History Main / BreakUpBonfire

then put out the fire with your T-shirt.

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->''Fumbling through a cut glass vase''

->''Burning jealous pictures of marriages of friends''

* Music/{{Adele}}'s "Rolling in the Deep" video has a paper cityscape being burned.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer:'' in the season 4 episode "The Initiative," Xander comes across Harmony as she's building a bonfire of Spike's stuff.

* A variation in ''WesternAnimation/{{Jimmy Two-Shoes}}'', after Jimmy's ObliviousToLove nature leads him to dating a Heloise look-alike, Heloise angrily rips up her StalkerShrine of him and tosses the remains in a vat of acid.

* In ''Literature/TheAeneid'', Dido and her sister set fire to Aeneas's things after he abandons Dido. Said bonfire also doubles as a funeral pyre, as the last thing Dido throws into the fire is [[SpurnedIntoSuicide herself]].

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* The usic/GreenDay song "Whatshername" is about the singer reminiscing about an old girlfriend whose name he can't remember. In one line, he mentions that he "made a point to burn all of the photographs."

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode where Milhouse's parents get divorced, Luann carefully boxes up all of Kurt's possessions and then sets fire to the box.

-->'''Jellyfish''', ''"The Glutton of Sympathy"''

* Two examples from ''Anime/{{Popotan}}'', neither of which follow a romance gone sour, but they stay true to the general idea of the trope:

* [[{{MirrorBoss}} Alice]] [[{{LonelyAtTheTop}} Twilight]], the Rank 2 assassin in ''[[VideoGame/{{NoMoreHeroes2}} No More Heroes 2]]'' is in the process of doing this when Travis turns up to fight her. [[http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/7360/p60zo.jpg Close examination]] of the pictures show them to be photos of a husband and child, as well [[{{FourIsDeath}} Margaret]] [[{{ElegantGothicLolita}} Moonlight]], the Rank 4 assassin. In this case, it probably hasn't got anything to do with romance, instead being symbolic of everything Alice has lost or left behind due to her profession.

* In the first season finale of {{WebVideo/Idiotsitter}}, "The Ex-Boyfriend", Billie has dinner with her ex, and Gene suggests using this trope-on his car. They come up with another plan, and when it falls flat-Gene sets fire to the guy's car anyway.

[[quoteright:350: [[Music/{{Van Halen}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rightnowburn_3633.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[Music/TaylorSwift As far as I'm concerned, you're just another picture to burn...]] ]]

* Non-romantic example from ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'': Earl has agreed to help out with a program that helps prisoners reconcile with their victims, and gets John, a young man with an artistic side who accidentally burned down his parents' house when [[DrugsAreBad his meth lab caught fire]]. Nothing they try is working, and John tells Earl that he is the way he is because [[FreudianExcuse he never got to go to prom]]. So Earl uses the last of his lottery winnings to throw a prom for the prison...and after all the trouble Earl went through for him, the guy ''still'' isn't making an effort to reconnect with his parents. So Earl goes into John's cell one evening and sets fire to all of his artwork.

* "Rapper Left Eye" from 90's girl group TLC did this ''twice'' during her on-and-off relationship with pro football player Andre Rison. First, she burned their collection of teddy bears in the bathtub after a fight. The marble tub was burned so badly it had to be replaced. Later, after a night of drinking she came home to find several pairs of women's shoes that weren't her size, so she burned ''them'' in the tub too...except the new tub was made of fiberglass which quickly melted and [[FromBadToWorse the fire spread faster than she could contain]]. She ran away unhurt but the mansion burned to the ground. The resulting scandal ("Left Eye burned down her boyfriend's house!") [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity greatly pushed]] sales of their 1995 album ''[=CrazySexyCool=]''

[[caption-width-right:350: [[TaylorSwift As far as I'm concerned, you're just another picture to burn...]] ]]

** [[spoiler: After she learns of Konami's death, Mai tries to burn the portrait she received from her in order to forget about her, but she is stopped by Mea]].
** [[spoiler: In the same episode, it's revealed that Mea's previous household did the same to their house when they found that Shizuku was not able to give them a good explanation for their travels; she could not prevent this one]].

* In ''WaitingToExhale'', the woman dumps all her man's belongings in ThePreciousPreciousCar and sets it all on fire.

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Friends}}'', Monica, Phoebe, and Rachel burn mementos of their exes when they find themselves all single on Valentine's Day and decide to do something to "cleanse" their bad luck. The firemen who attend when it inevitably gets out of control tell them that Valentine's Day is one of their busiest nights of the year, for exactly that reason.

