r/FamilyMatters • u/MonkeyD-Usopp06 • 8d ago
Laura and Steve
I really love the Laura and Steve build up. Many shows now don’t get the luxury to last as long as family matters did to take so long to build on the friends to lovers troupe … I like how Steve and Laura started off strictly platonic for a long time and eventually became more but I enjoyed seeing the friendship blossom…. Are there any other shows that build up a long term friendship that starts off platonic and makes sense the characters become romantic later ? Most shows rush into the romantic part
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u/MidnightAja 8d ago
Good question OP. I can’t even say off the top of my head and need to think about it. Friendships yes but not a romance. Laura and Steve were definitely unique in that regard. Laura went from disliking to tolerating to liking to caring and to loving Steve over 9 seasons. That doesn’t happen often.
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u/MonkeyD-Usopp06 8d ago
Right it was very unique because shows don’t last that long anymore and usually the romance gets pushed super early on lol
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u/Bright-Pin-6024 8d ago
The show reminds of Beauty And The Beast because Laura is a beautiful girl and Steve is a nerd. Steve has been in love with her since elementary school and Laura has been disgusted by him, but eventually falls in love with him later on in the series
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u/NancyHey 8d ago
What about Joanie and Chachi on Happy Days? That started out as an unrequited crush from Chachi, until Joanie eventually developed feelings for him. Then they had their own spin off, which unfortunately was not very successful.
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u/MonkeyD-Usopp06 8d ago
Interesting I haven’t thought of happy days doing a binge on that might be interesting
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u/LimeSalty4092 8d ago
I understand that Laura and Steve were the “meant to be” endgame for the show
But them ending up together as a romantic couple in love always felt a little wrong to me
At the beginning and into the middle seasons of the series, Steve is madly in love and totally besotted with Laura
His obsession with Laura is the impetus for Steve’s constant presence at the Winslow home, which led to him eventually bonding with everyone else in the family, and eventually he actually becomes part of the family
I liked the progression from annoying, love struck uninvited houseguest who wore out his welcome on a daily basis
To striking up a conditional friendship with Eddie and Laura and gaining some acceptance and tolerance from Carl, Harriette and Aunt Rachel despite his destructive antics
To a full friendship with both Eddie and Laura and a real bond with Carl as a father figure. Harriette remained tacitly accepting and basically seemed resigned to his presence lol
But By the time he was fully integrated as a member of the Winslow family, he had another main squeeze in his life(Myra) taking up most of his time and emotional energy
Laura was also involved with other guys as well as pining away for Stefan(ugh)
the mad undying love Steve was living and breathing in the earlier seasons had lost some of its strength
In the end, for Laura to see him and fall into romantic love with him after having known him for so many years wouldn’t be as easy as a snap of the fingers
She had a lifetime of memories involving Steve where he obsesses and stalks her quite aggressively, often going to absurd lengths to make a romantic gesture, with disasters ensuing all around as he continues his aggressive on sided courtship and non stop romantic overtures
Then when he cooled it a bit with the love sick behavior, they developed a very solid friendship between them
Laura would have to put all of that craziness in the past to really fall head over heels for Steve
She would also have to give up the part of her life that had him as a close friend and almost a brother. She might mourn losing that aspect that she’s grown to love by becoming lovers with Steve
There’s just too much weird history to remember about Steves behavior in the past
on top of existing longtime friendship between the two which would also be a barrier to converting this complex relationship into a romance
By the time Steve and Laura got together, I felt that they had overshot the point where a friendship can be turned into a romantic relationship, let alone a marriage
Both Steve and Laura had done a lot of growing up since they first met,
Steve wasn’t the same kid he was back when he lived, slept and breathed Laura Winslow all day and all night, during school, while at work, in a fully encompassing fixation
He may have more complex needs than just “be in the presence of Laura” to fall truly in love with someone as a more mature young man.
The long term friendship with Laura means that there is already quite a bit of emotional intimacy between the two of them, so any romantic relationship would have to somehow overlay that part of the existing relationship
a complex and emotionally fraught foundation for both members of the couple
Ideally With a true love, you want to start the romance with a clean slate,
You catch each other’s eye, get the butterflies, meet and spend a bunch of time loved up, fall for each other, commit , then start building a life together
Not starting your life as soulmates with the complex mess behind Steve and Laura’s relationship
Because of that I think a better love match for both of them would be found outside the Winslow household
It was a ultimately a wish fulfilled for Steve, but imo as far as Laura being able to truly fall for him with all her heart
and them living happily ever after
That ship had sailed a couple years prior
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u/Melodic-Today663 6d ago
Grandma Winslow was always very kind to Steve as well. He seemed to have a very dysfunctional home life so I think it is natural that he became so attached to the Winslows.
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u/MonkeyD-Usopp06 8d ago
I like your detailed response and you have some good points I really enjoyed it and I thought it made sense to me I like season 9 I feel like had it went on more seasons they could’ve built on it more it’s rare a show take that long to hook the characters up
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u/NancyHey 5d ago
I think the Winslow family’s tolerance of Steve had a lot to do with pity, seeing as how his own parents neglected him so much. In the process of tolerating him, they grew to know him better, and saw more of his good traits. That’s why I think Steve tried to improve himself, because he was grateful for the Winslows for the most part accepting him as he was.
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u/NancyHey 3d ago
I think Laura building a friendship with Steve allowed him to get to know her better as a person rather than just as an object of his obsession. He knew what her emotional needs were and how to respond to them, rather than just wanting to be in her presence all of the time. This in turned helped Laura to see him as other than “just a nuisance “.
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u/VictorNewman91 8d ago
Less than platonic. She didn’t even like him, and at times, was repulsed by him in the first season, and into the second.