Subject: Re: Elkins' Draco Malfoy Is Ever So Lame. Yet Sympathetic.

[xcpublishing]

Northsouth:
>First I should say that I personally don't quite get hurt/comfort, 
at 
>least, I don't find characters attractive beacuse of it - but I 
don't 
>find characters attractive beacuse of anything else either, for the 
>vast majority.

I don't really buy the hurt/comfort theory in relation to the "bad 
boy" characters that readers love to love.  For the most part, I 
blame romance novels for the entire bad boy syndrome that affects far 
too many women.  In the vast majority of romance novels, the hero is 
a bad boy - sleeps around, loves no one, is sometimes a victim of 
tragedy, is usually hard-headed and hard-hearted.  Now, while this 
does provoke some sympathetic feelings in the female (she wants to 
ease his pain, fix his problems, and soften him up) it does nothing 
to explain the sexual attraction.  The hurt/comfort theory is more of 
a maternal feeling - we feel that way toward Harry because he's had a 
difficult life and we want to fix him up.  But we don't feel any 
attraction for him, we simply want to mother him.  However, Sirius 
Black, Lucius Malfoy, and possibly Snape are far more attractive.  
Yes, they are broken and need fixing.  But the prize at the end of 
that fixing is not a happy little boy, it is a virile beast that will 
worship the ground you walk on (at least, that's how it happens in 
romance novels).  These characters are very strong, powerful, and 
impressive.  The "hurt child" in them is just spice on the 
attraction, and gives us sympathy for them.  If we can just make them 
see that they are evil and turn them to the good side, they will 
still be strong, powerful, and impressive.  It's not a matter 
of "healing" them, it's a matter of "changing" them.  We want them to 
be who they are, just better.  Unfortunately, this only works in 
romance novels, not at all in real life, but we females keep trying, 
and hoping, and reading those Johanna Lindsay books the instant they 
hit the shelves.  Ah, if only the Mallory men were real...  BTW, 
Draco had exposed too many cowardly tendencies to be taken seriously 
as a possible hero.  Maybe he'll toughen up a bit.

Nicky Joe