* Non-romantic example from ''MyNameIsEarl'': Earl has agreed to help out with a program that helps prisoners reconcile with their victims, and gets John, a young man with an artistic side who accidentally burned down his parents' house when [[DrugsAreBad his meth lab caught fire]]. Nothing they try is working, and John tells Earl that he is the way he is because [[FreudianExcuse he never got to go to prom]]. So Earl uses the last of his lottery winnings to throw a prom for the prison...and after all the trouble Earl went through for him, the guy ''still'' isn't making an effort to reconnect with his parents. So Earl goes into John's cell one evening and sets fire to all of his artwork.

* The Music/TaylorSwift song "Picture to Burn" is about [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin burning up pictures of her ex.]]
* The GreenDay song "Whatshername" is about the singer reminiscing about an old girlfriend whose name he can't remember. In one line, he mentions that he "made a point to burn all of the photographs."
* Implied in MirandaLambert's "Kerosene".

* "Breakin' Dishes" by {{Rihanna}}.
-->"I'm roasting marshmallows on a fire, and what I'm burning, boy, is your attire..."
* Rapper Left Eye from 90's girl group TLC did this ''twice'' during her on-and-off relationship with pro football player Andre Rison. First, she burned their collection of teddy bears in the bathtub after a fight. The marble tub was burned so badly it had to be replaced. Later, after a night of drinking she came home to find several pairs of women's shoes that weren't her size, so she burned ''them'' in the tub too...except the new tub was made of fiberglass which quickly melted and [[FromBadToWorse the fire spread faster than she could contain]]. She ran away unhurt but the mansion burned to the ground. The resulting scandal ("Left Eye burned down her boyfriend's house!") [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity greatly pushed]] sales of their 1995 album ''[=CrazySexyCool=]''
* "Cry Me a River" by JustinTimberlake contains the line, "Your pictures got burned, now it's your turn to cry"
* A woman in VanHalen's "Right Now" video.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* After Lebron James left Cleveland for Miami, Cavaliers fans became disillusioned, and began to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWsjD-VSrmM burn his merchandise in public]].
[[/folder]]

* [[{{MirrorBoss}} Alice]] [[{{LonelyAtTheTop}} Twilight]], the Rank 2 assassin in ''[[{{NoMoreHeroes2}} No More Heroes 2]]'' is in the process of doing this when Travis turns up to fight her. [[http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/7360/p60zo.jpg Close examination]] of the pictures show them to be photos of a husband and child, as well [[{{FourIsDeath}} Margaret]] [[{{ElegantGothicLolita}} Moonlight]], the Rank 4 assassin. In this case, it probably hasn't got anything to do with romance, instead being symbolic of everything Alice has lost or left behind due to her profession.

* In ''TheSimpsons'' episode where Milhouse's parents get divorced, Luann carefully boxes up all of Kurt's possessions and then sets fire to the box.
* A variation in ''{{Jimmy Two-Shoes}}'', after Jimmy's ObliviousToLove nature leads him to dating a Heloise look-alike, Heloise angrily rips up her StalkerShrine of him and tosses the remains in a vat of acid.

The breakup bonfire is usually ceremonial and perhaps even a little spiritual. As fire is a symbol of both destruction and rebirth, a break up bonfire typically represents a character breaking old bonds and starting anew. However, note the [[TheUnfairSex Unfair Sex]] nature of this trope. A woman doing this is celebrating her freedom from an oppressive male. A man doing this ''is'' the oppressive male, and a spiteful destructive bastard at that. As such, most examples below are from female characters burning her ex's things.

The breakup bonfire is usually ceremonial and perhaps even a little spiritual. As fire is a symbol of rebirth, a break up bonfire typically represents starting anew for the character. However, note the [[TheUnfairSex Unfair Sex]] nature of this trope. A woman doing this is celebrating her freedom from an oppressive male. A man doing this ''is'' the oppressive male, and a spiteful destructive bastard at that. As such, most examples below are from female characters burning her ex's things.

A variation of DefenestrateAndBerate.

* Rapper Left Eye from 90's girl group TLC did this ''twice'' during her on-and-off relationship with pro football player Andre Rison. First, she burned their collection of teddy bears in the bathtub after a fight. The marble tub was burned so badly it had to be replaced. Later, after a night of drinking she came home to find several pairs of women's shoes that weren't her size, so she burned ''them'' in the tub too...except the new tub was made of fiberglass which quickly melted and [[ItGotWorse the fire spread faster than she could contain]]. She ran away unhurt but the mansion burned to the ground. The resulting scandal ("Left Eye burned down her boyfriend's house!") [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity greatly pushed]] sales of their 1995 album ''[=CrazySexyCool=]''

The breakup bonfire is usually ceremonial and perhaps even a little spiritual. As fire is a symbol of rebirth, a break up bonfire typically represents starting anew for the character. However, note the [[TheUnfairSex Unfair Sex]] nature of this trope. A woman doing this is celebrating her freedom from an oppressive male. A ''man'' doing this is...an oppressive male, and a spiteful destructive bastard at that. As such, most examples below are from female characters burning her ex's things.