This week’s column is up at AMC and in honor of Valentine’s Day, I cover the structure of fantasy romance.

Confession: I’m a hopeless romantic, but I’ve never had that much interest in Valentine’s Day. My husband and I celebrate the day after Valentine’s because that’s when we met, but that’s the closest the day ever comes to having any significance for me. In a lot of ways, Valentine’s Day resembles a romantic fantasy in structure: People cram all the trappings of a romance into a single day, and typically disregard any resemblance to real life in the process. I know a lot of people who base their ideas on true love from what they see in fantasy — and for that reason love the holiday. The problem is that what makes for good romance in a fantasy flick isn’t necessarily what you should look for in real life, on Valentine’s Day or any other.