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Elley+!
Posts:6
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| 07/31/2009 4:00 PM |
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A very interesting topic came up in one of our youth group discussions. We talked about how the media today is filled with "bad boys".
Let's take twilight for example. I read the first book because I wanted to know what all the hype was about. First of all it simply lacks general writing quality. The two main characters have an obviously unhealthy-even
abusive-relationship that somehow everyone finds romantic. Millions of girls are obsessing over the “perfect” Edward Cullen and pretending to be Bella Swan and ignoring the unhealthiness of
the relationship just as successfully as the character does. Why? Why is a blood sucking vampire attractive?
And it's not just twilight. Even those who were heroes back in the day became dark and mysterious. Like Batman. He was the ultimate hero is blue tights. But the new movies portray him completely differently.
What is with our culture being so obsessed with bad guys? Has anyone else noticed this?
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Adelynn
Posts:516
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| 07/31/2009 6:18 PM |
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| Or Jack Sparrow =] |
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"Angel of Mercy, how did you find me? How did you pick me up again? Angel of Mercy, how did you move me, why am I on my feet again?" -One Republic |
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JoJo
Posts:1670
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| 07/31/2009 6:51 PM |
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LOL I must say, I thought Jack Sparrow was awesome! i didn't like him, but I thought he was cool  one of Johnny Depps best characters... (My friend is obsessed with Johnny Depp and it's quite creepy, she is also obsessed with twilight...)
idk, in storys I like bad boys, but not really in real life.
Like Dragon Ball Z, I liked Vegeta (and in these cased I'm meaning liked, as in they were my favorite, I didn't likelike them  )
and Beyblades, Kai was awesome.
Um... I prefer Batman over superman, I actually can't stand superman...
I loved wolverine on Xmen... but he's a good guy... idk
ok so actually all the bad boy types i just mentioned deep down are good characters, but yeah...
If i think of some more I'll write them down
(and yes i was a girl who watched dbz etc ) |
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Turn up the music
Turn it up loud
Take a few chances
Let it all out
'Cause you won't regret it
Lookin' back from where you have been
'Cause it's not who you knew
And it's not what you did
It's how you live
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
God Bless!
Mwah XOXO
JoJo |
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David
Posts:499
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| 07/31/2009 7:43 PM |
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Twilight... *twitch*... Don't even get me started on that trash.
The female attraction to the bad boy persona is based on a perversion of natural femininity - the female "dark side," if you will. Men have a dark side too. The difference is that, culturally, the male dark side is recognized and degraded whereas women are treated as if they have no dark side. Thus, if you try to say that a girl's enjoyment of stories like Twilight is, in actuality, a result of her sinful nature, she'll look at you like you are crazy. Really, it's a disservice to both genders.
Stories (whether books or movies) mis-portray bad boys as having a heart of gold. They're dangerous, exciting and mysterious on the outside, but on the inside they are actually good people. In real life, on the inside bad boys are just that - bad. Of course, girls always want a fixer-upper for some reason. They always find out, too late, that they can't change him.
Actually, Batman was originally a very dark character, more akin to the more recent portrayals of him than of the '60s cheesy/campy version. Christopher Nolan (and Tim Burton before him), with his movies Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, didn't alter the character of Batman to be darker than he really is; they returned him to his original level of darkness.
Dragonball Z is awesome.
I love Superman for his purity and I love Batman for his humanness. |
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Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
- C.S. Lewis |
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JoJo
Posts:1670
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| 07/31/2009 7:54 PM |
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dragon ball z is really cool! haha, and gt wasn't too bad, but it wasn't long enough and it was almost as if you gasped and the series was over...
I just don't like superman for the same reasons I don't like goku idk they're too perfect in a sense and that annoys me... I'd take someone, like vegeta, over a goku anyday
also in one of the recent superman movies (can't remember which one...)
when he's falling from space, he looks like a crucifix, and THAT i had problems with... same situation with Goku, how he's portrayed as the "saviour" of the world... it really ticks me off...
