Meet Cute Link

We use the term constantly. We hashtag it on Instagram for pictures of puppies and toddlers. We demand it in Netflix holiday movies. But what is a meet cute? And why, in an era of dating apps and algorithmic matchmaking, are we more obsessed with spontaneous, awkward, and beautifully chaotic first encounters than ever before?

This is the "two people reach for the same object" scenario. Whether it’s the last pair of gloves on a department store shelf (as seen in Serendipity ) or the same unique vintage item at a flea market, this meet-cute establishes that the characters share a taste or a destiny. It suggests that they are the only two people in the room who "get it"—and therefore, they might be the only two people who get each other. Meet Cute

She burst through the door like a small hurricane wearing a corduroy blazer and mismatched earrings—one a tiny silver cat, the other a plastic strawberry. Her arms were piled high with what looked like a week’s worth of costumes: a velvet cape, three sequined scarves, and a pair of trousers that appeared to be made entirely of denim and regret. She was muttering to herself in the frantic, melodic way of someone who had lost her keys, her phone, and possibly her mind. We use the term constantly

A direct compliment ("You're hot") shuts down spontaneity. A comment opens it. "That is the best book in the series, but you’re reading it out of order." "Is your dog always that dramatic?" This is how movie meet cutes start—with observation, not pickup lines. But what is a meet cute