Oh boy I was waiting for a romance thread. I can probably say a lot on this subject in general because romance is one of the keystones of my worldview.
I will say this right now though, romance is fantastic but it's truly realized when tragedy is also an element at play. Romance is greatest when facing a tragic situation; this is where "rescuing the princess" (among other things) comes from and why it's such a relatable archetype. Every good man with a noble heart seeks to rescue his maiden; every maiden seeks to be rescued by such a man willing to face trials for her sake.
True romance is certainly an aspect of idealism, yes, and I would say it's among the highest of ideals. However, most people have no idea about true romance because there is rarely the chance of failure in modern media or even in their own fantasies and dreams. Romantic movies and stories almost always have a happy ending; so often is this that people go into it expecting the happy ending. They don't experience the heart wrenching pain of losing what is most precious to you and so they are dulled down and pacified, thus romance becomes cheapened and second-rate to them if not "something for chicks." The Greeks and likely earlier civilizations knew this form of catharsis (romantic tragedy) rather well and they made romantic tragedy into a dramatic art. Romance is truly one of the least base aspects of man, something closest to the divine, and so it is not merely art, but possibly the highest form of art, and the tragedy (or at least the possibility of tragedy) is there to highlight it even further, to illuminate it and give it depth, despite it being the shadow of romance.
Love is possibly the strongest force in the universe but yes, most people's experience with love tends to be Hallmark-tier – materialistic and shallow – or "muh dick." Platonic love, to bring the Greeks out again, was recognized as the highest form of love because it didn't depend on sexuality as a crutch. This again reiterates how classical man distanced himself from the base, animal instincts (which jews are a principle force of), to higher ideals, and that's a pretty natural position for us historically. The pre-Christian era was so pristine and Romantic because of this need to manifest what is grander than our present selves.
Romance is a goal, it is inspiration, and perhaps ultimately: purpose. The will to sacrifice also highlights romance and differentiates it from plain lust which seeks its own fulfillment. Romance and Platonic love go beyond flesh and bones to the realms of gods, angels, Valkyries, and so on. Ideals they may be but man is certainly capable of realizing them, thus it is as real as anything else to him, perhaps more real. Romance is not merely the relationship between you and your wife/girlfriend, in fact such a relationship is likely to not be very romantic at all but a union for companionship and procreation. Instead, true romance is the ultimate realization of divine love. Its true nature goes beyond "romance novels" and "romantic comedies" or any "realistic" depiction, and it certainly goes beyond sex for the purpose of procreation or orgasm – and this is realized through Tantra.
I find manifestations of romance (and the ability to recognize its importance) to be the mark of the most "civilized" of people, the ones closest to what can be considered divine, and it is ultimately an expression of what is most beautiful. [Some] men are the chief creators and admirers of romance – at least in more recent history – and perhaps that's the tragedy we face: that flesh and bone females can't compare on a romantic and Platonic level, and so they are more superficial than a man's true waifu (if she has found him). People have become increasingly more mechanical in nature… more mechanical and more base. It is because in their arrogance they think they are masters of the universe and above the most coveted ideals (because muh current year), and so they really would brush it all off as a pipe dream or a chemical reaction or whatever other mental gymnastics they can come up with to deny their own higher nature.
And so the world becomes less romantic, more ugly, more egotistical, more materialistic, and less human.