Who Wouldn’t Want to Date a Bad Boy?
Tropes are in every form of media today. They have become unavoidable. While some tropes are positive and are not harmful to anyone, some tropes provide negative ideals that can affect society in a poor way. Very few people recognize tropes as tropes and the effect that they are having on people because they are woven into every part of media. A trope that seems to be overplayed and it has been used for many generations, is the idea of girls being more attracted to bad boys. It is an idea that is not only in media, but it is a part of the real world as well. There is a stigma that for whatever reason, girls are more attracted to the bad boys than they are to the boys who will treat them the right way. The trope that will be explored throughout this blog is called “All girls want bad boys.” Through this analysis, we will analyze popular, mainstream media and how this trope fits in, while also analyzing why this trope exists and why it has continued to exist after all of these years.
Hollywood has been playing on this trope for many years. It seems strange that women would choose a guy who treats her awful and is an all around bad guy. Many times the guy is considered dangerous. In many movies or television shows, the guy will drive a motorcycle, wear leather, or be known as a womanizer. It is not just that the guy is known for certain things or has a certain appearance and that is why the woman is attracted to him, but in many cases it is also because the bad boy needs the woman in one way or another. They often portray themselves to the woman in one way, but to the rest of society they act a completely different way. In reality, the boy is troubled and needs real help, but the woman in these relationships cannot see how lost the guy really is and if she can, she typically thinks she can save him. Through the following examples, it will be made more clear about the details and issues of this trope.
To better understand this trope, it is important to recognize it in some mainstream movies that are considered successful. In order to notice tropes, you have to pay attention to the details and what the movie or show is saying without actually saying it. The first place this trope appears the most is in live-action films. The first movie we will look at is Grease, which bases it’s story line around a girl who is considered a good girl and a bad boy. The two meet each other over their summer break, where they form a summer relationship. Danny acts like a good guy with her throughout the summer, but he never tells her about his reality back at school. When she transfers to his school by chance, she sees him as the bad boy that he is considered to be. The two seem like a mismatched pair as Sandy is very wholesome and nice to every person she meets, while Danny is more focused on impressing his friends with girls. Even though Sandy sees Danny as the bad boy he is, she still wants to be with him. He even insults her in front of everyone, yet all it takes for her to want him again is him apologizing to her in private. Throughout the movie, there are many key characteristics of this trope that show up. For instance, he is different with her than with his friends. At one point he even gets mad at Sandy when he tries to take their relationship to the next level physically and she denies him. He also gloats to his friends in the beginning of the movie about the wild summer he supposedly had with Sandy.
The relationship between Danny and Sandy is an unhealthy one. Unfortunately, since they are the relationship the movie is focusing on, the fans are rooting for them and their unhealthy relationship to work. The whole movie follows their relationship as they struggle to navigate how to make their relationship work. The movie goes on to Danny attempting to change into a jock in order to win Sandy over and Sandy changes ends up changing into a bad girl to win Danny over. They both tried to change who they were to make the other like them more. In the end Sandy makes the sacrifice to be the bad girl in order to fit in with Danny.
In the classic trilogy of Star Wars, Han Solo is considered to be a bad boy. While his character is beloved, when you pay attention closely you can see the sides of Han that doesn’t treat women in the best way. He is especially considered a bad boy when you compare him to Luke Skywalker. Granted, Luke happens to be Leia’s brother, but that isn’t revealed for a good amount of time in the trilogy, yet Leia still would have chosen Han over Luke.
Star Wars follows suit with this trope in the latest movie, The Last Jedi, with Rey and Kylo-ren. Rey forms a bond with Kylo through speaking to each other through the force. In the beginning she hates him, but after a few conversations she begins to look past his evil sides and she starts to recognize the good parts in him. Once Rey sees some light in Kylo, she attempts to get him to change who he is. In this relationship Rey does stay true to herself as she turns him down when he refuses to turn the light side, unlike many relationships in this trope where the girl ends up changing who she is in order to be with the guy, like in Grease.
Spider-Man 3 plays on the premise of this trope that if Peter becomes a bad boy, he is more likely to get the girls. This is evident in Spider-Man 3 when Peter is possessed by a symbiote and it makes his character over-confident to the point that he acts like he is a bad boy. He automatically gains a plethora of confidence. He has a distorted opinion about himself and he truly believes that all women automatically want him. It is obvious in the scene where he is walking down the street winking and saying things to women, but it is very evident in this movie that being a bad boy is not what will automatically get the guy a girl. As he is walking down the street in that scene, most of the women are giving him more disgusted looks or laughing, rather than swooning. This movie really points out the fact that there is more to being a bad boy than just confidence and certain demeanor, there is a full look that is required and in this specific movie, Peter’s confidence and demeanor was not enough to attract the women, besides the ones who were already attracted to him.
In the classic John Hughes film, The Breakfast Club, this trope is evident between two of the characters. There is the bad boy, Bender, who is looked at like a criminal and the good girl, Claire, who is considered to be a “prom queen.” The two are a very unlikely pair and the majority of the film they are fighting, yet for some reason Claire is attracted to him and before the movie ends, the two get together. Throughout the film Bender treats Claire terribly. Every chance he gets, he belittles her, often times in front of everyone. It seems impossible that someone would want to be with a man who who constantly calls her names and treats her horribly, yet for some reason Claire still chooses to be with him at the end of the movie.
