This is a subject I've thought about blogging on before, but it wasn't until I blogged with Beth Ciotta (All About Evie and Everybody Loves Evie - awesome books, btw!), when she confessed to being torn between the two lovers in her third Evie novel, that I finally decided to post the question.
Do you ever find yourself rooting for the wrong H in a story? Come on, you know what I mean. He's bad. And you know he's bad. You know he's not going to win, but still you can't help but hope that he will anyway. Right?
Rather than use a book, I'm going to use my own example from a movie instead. In Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Phantom of the Opera' I unabashedly fell for the phantom even though it was Raoul that I was supposed to be rooting for. Can I help it if I thought the phantom was just too deliciously sexy? The half mask over one eye was more mysterious than menacing. All the time that Raol was trying to save Christine, I wanted to redirect her to the hunk behind the mask! Okay, so part of his face wasn't quite there. Oh, well. I would've taken the part that was. Anyway, in the end, even though I knew what was going to happen, I was still madder than heck that the phantom lost so miserably. Talk about injustice. Talk about wishing I'd wrote the screenplay. Crazy, huh?
I also read a western years ago (wish I could remember the title) involving the heroine, a sheriff (good guy obviously), and the gang leader (bad guy). Who did I root for? You guessed it. Big bad boy. Oh, well. Not that I could ever be married to one myself, but there's some part of me that craves the mischief and... well, the badness. Anybody else ever feel the same way? 
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
Bad boys vs good boys
Amanda--I do feel the same way sometimes. Funny you should mention Phantom because I just saw it for the first time a month ago and I too was rooting for the Phantom! I think the bad boy thing is a fantasy that a lot of women have but don't act on and fiction and movies allow us to experience that feeling safely. Some guys are just too goody-two-shoes to be real. My favorite book and movie of all time is Gone With the Wind and Rhett was definitely a bad boy. However, he wasn't all bad and he turned out to be exactly what Scarlett needed although she realized it too late. Neat topic!
BTW, my own dh of many years is not exactly a bad boy but neither is he a goody-two-shoes. But I was dating a good boy when I met him and after a very short time I realized my dh was exactly what I needed!
Mary
Rhett Butler?
Oh yeah, he's a suave example of a bad boy if ever there was one. Especially when pitted against the bland good boy Ashley. The only difference is that neither one of them really won in the end, did they? Fictional character or not, I wanted to pull Scarlet's hair for letting her bad boy get away!
You're absolutely right about the bad boy being a lot of women's fantasy. It would take a special kind of woman to take on a man like that in real life. And that kind of special, I am definitely not, which is why I'm married to a very sweet and lovable DH. I definitely wouldn't trade him in for another. Of course, he has his moments.... LOL
Anyway, that's funny about your old boyfriend vs. your DH. Glad the guy with the little bit of badness won!
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
If the author is talented...
she can redeem the bad boy in the next book - but if he is really bad, that can be difficult. I think Georgette Heyer had a real bad boy in one of her books where he kidnapped and almost raped the h. He later had his own story and even though he was still bad, he got his own h to help him straighten up.
~ ElleJay - Team member of Novel Obsession
There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the pleasure is having lots to do and not doing it!
Great Topic
Amanda, as you know, I'm with you! LOL I haven't seen Phantom yet. Are you speaking of the version starring Gerard Butler? (yum) Speaking of Gerry (who I envisioned when I created 'Arch')... he plays a bad boy in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life . I rooted for him all the way to the end. I think it's because I hoped he'd reeem himself. Maybe that's part of the allure. The hope or belief that 'love' can change even bad boys for the better.
Also, especially for a good girl like me, the bad boy is the ultimate fantasy. I don't think I'd go there in real life. But in a fiction....
www.bethciotta.com
"...enchanting, madcap romance..." Publisher Weekly
"...wry humor; sexy, multifaceted characters..." Booklist
Ellejay....
I'll have to check into this series of Georgette's. As far as I can remember, I haven't read any of hers.
You're right, it would be virtually impossible to save a really bad H. Still, sometimes the one I'm rooting for in a story isn't the H, but the antagonist, who is always the bad guy... or at least the wrong one. Still, I want him. Wonder what that says about me? <eg>
Yes, there are those wonderful stories where the underdog, or the troubled H, gets pulled from his current state of 'badness' by a equally strong h. In that case, he might be tamed-down with just a tiny bit of badness left....
Completely opposite, there are the stories where the H is loveable and sweet like my own DH. Sometimes, those are the tearjerkers. And, naturally, I root for him. This must be a case of myself vs. my alter ego. H'mmm....
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
Thanks, Beth!
Yep, I'm talking about that super delicious Gerard Butler. He's 'the bomb', right? Have you heard him sing? OMG, he's good. Had no idea you thought of him for Arch. That's even better. Um, um, um. Perfect 'casting'.
Anyway, I'm with you about the 'bad boy' being a great fantasy, but probably not prime husband material. Personally, I'm not sure I could stand being kept on my toes constantly by a rogue - LOL! I prefer my real world to be much more bland and family-oriented. Still, those fantasies... whew-ee bada-bing!
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
Gerard Butler
Oh yes the yummy Gerard Butler and he sings too! He sang in P.S. I Love You as well. Not a great movie but worth it to see him in it.
Mary
Mary....
I haven't seen 'P.S. I Love You' yet, but now I definitely will!
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
Sometimes I want the bad guy
Sometimes I want the bad guy to win in murder mysteries and suspense, esp. in film. Columbo is a TV show that seems to provoke that more than most.
AKA Merri
Family Challenge Team: The Spine Breakers with my dh Glenn AKA Phaedrus
Oh, I know, Merri....
I'm the same way. And sometimes the bad guy isn't all that bad in those shows. Personally I like to see a man who isn't portrayed as perfectly behaved.
Maybe it comes from having so many lawmen and clergymen in my family. <eg>
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
I'm afraid that I have to
I'm afraid that I have to confess, there is just something about the bad boy. No, I am not one to like the unredeemable, but give ever H a little badness and I'm happy. Well, that is until a read a book that has this totally captivating good guy (as long as he has just a little badness in him).
Nancy
Nancy, yes it can...
...go both ways. Really 'good' guys sometimes make awesome heroes. I've read a couple of stories where the heroine is snippy to the very sweet and teddy-bear-like hero. This usually irritates me. After all, how could any woman be silly enough not to grab a man who's a rare treasure? But even these sweet Hs usually have a tiny bit of badness (ex: fondness of danger or unable to resist certain temptations).
I think it's because I'm married to a super nice guy that I like to read/watch stories that contain 'bad boys'.
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain