The only time I actually get into a rant or a rave, is when there's a thread in which I get riled up. There was a thread titled above, and people were all over the place, so I decided to jump into the fray, and lay down a little relationship law (Being 28 has it's perks - you know stuff....) so here's what I wrote. Okay, time for the Inflikted's expose on why Robin can't admit his feelings to Starfire. Most of the folks here are in their teens. So I would assume that most of you could relate. But you know what happens when you "assume" right? Robin is first and foremost a male. Robin is also the leader of the Titans. Robin has a reputation to uphold, as I'm sure most of the guys in this forum do, IRL. Robin wants to come off as billy-badass, a controller, a know-it-all, never scared, cool, never afraid of nothing, kind of guy. Think about it. In your daily lives, we all wear some sort of mask - a sort of way that we feel about ourselves. We feel that we're gothic, or the cheerleader type, or a bad boy jock, or we're the type of person who commands respect, or popularity. We all wear that kind of a persona in our daily lives. But I wonder how many goths go home, and watch the Mickey Mouse Club. Or how many bad boy jocks go home, and watch a soap opera with their mom. If we admit that we do these things, it will be devastating to our reputations that we're trying to uphold. How many of you jock types out there, admit to your friends, or have it known that you play Barbie dolls with your sister.... or how many of the Bad-ass metalheads go home, and sit and play solitaire while listening to Britney Spears? Probably not many.... Robin is the same way. He has a reputation to uphold with the other Titans - including Starfire. He can't be gushy, lovey-dovey with her, and still command her respect when it comes time to scrap. (There's a saying - never date people you work with.....) Robin is like any other type of teen-age male. He doesn't want to be known as weak. He doesn't want to be known as soft, or a "loser". Granted, I don't believe that the other Titans would label him as such, but I do believe if he were to start suddenly gushing about how much he likes Starfire, then he would lose credibility. How many of you get disgusted when your friend keeps sucking face with their significant other, while you're trying to get something done? Again, Robin is first and foremost a male. Show me a man who is perfectly smooth in front of a good looking girl, and I'll show you a man who is a liar. All males have an innate inferiority complex. Call it "Man-envy" if you will. There is nobody who feels that they are the perfect visage of what a man is. Every male has certain inhibitions when it comes to dating, courting, or starting to court rituals. Every guy, when they're in front of a good looking lady, wants her to think that he's a man's man. That he's perfect, there's nothing wrong with him. That he is the epitome of perfect manliness. He has the cool car, the big muscles, the big money, and so on. Sad but true - when a guy starts laying on his "Game" he looks like a total and complete fool. He's not doing it intentionally, he is doing it because that's what he feels she wants - the man's man. Every male has certain inhibitions about courting a lady. Is he good enough? Will she like him? Will she think he's a loser? Will she reject him? All sorts of things like that! What guy in here doesn't? Hell, I've been married for seven years, and I still think that...... Robin is too worried about what his team, or his friends will think of him. He's too worried that if he comes off weak by telling Starfire how he feels, that his doing so will ruin his reputation with Starfire, and the rest of his team. There's a time and a place for everything, and in the beginning of "Stranded" was not the time nor the place to do so. Later in the episode, Robin started to feel like it was the time and place - but unfortunately he was interrupted. Hopefully this led everyone into a little more insight into the male mind and why Robin can't admit his feelings to Starfire. PS- read "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" by Dr. John Grey - an amazing and very informative relationship/human psyche book! Interestingly enough, I get a response saying that my definition of classifications is wrong. That you're labeled this because you listen to this, and so on. So here's how I respond to that: Theoretically, there is no real "classifications" of people. Why? Because everyone has their "guilty pleasures". You completely missed that point. I was speaking of the "Mask" that everyone wears. Everyone wants to be known as some way or another - whether you're a teenager, adult, child, or elder. You decide your own route you wish to take. Say, for example, you like a particular Pantera song. You decide to start listening to more and more Pantera, and you do it in front of your friends. That becomes your "Mask". You become the "Metalhead". But what if you come home from somewhere, and your mom is watching Days Of Our Lives? You catch a scene, and it's titallating to you. So you sit down, and watch the next scene, and the next, and you find yourself enjoying the show. It becomes a "guilty pleasure." By "guilty pleasure", I mean that it's something you enjoy, but you don't want your friends to know about it. You're afraid of being labeled as a "loser" since you watch Days Of Our Lives with your mother. You can't help it. You like the show, but you don't want it known that you like that show. You, and everyone else on this board, myself