@gameguy20100 / gameguy20100.tumblr.com
I'm just going to say it.
The tortured, manipulative, toxic bad boy trope is far more sexist and damaging than the Knight in shining armour trope will ever be.
At least when the knight saves a helpless maiden from a dragon, he doesn't expect her to "fix" him.
About your post about people who are critical and/or negative about a piece of media liking characters that are either evil, abusive, unpleasant, or mean. Do you have a theory for why that happens?
Bad boy kink.
It's always the bad boy kink.
Danny from Greece.
Edward Cullen.
Damon Salvator
Christian Grey.
The various wattpad story love interests.
Felix. Both fanon and canon
Same story, different costumes.
About the popularity of the "bad boy" archetype, that may be my generation's fault as well, in a case of "gone horribly right." At the time, we were up against a self-styled "Moral Majority" that wanted everyone to act like Ward and June Cleaver. So, we pushed the "bad boy" archetype to get people to accept that non-conformists weren't assholes. Unfortunately, it "worked too well", and we accidentally created a fandom subculture that worships ACTUAL assholes. gameguy20100, you have my apologies.
Again, not a generation thing.
The "rulebreaker in a leather jacket and slicked back hair" character has been around since the 50s.
Danny from Grease was a sexual fantasy for your grandmother just as much as Edward Cullen was for your sister.
You have nothing to apologise for.
