The hoax of Italian boyfriends on TikTok

In the contemporary cinema masterpiece The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), the titular character travels to Rome. During a stroll through the Eternal City, she meets Paolo, a charming young Italian singer who is always accompanied by his bodyguard Sergei. Something immediately sparks between them, but unfortunately, Lizzie's Italian love dream won't end well. In the process, she discovers her incredible talent for music and finds an unexpected ally in Isabella—Paolo's colleague. In the end, female friendship prevails, along with Lizzie and Gordo's slow-burn romance, which culminates in a kiss (spoiler!).

Lizzie and Paolo as TikTok content creators

Let's imagine for a second a parallel reality where Lizzie and Paolo—who, in this ideal world, has never used playback in his life—end up together, living happily ever after. Lizzie moves to Rome, and who knows, maybe she even starts a music career alongside him. Either way, we can assume they stay in showbiz, and so they would likely use social media. Let's take it one step further and imagine them as content creators on TikTok. How much of their branding would be based on their origins, so close yet so far apart? Could we have seen Lizzie breaking spaghetti and putting ketchup on her penne while Paolo, exasperated with a thick Italian accent, throws his hands up and exclaims, "Oh no, don't break the spaghetti! If my nonna only knew..."? A nightmare or a dream? Either way, it's a content trend more popular than ever, believe it or not.

He's Italian, she's American: what will happen? Carlo and Sarah and others

TikTok is filled with many couples like this. There's Carlo and Sarah, who met in Italy in 2019 and now live in the U.S., as well as Shanny and Edo, Mario and Gab, and many more. These couples know what works and have no intention of stopping, tapping into the well-established fascination with other people's relationships. Add a supposed desire to explore the cultural differences between the two nations, and the package is complete with a neat little bow. However, a certain weariness is starting to be felt among audiences.

Doubts about authenticity and the issue of stereotypes

While this type of content has always existed—just think of the days of couple vlogs and couple challenges on YouTube—it seems to have found its most exaggerated and ossified form on TikTok. As a result, some users have started to be a bit more critical. Firstly, because the sketch has aged, and quickly. How many more times do we need to see an Italian man fuming over an American dish before the wonder and childlike amazement of something new wears off? The authenticity of these situations is in question, and we can understand why. Secondly, it seems that some of these videos place the partner in a somewhat ridiculous or sad position, at the mercy of the internet due to a strong accent or poor language skills despite years of living in the States. Not mastering a language isn't a fault, but it appears to be the only personality trait of these Italian husbands and boyfriends, along with their obsession with food. Maybe we're just tired of caricatures, or maybe the content flow has become too varied and fast-paced, but the end of these skits seems closer and closer. What will replace them?