Do Opposites Still Attract?

You're a bleeding-heart liberal vegetarian, they're a far-right carnivore. The sexual tension might exist... but can you make it work?

- Saumyaa Vohra

In the very first episode of the cult classic show, Gilmore Girls (2000–2007), it becomes clear that Luke and Lorelai are going to end up together.

What made them so obviously right for one another? They were opposites, of course. Luke was a lone wolf that ran a diner in the town he grew up in, loved green vegetables and green tea, and grunted in response to most questions. Lorelai was a talkative, quirky single mother with a junk food addiction and coffee flowing through her veins that couldn't turn left without making friends. Together, they had undeniable chemistry. She coaxed him out of his shell, he was her rock. They balanced each other.

Look at a timeline of pop culture and you'll find versions of this trope through time. Monica and Chandler from Friends (1994–2004), Rue and Jules from Euphoria (2019–), or even celebrities like George and Amal Clooney or Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh. Easygoing X neurotic, friendly X reserved, small town boy X big city girl. The kind of opposites would vary, but the messaging was the same—that a relationship works best if you find the 'yin' to your 'yang', when the other person 'balances' you out.