This Valentine's Day is all about Captain America

Valentine's Day used to be Hollywood's golden window for releasing tender and heartwarming love stories that would make us believe in love again. However, fast-forward to 2025, this tradition has been completely rewritten. The only major release this Valentine's Day is Captain America: Brave New World.

What does a superhero movie have to do with romance? It seems movie studios have decided that love is no longer in demand, and armored heroes saving the world are a safer commercial bet.

Over the years, great love stories have become rarer. In this age of streaming dominance, content fragmentation, and scarce attention, do we still need to love movies? Or has love itself been complicated by modern realities, leaving only the remnants of traditional romance?

Looking around, you'll notice that what was once a prime season filled with films brimming with delicate emotions has now been overtaken by one blockbuster after another. This year, the mainstream choice is another Marvel film. If you're hoping for a sweet first-love moment or a gut-wrenching portrayal of losing love, you're bound to be disappointed. As expected, the movie is a typical Marvel spectacle: explosions, dazzling special effects, and heroism—maybe with a subplot about personal sacrifice, but nowhere near the heartfelt emotions of a traditional love story. Where did those heart-pounding, tear-jerking romances go?

Movies like Titanic, The Notebook, and the Before Trilogy may not have been perfect, but they made an effort to capture the chaos and unpredictability of love, showcasing intimate, vulnerable, and genuine connections. Titanic gave viewers an epic emotional experience through Jack and Rose's love story, one that not only crossed class lines but also painted a picture of sacrifice and eternity in the face of disaster. The Notebook depicted perseverance and tested the mettles of love, whether through youthful passion or lifelong devotion, reminding us of love's enduring nature. The Before Trilogy, with its minimalist narrative style, delicately portrayed the evolution of love between two strangers over the years, from infatuation to the tests of reality. Each installment was full of philosophical musings that make us reflect on the essence of love.

My relationship with love movies is intertwined with my own journey of growth. As a kid, I wasn't good at interacting with the opposite sex; love seemed like a distant riddle. It wasn't until I saw The Notebook for the first time that I realized love could be an imperfect yet worthwhile emotion. The Before Trilogy helped me to understand love's fluidity—how it evolves over time, through experiences, and through conversations. The great love story of Titanic taught me that love sometimes means sacrifice, the strength to hold on even during the hardest moments. These films gave me the courage to connect with others and explore the many facets of love and taught me how to love someone in real life.

Having grown up with these love movies, I'm deeply disappointed by today's Valentine's Day films.

Now, the big screen feels more like a visual feast, leaving almost no space for romance. It's a source of regret and disappointment for me. I miss the films that made me believe in love, the ones that immersed me in the emotional depth of the characters. I long for the moments when two people share a wordless gaze under soft lighting or when a single line of dialogue breaks your heart. Today's movies feel like fast food culture, with no time to build emotion or patience to portray authentic relationships.

I often wonder—has the era changed, or have we stopped believing in love? Maybe people today prefer love stories that come with self-deprecating humor and irony, and can no longer tolerate saccharine, clichéd declarations of love. But even so, I still long for films that move the heart with a glance, a moment, a whispered word. I miss pure, real, passionate love.

Today, studios prefer to invest in safe, money-making blockbusters rather than sincere and moving love stories. This isn't just a market choice; it's a sign of cultural shift. In an era where relationships are fleeting and attention spans are scarce, grand and soulful love stories seem harder to resonate with. But does this mean we should give up on them?

The lack of love films on Valentine's Day not only feels disappointing but also highlights the growing homogenization of the movie market. For audiences craving nuanced emotions, this undoubtedly leaves a huge gap. I yearn for a film that truly captures the complexity of love, not one that simplifies it into flashy effects and shallow moral tales.

Are we ready to abandon traditional romantic narratives? Or is love cinema just temporarily sidelined by the market? I can't say for sure, but I do know that I long for the return of romance films. I hope future Valentine's Days won't be overtaken by commercial blockbusters, but instead, return to sincere, touching love stories that allow audiences to once again experience the magic of love.

Valentine's Day shouldn't just be spent with Captain America.

Catch you later for more movie musings!