The thing about tv friendships is that, for developing same-gender friendships to be believable, they have to be meticulously built on love and trust and circumstances that challenge the relationship in question.
Occasionally this results in audiences interpreting these friendships as homoerotic, bc so much time and storyline is devoted to the love they have for each other.
But put an assumed straight guy and assumed straight girl in the same room for 20 minutes and suddenly the sexual tension is apparently so heady it’s hard for anyone to breathe (read: it’s actually just the awful stench of heteronormativity). In what time it took for the friends above to be introduced, the guy and girl would already have gotten married and devoted their lives to each other (at least, according to tv).
So, essentially, as a member of the audience, I’m supposed to believe a romantic relationship can be possible between two straight people standing next to each other for a few minutes, but when I see two best friends love each other so fervently that it has the potential to blossom into a romantic relationship, I’m “reaching.”
Okay.