A supercouple or super couple (also known as a power couple) is a popular and/or wealthy pairing that intrigues and fascinates the public in an intense or obsessive fashion. The term originated in the United States, and it was coined in the early 1980s when intense public interest in fictional soap opera couple Luke Spencer and Laura Webber, from General Hospital, made the pair a popular culture phenomenon.[1][2][3][4]
The term supercouple typically refers to fictional couples from television dramas and film, such as Gone with the Wind's Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara. With regard to real-life pairings, tabloids and the mainstream media have focused on wealthy or popular celebrity couples, and have titled them supercouples or power couples. Examples are the pairing of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez (which became known by the portmanteau "Bennifer"),[5][6] and the former relationship of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie ("Brangelina").
- ^ Martha P. Nochimson (2002). Screen Couple Chemistry: The Power of 2. University of Texas Press. p. 408. ISBN 0-292-75579-1.
- ^ Suzanne Frentz (1992). "The Siren Call of the Super Couple: Soap Operas' Destructive Slide Toward Closure". Staying Tuned: Contemporary Soap Opera Criticism. Popular Press. pp. 136 pages. ISBN 0-87972-537-0.
- ^ Dorothy Catherine Anger (1999). "Luke and Laura, Supercouple". Other Worlds: Society Seen Through Soap Opera. University of Toronto Press˕. ISBN 978-1-55111-103-2.
- ^ Bauder, David (2006-11-14). "Luke and Laura's Altared State". Associated Press/The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
- ^ Winterman, Denise (2006-08-03). "What a mesh". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
- ^ "Top Celebrity Supercouples of All Time". Comcast/Comcast Interactive Media. 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-05.