be stoked by lengthy Reddit threads and threatening Tweets to script writers.
