The Saint
No more Mr Nice Guy
Melissa Steel explains why bad is good in the game of love
In the film What Women Want, Mel Gibson can hear the thoughts in womens heads and use them to his advantage to win them over. If that were true in real life, apparently the two biggest turn-ons would be anti-Semitism and alcoholism. But is that really so far from the truth? The sex symbols of today seem to be closer to this than any Prince Charming I have heard of.
For instance, Hugh Lauries Dr House (voted TVs Sexiest Man by TV Guide) likes to divide his time equally between cultivating his addiction to painkillers and saving lives, or Gene Hunt, of Life on Mars fame, a crime-solver who has developed a large female following, despite being pock-marked, overweight and frequently racist. The question is, do women, tired of the manicured hands of the metrosexual, secretly want to be dragged back to the cave by the hairy paw of the Alpha Male?
A brief survey of the posters on my own wall seems to provide me with a worrying answer; its everything your Mother warned you about. Frank Sinatra, cigarette hanging limply from his mouth, is nestled against Ralph Fiennes and Tom Waits. My wall is an orgy of men with penchants for dysfunctional relationships, drink, drugs and depression.
Quite how I have managed to convince people that I am an intelligent, functioning individual up to this point in my life is rather beyond me.
Thankfully, I am not alone in this apparent obsession with the mad, bad and dangerous. A stroll around my friends room is always brightened up by a brooding Clint Eastwood on the wall, looking both good and bad, but certainly not ugly. Another friend talks with such passion about Humphrey Bogarts smoking abilities you would think she had seen somebody part a sea or perform some other biblical miracle. It seems that, consciously or subconsciously, all we women want is what we shouldnt.
Of course there is the buzz word of security, that can hold just as much sway over (perhaps less deranged) women. Take a look at the Twilight series, a phenomenon controlling the hormones of teenage girls like the conductor of a finely tuned orchestra. Edward, the main protagonist, looks like James Dean minus the danger and raging sexuality and still promises his undying love (but not before marriage!) to the heroine, Bella. There is also Jake the enigmatic Native American werewolf, who conducts himself in the series like a Mills & Boon character bereft of sex scenes.
However, these devoted and apparently safe men do still have the element of trouble. Vampire Edward spends his life trying not to suck Bellas blood and Jake is not only a werewolf, but likes to spend most of his time semi-clothed, practising being a werewolf with other men. Essentially, the success of Twilight and its seemingly innocent message of eternal loves ability to cross boundaries only confirms that the female search for safety must come with the paradoxical guarantee of danger.
However, it seems too simple just to say women are just attracted to a long string of users, losers and abusers. In all of the men I have mentioned in this article, there always appears to be some saving grace, whether it be talent as a musician, intelligence or wit.
Perhaps the best summation of my argument can be achieved by once again turning to my wall. Next to the previously mentioned posters is another one that may just hold the key to what women want. The film The Unbelievable Truth might not be well-known but its hero is an amalgamation of both the good and bad. Another clue lies in the films title, this is a work of fantasy, and what women are looking for might not only be unbelievable, but impossible, too.
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