Forrest Gump provides the example of the girl always going for the bad boys, even though she has a great guy standing by her side, waiting for her to realize he is the man for her. Jenny moves from relationship to relationship. Every relationship she is in is with an abusive guy or a guy who doesn’t know how to treat her right.
The movie provides a little bit of backstory for why Jenny is constantly throwing herself into relationships with guys that she knows are not good. Jenny’s character had a difficult childhood growing up with her dad and they make her character feel as if she does not deserve a good man like Forrest.
The last movie that is going to be analyzed is Footloose. Footloose follows a boy who moves into a the town of Bomont right after an accident that kills five seniors occurs, leading to the town placing many new rules on the kids of Bomont. The pastor’s daughter, Ariel, is also the sister of the guy who was driving the car when they got in the accident. As a way of acting out, Ariel chooses to date a guy in town who is the image of a bad boy. He is a car racer, he is often seen drinking, and he is constantly putting pressure on Ariel to sleep with him. Even though he treats her horribly and is constantly pressuring her, Ariel chooses to stay with him for a while. Rather than Ariel being a good influence on him, he begins influencing her. She acts out very recklessly to the point of almost getting herself killed on multiple occasions. Chuck, the bad boy, is not a character who grows at any point in time throughout the movie, but Ariel does grow, especially after she meets Wren who treats her the right way.
While this trope appears often in movies, it is also a trope that is used in live-action television. In television shows, it can be used as a makeover of making the slightly geeky guy into a cool guy who makes all of the girls swoon or it could also be a character in the main cast. Most shows will have one bad boy and usually by the end of the series, that character has grown and become a stand-up guy.
This is seen with Jesse in Full House. When Jesse first moves in to Danny’s house to help Danny raise his three daughters, he is a womanizer. Throughout the first couple of seasons, we get to see Jesse take on the bad boy image. Unfortunately, as a viewer, Jesse is loved because the viewer gets to see the side of Jesse with the three little girls and the viewers do not get to see a lot of the side of Jesse with woman. What the viewers do get to see is the many women that walk in and out of Jesse’s life. Jesse is a musician who rides a motorcycle and wears leather jackets. He is the image of a bad boy and he treats women this way as well. While he may not treat them terribly, he doesn’t pursue real relationships typically. The viewers are subject to hearing about many different women that he has been with, and many that were only for one night. Jesse falls under the typical television bad boy who grows throughout the series. By the end of the series he has settled down and gotten married. He becomes a family man who treats his wife well and he leaves behind his bad boy past.
How I Met Your Mother also plays this trope out for the entire series through one character, Barney. Barney is a bad boy who uses as many ways as he can possibly think of in order to get women to sleep with him. He treats women like they are something only for his pleasure and he completely throws their feelings to the side. Robin, who ends up marrying Barney at one point in time, falls for Barney even though she is his friend and she knows how bad of a guy he is, especially with women. For whatever reason, Robin ends up choosing Barney over Ted, who is a good guy, at one point in the series. Barney does clean his act up to an extinct when he is in a relationship with Robin, but there are still many times when he refers to women in a derogatory way. Robin attempts to turn Barney into a good guy and she encourages him to leave behind his bad boy past. Their relationship falls under the area of the trope where the girl is attempting to change the guy for the better and that is why they like the bad boy. Robin believes that Barney will be better to her.
Understanding why girls want bad boys and often pick the bad boys over the good guy is not simple. This trope isn’t something that only happens in movies or on television, but it also happens in real life. The idea that women prefer bad boys is something that a lot of women can relate to. The strange thing about it though, is that most women would say that they know the guy is awful and isn’t who they should date, but for whatever reason they choose to date the guy regardless. This trope has continued to be prominent in the media forums that we consume because it is a part of reality for many people, making it relatable. The idea of a bad boy growing up and becoming a good guy is common. Many people would say that they are not the same person they were in high school and many would admit that they may not have been the best person even. The idea of a person growing is real and that is what happens with many bad boys in movies or television shows. It is also very relatable because sometimes it can seem very appealing to want to change someone or to be the reason someone does change. The idea of a guy changing for a girl is very attractive to many girls, even though it should not be. In the girls eyes, they were worth enough to the guy for him to change who he is. At the same time, some of these examples, like The Breakfast Club or Grease, don’t make as much sense because the guy doesn’t change at all and continues to just be a bad boy. In those movies or shows, it seems questionable as to why the girl would continue to be with the guy.
It is evident that this trope is a part of a massive amount of popular media. These examples are all populars films and television shows that are often highly praised. This trope seems to fit in due to its relatable premise and because it provides a large amount of potential character growth for the movie or show to explore. This trope has become timeless because of how relatable it is. Even if women don’t actually go for the bad boy in real life, the idea of it is still attractive to think about. This trope will likely continue to be around because it provides audiences with a storyline that can grow and make the audience invested in the character. While this trope is relatable, it also provides people with unrealistic ideals. The idea that the girl can enter into a relationship with a bad boy and change him is not foolproof. While it may happen on occasion, it isn’t something anyone should go into a relationship thinking. This trope provides audience members with an unrealistic expectation of real life relationships, making this trope more of a negative than a positive.
