Ask someone what has been one of the best experiences to happen in their life and they will probably say being in love. If you are in love right now – or have been in love before – then you will know how great love can be (if it works!).
February 14th is of course Valentines Day, when all things to do with love are celebrated. Love is also a huge part of The Tribe – and this worldview looks at the Tribe and love…
What is love?
For millions of years, people have fallen in love. If there was no love in the world then it is likely there would be no people anymore because without love there are no Mums and Dads, no couples, no marriages – and no kids!
Love has been around since time immemorial but it is hard to define exactly what love is – and generations of writers, poets, artists, philosophers, religious people, filmmakers and television producers have in their different ways examined this part of our lives! Love is powerful and profound – but hard to define in a dictionary…
Love in Tribeworld
Tribeworld feels (from watching the Tribe) that love is many things:
Firstly, love is a process. Real life is not like the movies – it is very rare that couples find love at first sight and know instantly they have met the person of their dreams. Who they will spend the rest of their lives with. Normally, you have to get to know someone first through a process of going out or just hanging out together.
This is what happens in the Tribe. Yes, people (like Bray and Amber, Jack and Ellie, ) may be attracted to each other to begin with but it takes time for them to fall in love. It doesn’t happen instantly…
But how and why do people fall in love? Is it all down to how attractive someone looks from the outside? Not in the Tribe (or real life!). Yes, it helps if someone is physically attractive but love is more than thinking someone is “a bit of all right”! Love is partly when two people enjoy each other’s company and are attracted to each other’s personalities – they share similar interests and behaviours. And people are either compatible – or they are not. Amber and Bray liked the look of each other it is true – but they also liked each others’ principles and beliefs.
Love is also when two people have the same aspirations – they share similar dreams… The two people are moving in the same direction in their lives – they are compatible and want to face the future together (as well as enjoy the present!)…
So love is about caring, sharing – it is a bond someone feels with another person. Sometimes this “tug of love” cannot be analysed – it is just something that is felt.
True love does happen – fate brings two people together and they are starcrossed lovers, destined to fall in love… this is a recurrent theme of the Tribe with different couples – some of them meet true love (Bray and Amber, Lex and Zandra) but what happens when love goes wrong – when there is no love?
I would love to love you but…
Love is fantastic and wonderful when it works. But when it doesn’t work, love can cause big problems:
One way love Salene is a good case in point. Salene has always been attracted to Bray – she has a “crush” on him. But Bray does not love Salene – his love is for Amber. This is when love is entirely one way – Salene will sometimes “lose control” and pester Bray, flirt with him, do anything in her power to try to make Bray love her. All she does is antagonise Bray and make herself feel depressed, angry or humiliated.
Trudy was similar in Series 1- she adored Bray so much she became totally obsessed and fixated with him. But again, Bray did not love Trudy the same way. So Trudy started to “hate” others whom she felt Bray loved, she became devious and manipulative in her obsession for Bray. One way love is not good…
I love you but I won’t say so Love can also cause problems in bizarre ways. Sometimes two people may be falling in love but they don’t actually let each other know! They may be too proud to reveal their feelings – or they may feel that circumstances are against them explaining their love. So the two people exist loving each other only in mind – they never actually become an “item” because they never communicate their feelings for one another. Again, Bray and Amber were like this for a time – they were falling in love but did not actually say “I love you” to each other for absolutely ages… Sometimes people may not say “I love you” because they are afraid of being rejected…
Love hurts Love can be very painful when it is one way and leads to rejection. Ebony has always had feelings for Bray but Bray (since the virus changed things) has not felt the same way for Ebony. Once Bray rejected Ebony and hurt her feelings very badly. Love when it is like this can be very emotive and wounding. Rejections hurt! Ow!
Love of a kind Sometimes people may “love” each other much like a member of the family. There is nothing romantic, no amorous feelings. The love is instead a genuine careing for each other, enjoying each other’s company – rather than love in the sense of “hey, let’s have kids!”. This is platonic love – and Dal and Amber are a good case in point. They are very close friends – so much so that they are platonically in love. There is nothing romantic (platonic love is derived from the philosophy of the famous Ancient Greek philosopher, Plato).
Love stories
So love is a big part of the Tribe and important in many of the storylines in each episode. Often stories are due to issues raised above – -i.e. someone falling in love with someone else, one way love, genuine love, rejection, when people are in love but not revealing their true feelings…
Love in life
Love is very important to people in the Tribe – and is also important in real life. That’s why love has been the subject of so much that is part of our culture today, things like:
Theatre Who hasn’t heard of Romeo and Julliet? Shakespare knew he was onto a good story when Romeo serenaded Julliet and asked her how she was doing, “Julliet, what light beyond yonder window breaks…?” and famous phrases like “Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?” have become part of the language.
Literature So many books have love in them, from famous classics like Pride and Prejudice to Gone with the Wind, from Dr Zhivago to Les Miserables and countless others…
Music Turn on the radio and there is a good chance you will hear a song about love. Classical music from Mozard to Beethoven – to pop music (the Beatles) to contemporary popular music – music across all styles from rap to heavy metal, from dance to opera – love is a big theme of it all…
Cinema Watch a movie at the cinema or on tv and love will probably be a key theme.
Dance Love has influenced many styles of dance – especially ballet, with works composed and choreographed around love stories like Romeo and Julliet, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Swan Lake…
Poetry If you look in a poetry book If you have the time for a rhyme, Ask any good poet and they’ll know it – Love is an inspiration for poetical divination Poetry soars like the wings of a dove When it is from the heart – and set to love…
Famous poets like Byron and Tennyson were inspired by love and often composed poetry about it as has Robert Burns and theatrical poets like Edouard Rostand (author of Cyrano de Bergerac).
Television Love is a big part of television too – such as The Tribe!!
Custom and behaviour The theme of love has also become part of our everyday social conventions. Often in language you might say “I’d love to do this…”. Doves, hearts, cupid, flowers – all these themes are associated with love and are part of our way of life…
Love
So love is a big part of the Tribe – and a big part of real life too!
Without love, the Tribe would be a different series – and the world would be a different place too!
So whatever you are doing on Valentines Day in the year 2001 have a good day – and keep the faith because there is someone out there for you!!