Thanks to all the classic romance movies we’ve been exposed to, we can’t help but have expectations bordering on unrealistic when it comes to love. But when we actually stop to reflect on those full-production gestures of affection that we get so “kilig” over, we find that experiencing them in real life is far less appealing.

I mean, would you really want your ex to show up at your doorstep in Christmas with placards declaring his love for you while your spouse is inside like what happened in Love Actually?

There are a lot of truly creepy things that people do in romance movies, and the fault lies in us if we honestly believe these gestures could work with our own crushes and significant others. Here are just a few of them.

Chasing a bus to stop someone from leaving

There are a lot of things wrong with this: 1) you’re inconveniencing other passengers and the driver by delaying the bus, 2) you’re putting yourself at risk for running after a moving vehicle, and 3) if you couldn’t make the person stay before they got on that bus, then what makes you think chasing after them will?

Using a fake chat name to talk to your crush

Recent teen flick Vince & Kath & James starring young loveteam Julia Baretto and Joshua Garcia tried to prove that it’s “cute” to be courted via anonymous text messages. In reality, it’s stalker-ish, manipulative, and dangerous because you can’t say for certain if the person you’re talking to really has interest in you or merely catfishing.

Pursuing someone because of “love at first sight”

Some people believe in love at first sight, but it’s rarely as romantic as depicted in the movies. It’s fine when your thoughts start becoming occupied by a person you just met and are attracted to, but it becomes downright creepy when you start to obsess over that person believing the gods have willed you two to be together.

Getting into a fight with someone you’re jealous of

Willingly engaging in physical fights is not at all attractive. No one wants people getting seriously hurt just because of irrational jealousy. It’s terrifying because it exhibits signs of unhealthy possessiveness and probable future domestic abuse. So nope, Summer getting angry at Tom for punching a guy who was hitting on her at the bar and ultimately ending their whirlwind romance was not a bitchy move at all.

Standing outside an ex’s house to declare your love

There’s a fine line between making an effort to win them back, and doing borderline crazy things “out of love.”

So unless you’re John Cusack in an 80s film, it’s not in any way romantic to stand outside your ex’s window in the middle of the night holding a boom box over your head and playing the song you had sex the first time with her to.

Writing a long message about an ex on Facebook

Have you ever read a long Facebook post that narrate someone’s love story from when the relationship began and why it had to end, complete with a message to the ex, saying “I only wish happiness for you”?

Okay, maybe some of us have our own way of coping with breakups. But publicly announcing it with a heartfelt story that could be submitted as an MMK episode? It’s kind of like you’re craving attention for yourself, isn’t it?

Picking on someone because you like them

Bullying is never a good thing, no matter what the situation. Don’t believe anyone who says “inaaway ka lang niyan dahil may gusto siya sayo.” That is definitely not how love and attraction should be expressed.

Public proposals

Unless your significant other or your crush likes the attention and are just as fanatical over you as you are over him or her, then grand displays of affection are not going to win his or her heart.

Public proposals are manipulative and put insane amounts of pressure on the guy or girl in question because they don’t want to look bad for rejecting someone who had just put on so much effort for them.

So if you were one of those who thought it was “cute” that someone would go to great lengths like putting up a billboard to ask someone out on a date, you need to rethink your definition of romance.

What other supposedly romantic gestures do you know of that are actually very creepy? Share them with us below!