Storytime:
One time (awhile back) this boy and I were talking. I had already had a few warning bells go off with this guy, but I had ignored them because he seemed like a perfect match on paper.
Now this boy, let’s call him Bob, was also a writer. So one day Bob and I were talking about our perspective stories that were in progress and Bob decided he had a big problem with one of mine. Ya see, in this particular story my main character is unapologetically a murderer even though she is the “good guy.” Bob is NOT here for it. He informs me that NO reader will ever be able to enjoy this story. At all. His reasoning being: people do not like bad guys.
After Bob informs me that I should shelf this story, I point out that his argument is pretty inaccurate. In fact, violent/morally-gray protagonists are some of the most celebrated characters in fiction. Some of the examples I gave were Edmund Dante, Roland Deschain, and heck even Dexter.
Bob then explains that while he understands my “confusion,” those characters are different. You see, the previously mentioned characters are okay because they are guys***. Apparently, male characters can be morally ambiguous in their pursuit of something greater, but female characters cannot.
I then bring up characters such as Daenerys Targaryen, Becky Sharp, and Carrie, who are all protagonists but at times they commit morally ambiguous/to downright wicked actions. And spoiler alert, people still love them (even if they think they are “bad people”). Bob then interrupts me to let me know I am missing the point: nobody, especially a male audience (he made sure to emphasize that point), will accept a murderous female character as a good guy because it is simply “not believable.” Women apparently can either be bad or good.
He cautioned me, A WOMAN, to not misunderstand women in my writing. He also told me, a person who studies literature academically, that I might need to do more research into what a “protagonist” really is and what the main character should represent.
Anyway, I ended the conversation. The next day Bob asked me out. I said no. Bob then told me I was a “self-absorbed slut just like the rest of them.”
And that children, is why you NEVER ignore warning bells.
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