included, want to be known as a certain way. But what do you do, that wouldn't be considered that way? If you're a goth, what things do you do, that wouldn't be considered goth by your peers? Everyone does something. I'm a country boy. But I don't own nor drive a tractor. In fact, I like the Saturn Vue, better than I did my pickup truck. Driving that Vue, is a guilty pleasure. Occasionally, I'll listen to Michelle Branch, or Jessica Simpson. Country boys don't do that. Michelle Branch and Jessica Simpson are guilty pleasures. They are things that bring me pleasure, they are things that I like, that I'm not too fond of my friends finding out. And I'm an adult! Everyone has an "invisible mask" that they wear. Just because you label someone a goth, doesn't mean that all they do is goth stuff. They don't always just sit in their room, cranking Marilyn Manson or whatnot, crying about how crappy their life is. Maybe, when they're in front of nobody but themselves, they'll watch TeleTubbies or something. That's a "Guilty Pleasure". Metalheads don't only listen to metal, goths don't only do goth stuff, emos aren't homosexual, rednecks aren't racist, jocks don't only play sports all the time, the list goes on and on. What do you label yourself as? Do you limit yourself to only doing things that, that label permits you to do? If you respond yes, then I have a bridge to sell you. Everybody has their guilty pleasures. Everyone wears a "mask" of some sort that they put on in front of their friends. That's the point I was trying to get across. Hopefully you understand now. I applied all that to why Robin can't admit his feelings to Starfire. Can you admit to me - here and now - that you do something that your "label" wouldn't permit you to do? In front of everyone on this board, in front of all the friends that you've made here. That did the trick, and the lad who asked finally understood what I was talking about. But then someone asks a question: Why are there "labels" anyways.... My response: I'll completely agree with you. In response to the question posed: "Why are there labels?" I can only answer one thing; I don't know. From what I've seen and noticed and heard: Society is only comfortable classifying things. It's been happening since the days of old: Medieval times, where there were the elite, the peaseants, and so on, and possibly since before: times in which I'm not aware of. Things have always been about reputation. Society has always been concerned with how they appear. As much as I think outward appearances are bull****, they still exist. How to put this. Society has only been concerned with three main things: Status, Safety, and Conformity. To classify people as certain genres provides a person with their own status: whether it be good or bad, safety: knowing that they're not as bad as other "classes", and conformity: knowing that there are others out there like them, so they're not alone. I fully admit that I could be wrong, but these are things in my eyes. Humanity has always had a thing with "They're better than others, but not as good as some". Basically it's always been about "Reputation". Humanity has always had a concern with how it looks to others. I tend to think it has something to do with your Id, Ego, and Super-ego. to Define: Id - the primitive part of our personality: we want, we don't care what it takes, who it hurts, etc. Point is: We want. Ego - We want, but we have to be careful not to hurt others. Super-ego - Our morals: what is sociologically right, and sociologically wrong. That, and in conjunction with Maslov's Heirarchy of Needs To Define: (Think of a pyramid, with #5 on the bottom, #1 at the top.) #5 need: Psysiological needs: Air, Water, Food, etc. #4 need: Safety needs: Physical, Financial, etc. #3 need: Social needs: Friendship, grouping, etc. #2 need: Esteem needs: Sense of belonging, etc. #1 need: Self-Actualization needs: Wisdom, Justice; reaching your full potential as a person. To me, means that people are letting their Id's control them, and there's not enough Ego being used today. Super-ego is at an all time low, considering today's standards with Gayism, Molestation, etc. Everyone is using their Id too much in an attempt to reach that #1 need: Self-actualization. Nobody uses their Ego to let them know that no matter what, they are okay to continue living life, fulfilling needs #s 5-2, and eventually reaching need #1. Although I feel that need #1 has been warped in today's day and time: instead of reaching their full potential as a human, now they want to have the biggest houses, the most money, the best looking spouse, the smartest kids, etc. - a false self-actualization, but that's another story. Hence the need to "label" people - in order to fulfill their heirarchy of needs, they let their Id control things, without checking with the Ego or Super-ego, hence the false fulfillment of the top three needs. Sorry there's so much Psychoanalytical talk in here: but It's the only explanation I can think of to the question posed. And to keep it on topic- Robin has his Id control him, as well as the other Titans. Nobody checks their Egos, but they all have a higher sense of Super-ego, considering that they're superheros and all. Robin, internally, wants that need #3 fulfilled, but his Id keeps getting in the way - possibly a psychological disorder of some sort? He likes/loves Starfire, but by telling her, he would be sacrificing his need #2. I'm still awaiting a response to this, but I get the feeling it's pretty much a dead thread... I'll find out tomorrow though.