Discuss Pt. 2: The Soulful Bad Boy -- Love Him or Hate Him

You know, I've got another cliche character type for you that bookends nicely with what you're talking about here...

After watching 'Viki Christina Barcelona' the other day I realized this one...the lame boyfriend who answers his phone or has to work instead of setting up elaborate schemes to prove his love to the female protagonist. This guy can also be used when the girl is trying to decide if she instead wants to follow this 'soulful bad boy'.

It seems like many modern rom-coms, and apparently even a Woody Allen movie have this character. The lame-ass guy who's on the phone being responsible and dealing with day to day life. This guy also usually has a laptop to take keep in touch with his business.

There's also often a scene in which the guy absolutely has to deal with something, and this happens at the exact moment the female lead is evaluating this guy. And the one act of being responsible seals the deal.

A great example of is 'Reality Bites'...every time I see this movie, I want to smack the annoying, smarmy slacker played by Ethan Hawke, and completely agree when Ben Stiller is railing on him for being a useless sack of jackass.


Now, depending on the legitimacy of the movie, this guy can be a cartoon annoyance, or just unfairly judged.

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I've unfortunately spent a lot of time thinking about this subject...I think while a woman may enjoy the SBB for his edge, what she really enjoys is knowing that of all the people in their world the SBB has written off, SHE is the woman he'll always come running to in the end. For the SBB the love of his life is his "knight in shining armor" equivalent; she is the woman who knows him best, loves him despite his faults, understands him completely, doesn't judge him, etc... It comes down to authority and power. The SBB can dismiss everyone else, but he'll never let go of the one woman who is his center of gravity. She becomes the dominant one in the relationship, and the SBB is unwittingly tethered to her....I think women like that. Well, I know I do ;)

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I hate those guys so much. It's not so much that they're unrealistic that pisses me off, but that girls go crazy over them. I don't see the appeal. They're essentially the equivilent of "Superman". They have no flaws whatsoever. They are perfect in every way, shape and form. They are uninteresting characters all around. Why would anyone have a "crush" on a character that is so detached from reality.

Especially Edward Cullen. He has no depth. Wes Bentley's character in American Beauty is at least interesting on some level. He has issues, problems, etc. Edward Cullen doesn't. I can see why a girl may be attracted to Wes's character, as there's something real about him, but I can't see why anyone would be interested in Edward Cullen. I guess it's the same reason I prefer Batman over Superman.

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Edward gives me gas. I want a bad boy with some style! Give me Rhett Butler or Tony Stark any day of the week! And if I did go for a soulful bad boy, there's only one I recognize: Lando Calrissian.

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Is Jack N. a SBB, in ... Something's Gotta Give?

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SBBs suck. Edward cullen was incredibly annoying in the twilight movie, and if you read the book, its even worse. i literally wanted to shoot both him and bella. i seriously was like, how come the annoying characters are the leads instead of the supporting characters? this doesn't make any sense. i'll have to quote my friend when i asked him what he thought of twilight after he finished it. "you know how the only way to kill a vampire is to tear it to pieces and burn it? well thats what i wanted to do with this book." same goes for SBB. they get lame after a while, and in real life they'll all turn out to be idiots.

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Coming to this a little late - but I'm the author of the link you used for arguments. Thanks!

I'm somewhat amused when people refer to Edward as the "bad boy." Soulful, yes. Tortured? Oh, without a doubt. But Bad boy? Sure, the kid is a vampire - but for the timespan of the books and, now, the movie -he doesn't kill anyone except for a couple of other vamps that are trying to kill the love of his life. Edward is a good student and extraordinarily polite. Stand you up? Never!

As for your question about what draws girls - it's the edge of excitement combined with our wanting to soothe his ache.

And every SBB in the movies is gorgeous because, and this might be shocking, the VAST majority of people in movies are gorgeous.

But as for why we always go for them - well, and I'm going to be BRUTALLY honest here - more mature people don't go for them. I utterly love my movie bad boys, but they're not the ones I seek out for relationships. I did get involved with one once, but I knew the rules. I knew he would break me. I knew it would be horrible...and I also knew without a doubt it would END. That's the only reason I did it. And despite the pain I experienced, I wouldn't have made another choice - but the point in fact is that I was very clear with myself - up front - that this was going nowhere and he was going to take much, much more than he ever gave me.

Rather, we should take our fiction as just that - FICTION. Love it, revel in it, but remember it is NOT reality. I think it was best put in the GLORIOUS movie Quills - "Some things belong on paper, others in life. It's a blessed fool who can't tell the difference. "

@DylanG - Edward Cullen has no flaws? BWAAA HAHAHHAHA Sorry - that wasn't mature, but I couldn't help it. Edward is wonderful, because he is flawed (among other things). You only need read as far as New Moon to figure out he is more than capable of making horrendous mistakes. :) Seriously - the assertion that he has no ISSUES is really just...STARTLINGLY incorrect.

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