30 Iconic Fictional Proposals To Make You Believe In Love Again

Leslie and Ben from Parks and Recreation, promotional photo via NBC

With Valentine’s Day coming up, we all want to feel that warm, fuzzy, love feeling! Here are 30 iconic proposals from film and TV that will make you laugh, cry, or cringe. Which is your favorite?

I will level with you. I cry a lot, y’all. Which I actually like about myself. I like to think of it as emotional badassery. I cry at the news, baby videos, and magazine interviews. But the hands-down most reliable way to make me cry is to have me watch a fictional proposal. Yes, imaginary characters portrayed by actors, asking each other to engage in imaginary marriages. It destroys me in the best way.

The greatest thing about a proposal is that it always means basically the same thing. It always means, “I love you and I’m asking you to engage in a life-binding commitment with me.” But how that relates to different couples is extremely varied. The ‘perfect proposal’ doesn’t exist, because it depends on who you’re trying to be married to. A gigantic, grand-gesture kind of proposal is perfect for one type of person. An intimate moment next to each other on the couch is a proposal for a different person. And when the person proposing gets it right, it shows how much they really know and care about their partner. I think that’s why I get so messed up over them. Because a really good one proves their love, just by being right for them.

“When the person proposing gets it right, it shows how much they really know and care about their partner.”

So I set out to pick out my favorite 30 fictional proposals! Most are super adorable and romantic and made me cry just by watching the clips of them. But for the Singles Awareness crowd, I have included a few proposals that were refused or somehow didn’t work out. I love those too, actually, because usually it means that the person refusing is coming to a realization about themselves. And that’s just as valuable as finding true love, if not more so!

Quick disclaimer before we start:  I’ve avoided spoilers when possible, but y’know. We’ll be talking about very specific lovey-dovey moments of various shows and movies. So, if you’re cool with that, take a gander through the love-affirming and self-affirming proposals I’ve gathered here! And if you’re proposing to your S.O. this Valentine’s Day, just a tip: don’t be like number 28. You’ll thank me later.