As I examine the men that I find attractive in television, I start to see a pattern forming.
For example:
Dexter (serial killer)
Sheldon from Big Bang Theory (possibly autistic science genius)
Rumplestilskin from Once Upon a Time (sociopathic dark wizard)
Hank Moody from Californication (womanizing sex addict)
But I have to wonder, does this list of harrowing heroes say more about me or popular culture?
It used to be that heroes were more solidly defined as good and villains as evil. The protagonists in romance novels were stereotypically noble, chivalrous and handsome, while the antagonists were dark, sinister and ugly.
But it seems like everywhere I look these days, I see main characters popping up in movies, books, and television who share more similarities with villains than heroes or who at the very least blur the line between black and white and fall into the grey areas between good and evil.
And I think that's it's good that we've expanded our view of what constitutes a hero in literature and popular culture because the truth is often more grey than black and white, but it seems this new swing in the other direction has sparked the romanticizing of dysfunction. I've seen in my peers (and myself) an unhealthy preoccupation with people who are damaged and emotionally unhinged.
As I look back in my past, I realize that I have always been more interested in the villains than the heroes because they seemed more interesting and multi layered. Now that the heroes are just as complex I'm jumping on the bandwagon with these well loved main characters. But is there something more sinister and unhealthy at work here than an interest in complex characters? Is my taste in men inherently dysfunctional?
But I have to wonder, does this list of harrowing heroes say more about me or popular culture?
It used to be that heroes were more solidly defined as good and villains as evil. The protagonists in romance novels were stereotypically noble, chivalrous and handsome, while the antagonists were dark, sinister and ugly.
But it seems like everywhere I look these days, I see main characters popping up in movies, books, and television who share more similarities with villains than heroes or who at the very least blur the line between black and white and fall into the grey areas between good and evil.
And I think that's it's good that we've expanded our view of what constitutes a hero in literature and popular culture because the truth is often more grey than black and white, but it seems this new swing in the other direction has sparked the romanticizing of dysfunction. I've seen in my peers (and myself) an unhealthy preoccupation with people who are damaged and emotionally unhinged.
As I look back in my past, I realize that I have always been more interested in the villains than the heroes because they seemed more interesting and multi layered. Now that the heroes are just as complex I'm jumping on the bandwagon with these well loved main characters. But is there something more sinister and unhealthy at work here than an interest in complex characters? Is my taste in men inherently dysfunctional?
I'm afraid this post has brought up more questions than I can find answers at this point in time, but I'm hopefully at least moving towards answering them.
At a guess, you might be seeking depth more than dysfunction, simply because dysfunction tends to push an individual to think in deeper terms since the more traditional answers to questions often don't work for them. In that search for the answers that work for their situation they venture outside of the norm and gain depth, but at the same time dysfunction isn't required to gain that depth, it is just the most frequented path to lead to it.
ReplyDeleteIn modern fiction then the search for characters with depth takes you to interesting places.
Very wise words indeed. This has left me much to think about.
DeleteAs an update to this post, a friend of mine said something that resonated with me when I expressed to him my wondering if my taste in men is just inherently glitchy and hardwired, and he suggested that perhaps I was just looking for something which I hadn't found in anyone yet. I think it's true that I often mistake dysfunction for the kind of complexity that I'm seeking in a partner and it's entirely possible that I just haven't met someone who is complex, interesting and attractive to me in a healthy way.
ReplyDeleteUh, you might be looking in the wrong places.
ReplyDelete