“I've always loved dogs.”

So, there's this scene in Jupiter Ascending where Jupiter and Caine are talking, and Caine reveals that he has more in common with a dog than with exalted bioroyalty like Jupiter, and Jupiter responds with "I've always loved dogs."  Caine, distraught by her willingness to engage in what he perceives as bestial, leaves, and Jupiter stands there, clenching her fists and groans, "I've always loved dogs."

Foz Meadows, in an otherwise stellar essay on how Jupiter Ascending isThe Matrix Regendered, points to that scene, as many have, as one of the silliest scenes in a movie full of silly scenes, but Foz also points out that, really, The Matrix has just as many silly scenes.

But I want to rise to the defense of the "I've always love dogs" scene.  When it closes, Jupiter knows it was an off-the-cuff remark that was stupid.  She's cursing herself for saying the first thing that came to mind, despite the way it clearly drove off the object of her affection.  This kind of scene is rare in movies, and it's rare in most books.  But it is common in fanfiction.

This scene is an adulting scene.  Most fanfic writers are young.  They're figuring out the world.  They're explaining it to each other.  This scene is a classic attempt by a writer to do two things at once: show Jupiter's growing attraction to Caine, and explain to the audience how that attraction can make you say something that, in retrospect, is really freakin' stupid.  That scene is 100% Lana reaching into her dual persona as an adult and as a young woman and trying to help her fans understand their world, especially the romantic parts.

It does very well at that.  But you only have access to understanding why that scene works so well if you know the fanfic trope that it's working with.

Earlier: The Star Kingdom of Arendelle is finished. Blessed be.

Later: The missing scene from Yowlers