Uncreated Conscience

One of the most iconic Bad Boys ever.

I’ve never been a fan of the Bad Boy in fiction, but lately I’ve become even more fed up with him. Mostly because he swaggers onto the page and expects me to find him sexy by virtue of the fact that he’s “bad”. Or something. Maybe “mysterious”?

What is it that’s so appealing about the Bad Boy that he now seems to be the default romantic hero? Tell me, because I would really like to know what it is that people love about him. Admittedly I’m not his type because if I ever fell for a boy in high school, it was the Class Clown. (But since I went to an all-girls prep school, the point is moot.) I like a man who can make me laugh.

I understand (I think) why the Bad Boy is appealing on an archetypal level. Danger is sexy. It is; I’m not gonna lie. Mystery is intriguing. I get that because I’m susceptible to those charms. I have an, um, inappropriate crush on Benjamin Linus (I’m…working on it.) Han Solo has my space-pirate-rogue-lovin’ heart forever. I adore Edward Fairfax Rochester and his manipulative, dickish, bigamist ways! So why do most Bad Boys turn me off?

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Diana Peterfreund wrote an awesome blog post today about Bad Boys vs. Nice Guys (part I of more to come) in fiction. In addition to being an interesting examination of the appeal of the Bad Boy, it’s also a defense of the Nice Guy.

The Ultimate Nice Guy

Peterfreund brings up some really great points, including how the Nice Guy seems to be much more palatable as the protagonist rather than as the romantic lead. When seen as the Everyman, the Nice Guy suddenly becomes our proxy: the underdog, the ordinary fellow reaching for his dreams. She cites Lloyd Dobbler from Say Anything as a film example. Take your pick of John Green’s protagonists for a literary example.

However, when viewed through a romantic lens, the Nice Guy seems to fall short compared to the Bad Boy. Why? Is it because he’s considered “weak”? (Whatever that means.) Harmless? Boring?

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