Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Good Girls, Bad Boys
This is a lethal combination, and the popularity is still unchallenged in the universe of TV dramas.
But no, it’s not only confined to the reel world. We see such a grouping in our genuine and authentic lives too. The bad boys always get the nice girls, and the nice boys will be left to wonder by themselves why they aren’t as attractive as their hardly nice counterparts.
Now, let me tell you why. Once when I was a girl, I was deeply attracted by a few guys who would, without a doubt, fall under the bad boys category. Probably the only redeeming factor about them was that they were not so nice guys. Ironic I know, but that’s the sad fact.
I ran into danger a few times in my teenage years, and I was besotted. If I were born a decade later, maybe I would have made my feelings (what feelings? They are but blind infatuation! But at that age, one can’t know better) known so that I would stand a chance to be in the queue! But with my strong principle of not wooing a guy, I didn’t do anything at all. I merely stood there and salivate. I mean, stare. I only stared, I swear!
It’s quite hard not to let the blood pump to my face though, as I believed my heart must be working so hard then that anyone standing next to me would hear the thump-thump.
Since I can’t make the first move physically, I can do it virtually right? Hence began my odyssey of love fantasies, all created and carried out in the wondrous zone in my mind. I imagined myself to be the female lead and he will be the lead, and we’ll have such a bombastic love affair that nothing will be able to stop us.
Though they were merely fantasies, but they had to be credited for helping me to pass time easier during class.
So why was I attracted to them?
In hindsight, I believed it was the innate motherly nature in women that makes us want to nurture this man who is full of potential. She wants to be the one who can melt his tough exterior and bring out his softness. She wants to be the one to transform him, and she gets her satisfaction when his friends say: “I can’t believe he did this. He won’t do this for any girls. You must be really special.” This makes her day.
Another likely reason is he is able to bring lots of fun and laughter to the relationship, because of how free he is – he isn’t bound by rules, and he is more likely than anyone to break them. For a teenager or even a young working adult, isn’t it truly fun to be able to break some rules and still escape from punishment? It is a thrill, and only bad boys can give us that. It brings the nice girls to an entirely different universe from the one they are staying in, and this, spells intense charm and appeal.
Therefore, despite the high risks of suffering from heartaches in the later stage, girls still overlook the consequences and dive into the dangerous liaison. Only the heart rules, forget about logic, or reality. They live in the moment.
What happens when girls grow up? Does the saying about nice guys finish last ring true?
The answer is, more often than not, yes. Nice guys do finish last, because as a girl grows up, she knows what she needs to look for in a potential long-term partner. Unless she hasn’t gotten sick of babying a guy hoping that he will change, then she will be more likely to date one who already possesses traits that she wants.
Most importantly, a woman wants security, and this is what bad boys seriously lack. Nice boys are proud to provide this, so we take them in the end! Happily!
There’s this song sung by this famous Taiwanese singer-host call Matilda Tao, where one lyric goes like this:
“Heaven don’t cry for me. When I see a nice man, I will definitely chase after him.”
To summarise, nice guys are in real shortage now, and when we see one, nice women will want to grab them before the not so nice ladies lay their paws on them.
See? Nice boys finish last!
Bad boys? Well, unless they decide to roll up their sleeves and buck up, I’m afraid their target market will not expand beyond the age of 25. Good luck then! 