Having a crush can be an exciting, exhilarating experience. It can also be confusing, frustrating, and even heartbreaking if it’s unrequited. But that’s not to say that crushes are inherently bad or that they don’t have their place. Sometimes, crushes can lead to positive relationships — or at the very least, can teach us important lessons about how to treat ourselves and others.
A crush can be a powerful feeling, and it’s one that many of us have experienced at some point in our lives. Feelings of infatuation can trigger the release of mood-enhancing hormones like dopamine and oxytocin in the brain, which may lead to a heightened heart rate, butterflies-in-the-stomach sensation, or obsessive thinking about the person you’re crushing on. However, a crush is different from a romantic relationship or marriage because it’s often based on fantasy. It’s often a way to escape the reality of life and project our own ideals onto the person we’re crushing on.
Infatuation can be very difficult to break because it’s rooted in fantasy. It can be helpful to talk with a therapist who can help you identify and understand your own needs in order to break the cycle of unhealthy crushes. They can also help you distinguish the difference between a crush and a partner so that you don’t misread their signals or misconstrue their intent.
While Crush is a cute teen movie with a fresh-faced cast that features a number of underrepresented minorities, it still feels like a retread. It lacks the requisite dose of youthful mischief and a sense of drama that makes the genre so irresistible. The likable actors, including Blanchard and Cravalho, do their best with what they have to work with but deserve a more rounded story than the slender script allows for.
Crush isn’t the most sophisticated or thought-provoking rom-com, but it does highlight how important representation and positivity are for the health of our culture. And despite some overused tropes, it’s worth seeing for its queer representation and sex positivity. For families, it’s a good opportunity to discuss how sex and romance can be depicted in films and TV shows, as well as the challenges that come with navigating a relationship with someone you have a crush on. The more we’re able to talk about these topics, the better chance we have of moving beyond the crush stage into healthy and loving relationships.