There is this idea that most girls prefer a bad boy. This seems to be supported by literature
where so many of the heroes in paranormal romances and romances in general seem
to fit the (rather loose) definition of a bad boy. Personally, I like all kinds of heroes, but
if I’m honest, I do have a preference for the more morally grey heroes (in
stories, not in real life), but it’s not that they are more sexy or appealing
than the more upright heroes, but that they tend to be more complex and bring
more conflict to the story. I think I
would be just as happy with a good boy and a bad girl combo, but I just don’t
see those very often (maybe I’m just reading the wrong books).
I’ve been re-watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
(the series) on Netflix recently, and I’ve decided that I prefer Faith to
Buffy. Faith is the far more interesting
character. I have to admit that I’m a
real sucker for the redemption story arc, and Faith has a great one. Her whole character arc is deconstructed here which is a
really fascinating read.
So really quick cause I got to go to bed. Five reasons why Faith is awesome.
1. Faith has
all those characteristics that are usually given to male characters. She is cocky, rebellious, charismatic,
unrestrained, promiscuous, and care-free. All those
characteristics that are typically seen the bad boy love interest. She wears them well, and it is refreshing to
see that girls can be and in real life sometimes are this way too.
2. But underneath it all there is an undeniable
vulnerability. Every character needs to
have weaknesses, and Faith has a lot of them.
Despite her charismatic personality, she has a hard time really
connecting with people. She doesn’t have
strong ties to family or friends like Buffy did and this causes her to be very
jealous of Buffy which develops into an inferiority complex. The fact that Buffy’s gang never takes to her
along with the brutal murder of her watcher that she couldn’t stop and
Gwendolyn Post using her all contributes to her downward spiral. What turns Faith to the wrong side is feeling
as if she had no one to count on when things get really bad.
3. Even when she’s bad, she’s awesome. Next to evil Angel, Faith is my favorite
Buffy villain. She’s tough and smart and
hits Buffy where it really hurts (emotionally). But mostly I liked her relationship with the Mayor. He gave her what she needed most. Someone that believed in her, who she could
count on. That made her betrayal
real. She got from him what she wasn’t
getting from Buffy and her friends. The
father/daughter relationship between them was well-developed and humanized both
of them, adding depths to their characters which is always good.
5. She’s five by five. I have no idea what this means, but I think
it is one of the most awesome catch phrases ever.
So those are the reasons I love Faith. I would have loved to see her become the big
hero and save the world not at Buffy’s side but on her own and have a real love
interest story line. I think Buffy should have
stayed dead after season five, which really was a great death, and a newly
reformed Faith could’ve stepped in as the slayer in another spin off series. It had to have been better than season 6 and
7 which really didn’t have the caliber of the earlier seasons (especially 2 and
3 which were amazing).
I think that bad girls have a lot to offer as protagonists,
but most of the time, girls are placed in the moral role while the male
characters have more freedom to be morally ambiguous. Even
though the character is basically a killer, Buffy isn’t allowed to stray far
from what is morally acceptable. But
Faith is, and that is what makes her more interesting to me.
So tell me, who are your favorite bad girls?
~MaryAnn
~MaryAnn
My favorite "bad girl" is Jane Austen's Emma. I know, at first glance she doesn't seem that bad because Austen makes the reader like Emma. But really, Emma's selfish, arrogant, and plays with people's lives as if they're her toys. And then...Emma begins to she herself as she really is and undergoes a tremendous transformation. It's one of my favorite redemption stories. (And, okay, I love Mr. Knightley too.)
ReplyDeleteI never thought of Emma as a bad girl either, but you are right, she does have some of those bad girl traits. She's definitely not the typical kind and gentle, selfless herione. And Mr. Knightly is a very awesome good boy. :)
DeleteBecky Sharp and Scarlet O'Hara.
ReplyDeleteI've never read Vanity Fair, but I do LOVE Scarlet. She may be the best bad girl herione ever.
DeleteI am drawing a complete blank! (Although I do love Emma and Scarlett O'Hara!) You know what this means...I'm going to have to write my own. Faith scared the heeby-jeebys out of me. People walking the line between good and bad are the creepiest of all.
ReplyDeleteThat was my thought too. I need to write an awesome bad girl, but I think my favorite characters are the ones who walk the line between good and bad. I like stories that explore the dark side of human nature.
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