Whose thinks writing about an obsessive male character is a
good hot idea. I have seen this in a few books and heard of a few like that.
There is one being turned into a movie right now and the author is like excited
about the scene where the guy follows the main female character across the
country and is like obsessive about her, before their relationship gets hot and
heavy. This concept was in Twilight as well.
Like who says oh ok
this character is getting stalked but you know that’s hot so I’ll have the
female character jump in bed with that guy. That would not end well in real
life, so why in books.
I think if a guy were to follow A.K.A Stalk a person across
state lines or even around town that is reaching odd levels and someone should
get a restraining order. I am sorry but a dude no matter how good looking
shouldn’t be all stalkery *not a word sorry*. I don’t think demanding a woman
to do what they *male characters* want or something is right or entertaining.
Anyone care to weigh in on this topic?
In my opinion, having a male character relentlessly chase after a female character is lazy writing.
ReplyDeleteEvery girl, to some degree, fancies the idea of being sought after and pursued by a handsome, compatible suitor. And in these books, the female characters are initially intrigued by the mysterious, relentless male character. Then perhaps they show some sort of resistance to the male character. And eventually, they are won over by their persistence. I feel like, yes, that is in some way implies that the girl is being valued and appreciated, and most importantly, is worth the chase. And readers are indulging themselves in such stories. But it really can't reflect real life in any way.
An author knows the limitations of the "stalking". Most of these stalker-ish characters would never physically hurt the girls (unless it's meant to be kinky? Like in 50 Shades? But even those are consensual acts). The male stalker would never go over board, because they are meant to be the love interest (And because they're created by female authors). So they pursue like a wild animals, but know when to restrain themselves in a gentleman manner. But like you said, in real life, this doesn't happen.
Imagine how frustrated a real-life man would be, had they any insight to the dissonant female fantasy-mind. "Do chicks want a good chase or not? First they want to play hard to get, then they call me a stalker. Make up y'alls mind!" :P
I thought after I posted about this that wouldn’t it be ironic if I had written about the very subject I was not so thrilled about. I just went through my own manuscript list and I think just a little bit that I might have done this. I have a lot of manuscripts so I am just going with what I remember, because I have a lot of characters.
ReplyDeleteIn rare cases a male character did follow my female characters. In the rare case where a romantic entanglement was to occur it usually came around a more adventurous time in the story line, so it wasn’t the main theme or plot. So the male character was mostly following or watching over the female character because he was convinced she was in danger and didn’t realize the said danger she was in. Then he cooled it once he realized she was all too aware of the threats around her and was fully capable of taking care of herself. So really the male characters were being more like guardians instead of stalkers.
Of course there was one instance where a male character did stalk my female character but it was to make sure that she wasn’t targeted, as she was the temporary queen of their world. He also acted weird and slightly stalker-ish because he wanted to make sure she didn’t get too close to him because of the role he was playing with the other antagonist characters, it was a sort of double agent thing. So he was purposefully putting her off and in unease but also watching over her at the same time. It peeved my poor female character off and she showed her dislike of his tactics, she was all too aware of what he was doing but he didn’t know. So in that instance she was disturbed but she had an idea about what his stalker ways were about.
I like to write about feisty / sassy female characters. Ones that refuse to be seen as a damsel in distress or be stalked without putting up a fight. And boy do they know how to fight. A few are well trained in Medieval Warfare and Weaponry, though appearances are deceiving. Some of my female characters go so far as to literally get into a fight with the male character, sometimes to prove a point, the point being they are good fighters and don’t need the male characters help. If the male character refuses to fight for fear of hurting the female character the female character usually forces them. There is one scene I love where my female character full out fights with my male character using swords. It’s a pretty intense fight, so intense it becomes quite real towards the end, and who wins…unfortunately it was a tie but my female was really close to winning and managed to give more damage to the poor male character. He had thrown her to the ground after a move and had his sword to her throat and well she had her sword pointed to a little below the male characters belt, LOL! So they called it a tie.
So in conclusion about my manuscripts I don’t write about stalker male characters to the point of some novels. Though I guess some of my males can be seen by some as a bit of a stalker, though they are usually just watching over the female character for a while until they know they can handle themselves.
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Now about novels that people read… I sometimes want to think it would be better if some story lines were based more around what could really happen in the real world but then again most people including myself usually read to escape reality for a while and delve into the characters world. We have plenty of time to be in our reality but its fun to read about things we will never do or experience. So I can see where it could be an interesting plot for some novels, having a stalker character. I don’t agree with it to the extreme but you are right that at least most authors don’t cross the line and have the male character be too extreme as they want the reader to like or at least be intrigued by the male character, just like the female character.
In my opinion I just don’t care for too extreme or misogynist male characters. Or players, I hate those…. I read a novel once *I think it was called Secret for a Nightingale* and at the end I wanted to scream at the female character. Basically she had this love / hate relationship through out the novel and I was like girl pick a feeling already, do you hate him or love him. So finally she picks that she loves him. He says he can’t settle down as a regular country doctor. That he has to travel the world to exotic locals in search of cures for diseases (this was in Europe in the late 1800’s) so he says she can go with him but when she has a baby he knows she wants to be the sole caretaker as her last baby died because of a bad nanny. So anyway he says she can stay in England and he will go abroad but he will be quick and soon return. From how this character is descried he isn’t one to settle and stick loyally with one woman. He is a player or rack of that era. So from how it sounded *excuse my description* it sounded like she would be nothing but a booty call. And she was totally fine with it, which peeved me off. I have read stuff by that author before and only 2 or 3 novels really made me so annoyed, that being one of them.
DeleteI do however agree with everything you say. You make really good points. “Do you chicks want a good chase or not? First they want to play hard to get, then they call me a stalker. Make up y’alls mind!” that part made me laugh hysterically. Because I could just image a real-guy thinking that same thing, like I could see my male friends thinking this when they try to pursue ladies. They do seem confused by the hot and cold act woman often give them.
Sorry again for such a long response! :~)