There has been so much talk about the romance genre born more so by the onset of ‘BookTube’ and more recently ‘BookTok’. However, romance has always been that girl. Now it is definitely what one would call mainstream media, it can appeal to large masses of people and is easily digestible. Almost every piece of media and artistry has some form of romance or romanticism weaved within the lyrics, the storyline, the plot, the camera work even the lighting of the perfect cinematic shot. It makes me think that romanticism is so involved in the arts because artists love what they are doing and creating. Even if it’s unintentional, it may be kind of impossible to leach the romantics completely out of the equation. Many people online (and even me on pipe-dreamer) talk about manifestation and the ability to romanticise your life. It becomes even a mantra or a demand, like training yourself to romanticise, romanticise, romanticise. Rinse and repeat and remind. When really it doesn’t have to be so hard. You can often find peace in the ability to simply enjoy the every-day, not to sound like a toxic optimist (also coming from a known self-aware pessimist who is obsessed with the melancholic). HOWEVER, the advice I’ve taken from fabulous lyricist Charli xcx and Everything is romantic on brat, it was kind of an epiphany whether or not your pottering around at home hanging your washing on the clothesline or on a boat with Capri in the distance. This being said, like the romance we can find in our lives and with other people, there’s also a reason the romance genre is so popular and why we love Prime Video’s Maxton Hall - The World Between Us so much: it’s some good old fashioned romance.
I was so obsessed with Maxton Hall I watched it three times in a row. Besides the fact that the leading star Harriet Herbig-Matten and Damian Hardung have amazing chemistry on-screen, the show had steady pacing and an engaging storyline. Based off the novel Save Me by Mona Kasten, the television adaptation tells the story of Ruby Bell, a charming and dedicated scholarship student at Maxton Hall, a wealthy and highly-esteemed school, determined to study at Oxford University. James Beaufort plunges into her life in stark contrast, whom after accosting Ruby after she stumbled upon a secret affecting James’s twin sister, the two on opposite sides in terms of wealth and family dynamics become entangled with each other. So what often brings us to become so enthralled by a Romeo and Juliet-esque ‘enemies to lovers’ trope and the romance genre as a whole? Having been written and adapted into hundreds of variations over many years of the arts, what is it that brings us back for more? It may be the simple romantic desire and passion between two people. Many people say we love romance so much because it is what we desire at one point or another in our lives and the romantic notion of finding our other halves. Coming from a cynic and a hopeless romantic, sometimes it’s so easy to fall into the world of fiction. What I loved about Maxton Hall so much and what makes it so addicting to the large audience that it garnered (it may just be the enemies to lovers trope), but the depth of the characters as individuals and what brought them together. They seek refuge in each other after breaking past the barrier of viewing each other as representative of what they look down upon. In terms of James, he views Ruby who has power over him as she knows his sister’s dangerous secret, and is not only protective of his sister and family, but due to their wealth is also used to always having the power over people. This ultimately makes him uncomfortable and even threatened. Ruby on the other hand, looks down upon James not only because of him and his family’s wealth but what he does with that wealth and power, charismatically portrayed by Hardung. We could view it as Ruby also having a little jealousy of James and his wealth from her determination to save up and pay for a new lift for her father who is a wheelchair user, of which her family haven’t been able to afford. Instead, they find comfort in each other. The romance genre can be incredibly dimensional which could be a bit of a hot take, as one could also look at it as stereotypical and cliche. But scenes such as the pool scene where James dives in to save Ruby who doesn’t know how to swim due to a family tragedy shows vulnerability, particularly seen through Ruby and her flannel shirt at the party in stark contrast to her peers and their arguing scene up the stairs at Oxford. There is something very vulnerable about what makes them so angry with each other, because there is vulnerability in liking someone and hoping that they reciprocate (confirming it’s not all in your head).
The cool thing about the romance genre is that it can be all in your head as you read it on the page, or on the screen in front of you. For all my fellow hopeless romantics out there, don’t ever stop being vulnerable. There’s something so romantic about being real. Brb, I think it’s time for a Maxton Hall rewatch.
Recommendations
Of course, Maxton Hall - The World Between Us directed by Martin Schreier and Tarek Roehlinger if you’re in the mood for some romance, and my other favourite in song form Daylight by Taylor Swift. Tattooed on my hand and my favourite Taylor Swift song, in my opinion one of her most romantic songs. It’s not only about a person but the romantics of letting go <3