“What you used to see in film and television was a handsome white male lead in a heterosexual relationship with a gorgeous female lead, and that was what we saw,” Rogers said. “What I appreciate about television now is that we see the open up. Not everyone is straight, not everyone is white, not everyone is in a traditional situation.”
“As we’re in this Golden Age of television and as we’re seeing that explored, we’re seeing more of the honest aspects of relationships.”
McLeod, who has an episode of ‘Modern Love’ based on his own experience, spoke on how difficult romance can be to capture.
“The traditional narrative that we all see in these romantic comedies and TV shows is just very linear, and it’s just not that,” he explained.
“Seeing how complex and rich it is, [my] Modern Love episode, even still the story behind it is like 10,000 times more complex.”
Bushnell, one of the original curators behind modern New York romance on screen, said she’s happy to see the genre open up to all forms of relationships.
“Most entertainment for women, we are so forced into that romantic trope. As a woman I try to write so many things where the happy ending is not a guy and it’s almost impossible,” she said.
“As a straight woman that you’re always up against is a relentless, relentless insistence on this happy ending finding a guy, when in reality today in terms of finding a guy I think that women have to really think twice about it because its very easy for women to waste a lots of their time and energy and end up with nothing.”
“I think its much more open for us to see many many different varieties of relationships.”
Modern Love premieres October 18th on Prime Video.
