A friend recently asked me why women are so attracted to the ‘bad boy’ when I made a flippant comment about how life was so boring that I sometimes wish I could get kidnapped by nineteenth-century pirates just so I could have a realistic source to draw from in my book.
My interest in pirates actually stems from the research side. The pirates in my book are bad guys, most of them, and I'm just going for realism.
But I do admit a certain fascination with the bad boy. There's something about the irrepressible rogue who bucks the system and lives by his own rules that holds an appeal. Of course, in romance, that bad boy can only be tamed by losing his heart to a heroine who's as strong and spirited as he. I like to read about them, but I wouldn't want to try to have a relationship with one.
I guess today’s bad boys would be the thieves like the guys in "The Italian Job," or bikers, or gang members, or drug lords. Maybe the less extreme versions would be anyone who lives outside of society's norm. I typically think of guys with tattoos and/or shaved heads, drive motorcycles (not that having a motorcycle always makes a guy a bad boy), guys who fight, and who drink too much.
In high school, they were the ones who were sexy and dangerous. They partied and drove too fast and were impulsive. Because they were forbidden and different, and because I secretly craved adventure, I was drawn to them like a moth to the flame. I even had a few flirtations with them, but I got burned and learned quickly and with heartbreaking results that they weren't for me.
Somehow, in romance books and movies, the pirates and the highwaymen hold an appeal. They’re daring and adventurous. But I only fall for them if they basically have a good heart and are kind to women and children. And if they are willing to change in the end.
My favorite bad boys aren't really bad, like Robin Hood. Yes, he’s an outlaw, but he’s doing the right thing. I love heroes who are totally driven by an unbreakable code of honor, even if it might be different than everyone else's.
Do you like bad boys? Why?
DONNA HATCH ~ Romance Author, two time Golden Quill finalist and winner * historical * fantasy
2 comments:
(Sorry, too many typos in my earlier comment, so I deleted it. Here it is, all cleaned up!)
Oddly enough, though I enjoy reading about real pirates, I've never been that drawn to them as heroes in fiction. I've always been intrigued by highwaymen, though, probably because of the poem by Alfred Noyes that I read as a child/youth. So tragically romantic! You can read it at: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-highwayman/ It doesn't have the hauntingly romantic pictures my Childcraft version had, though.
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