I remember back when I was in high school I had a crush on someone who was not necessarily 'toxic', but not a nice person to me. I had a major crush on him because of his achievements and academic/physical abilities so I kinda looked at him as an idol. Despite the fact that he definitely did not like me, and did not treat me well, I still looked up to him simply because I equated his success to him being amazing.

I thought that if I wasn't being friends with him or if he wouldn't like me back, it would be the end of the world because this guy was the 'it' guy, and I wanted to be with him.

I would say toxic relationships seem romantic simply because of the people. The guy might seem toxic but he's crazy accomplished or he's incredibly good looking so people excuse his personality because of his achievements. They see the girl chasing the guy and they're thinking - yes, this is a relationship she should pursue because of how ___ the guy is! Even if the characters fight, they still think that they should be together because the guy is so amazing. Hence, a lot of toxic relationships in movies often have the guy as super rich/super power (50 shades of gray, I'm looking at you).

Not sure if it equates, but I excused a lot of concerning behavior from my crush simply because of how handsome and accomplished he was. I'm sure if I were to get in a relationship with him it would have been bad and yet I would've made excuses for it. Looking back, I am glad he did not like me back. I have since found that there are far more fish in the ocean.