My idea of a romantic night is to watch action films.

The saying, “My idea of a romantic night is to watch action films,” spoken by Corey Hart, carries with it more than jest or eccentricity. It is a reminder that love, companionship, and joy do not always blossom in candlelight or beneath the serenades of harps, but often in the simple union of shared passions. For some, romance is not quiet stillness but the thrill of living, side by side, in the fire of life’s intensity. To watch an action film together is not merely to gaze at a screen—it is to journey through trials, courage, and triumph as one spirit.

The ancients knew well that love is not fragile, like a flower that withers with a touch, but fierce like the oak that bends against storms. The heroes of old—Achilles, Odysseus, Leonidas—did not woo by soft words alone, but by deeds, by daring, by fire. In the modern tongue, Hart’s choice of action films as a romantic delight is the echo of this same spirit: love that thrives in shared adrenaline, in the laughter of surprise, in the heartbeat quickened not only by affection, but by adventure.

Consider the tale of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-king of Rome. He would write to his beloved Faustina not in sweet trivialities alone, but in the strength of shared duty. Their life together was marked not by endless leisure, but by the weight of empire, wars, and the restless tide of history. Yet within this tumult, their bond was strong. Theirs was not a romance sheltered from life’s battles, but one lived in the midst of them. So too, when one chooses an action film as the backdrop of love, it is a symbolic acceptance: “I will share with you the fire, not only the stillness; the battles, not only the feasts.”

The quote also speaks to authenticity. Too often, people bend to the customs of romance as dictated by others: roses, violins, silken dinners. Yet true love thrives when the veil is torn away and one says, “This is who I am, and I share it with you.” For Corey Hart, whose heart beats faster not at lullabies but at explosions of cinema, romance is found in truth. Love cannot grow from a mask, but from the unhidden self. To invite another into your truest joy, even when it defies tradition, is the essence of union.

There is also humor and humility in his words. To say that a “romantic night” is not starlit poetry but action films reminds us not to take love too gravely. Even kings must laugh, and lovers must find delight in the absurd. For what is love if it cannot laugh at itself? The gladiators of the Colosseum may have fought to the death, but those who watched did so with cheers, excitement, and the thrill of shared spectacle. In the same way, a couple who laughs at the screen together is bound by a thread stronger than gold: joy in the ordinary.

Yet do not think this lightness trivial. On the contrary, it holds profound wisdom. For the greatest bonds are not tested in the rare banquet but in the everyday sharing of life’s tapestry. To sit side by side, popcorn in hand, hearts racing not from each other alone but from the drama unfolding before them—this is not less than love, but more. It is companionship lived in the rhythm of reality: mundane yet glorious, simple yet eternal.

The lesson is clear: romance is not conformity, but sincerity. Seek not what tradition demands, but what your soul longs to share. If your heart leaps at poetry, then read verses beneath the moon; if it beats at battles on the screen, then let that be your temple. The truest offering you can give a beloved is yourself unmasked.

Therefore, let each who hears these words take action: Do not chase the illusions of others’ love, but craft your own. Invite your beloved into the spaces where your heart is most alive. Watch together the films that stir you, walk together the paths that inspire you, laugh together at the scenes that delight you. In this way, your nights will be romantic not because the world approves, but because they are yours—authentic, daring, and eternal.