I don't excuse the girl's "dark" side, cuz it's very real and should be treated like a dark side. It's really wrong if guys get "punished" for their dark side and girls are free to thrive in it... in a way...
it's this whole attitude in the world that "girls don't need guys" and yes, we can live without them, but we were designed to be together if you get what I'm saying... like now they can "create" sperm etc, which is basically saying "woman can have kids without guys, be a mum without guys, do everything without guys" and that is REALLY WRONG!!!!!!!!!! I mean, I couldn't live without guys, in the sense that I need some male influence in my life lol, I could "technically" live without them, I am capable of it, but do I want to? no...
O.K. that was confusing |
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Turn up the music
Turn it up loud
Take a few chances
Let it all out
'Cause you won't regret it
Lookin' back from where you have been
'Cause it's not who you knew
And it's not what you did
It's how you live
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
God Bless!
Mwah XOXO
JoJo |
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David
Posts:499
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| 07/31/2009 8:47 PM |
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Actually, I completely agree with what you're saying, and you're a step ahead of the game for realizing all of that.
The only thing I would push back on is Goku is so better than Vegeta. Which do you think would make a better husband: kind, strong and loving Goku or angry, jealous, petty ex-mass murderer Vegeta? To a lesser degree the same is true of Batman and Superman. Superman is kind, strong, loving, and an all-around good guy. Batman is paranoid, angry, driven by vengeance, and has a tendency to shut everyone else out. Which one would be a better husband? |
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Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
- C.S. Lewis |
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clare
Posts:952
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| 07/31/2009 9:18 PM |
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Definatly (however that's spelled) not batman! I wasn't too impressed with Jack Sparrow, I liked Will Turner better! Maybe because I know Jack is Jonny Depp and I do not like him!
I get you totally Jojo! I could never survive without guys! I need the balance they give and it would be a hideous world if it were all women. Imagine all the bickering...wow! No this world is a much better world with men in it. Girls certainly have a dark side but it always gets treated as "cute" "sassy" or "just attitude" and called ok. That is not right! |
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JoJo
Posts:1670
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| 07/31/2009 10:28 PM |
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OMGosh, a world of only girls, I would die... imagine all the cat fights, the cold harsh looks, I already can't stand that stuff now
guys deifnitely balance it all out!!
as for the whole goku/vegeta thing, i donno if you noticed, but he really loves bulma and would do anything to protect her... and trunks... and haha it's so funny when his daughter comes into the picture, she looks @ him with a mustache and says "Dad, lose the mustache" or something to that equivalent, and vegeta immediately shaves it off... hahahaha. no but really. he hides behind the "bad boy" image, but he's not really one... ok maybe at the satrt he was but android saga onwards, he isn't really...
as for batman/superman, superman might make a better husband, but I'd be bored to death... honestly... idk I just don't like superman... even in justice league... I didn't like superman. green lanturn and flash were way cooler haha. |
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Turn up the music
Turn it up loud
Take a few chances
Let it all out
'Cause you won't regret it
Lookin' back from where you have been
'Cause it's not who you knew
And it's not what you did
It's how you live
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
God Bless!
Mwah XOXO
JoJo |
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JoJo
Posts:1670
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| 07/31/2009 10:55 PM |
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Oh and I'll just add on, I ,might prefer bad boys in stories, but not in real life...
lol I'd much prefer a good guy in real life, but not the "superman" type... goku type, maybe, but not superman...
idk i like batman cuz he's an average, but brainy, human and doesn't need superpowers to be cool or fight crime
IDK I just want a normal guy who is just the way he is. he doesn't have to be mr perfect, mr romantic, I'd be fine with a guy who loved sports and cars etc, but that's cuz I love that stuff too haha |
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Turn up the music
Turn it up loud
Take a few chances
Let it all out
'Cause you won't regret it
Lookin' back from where you have been
'Cause it's not who you knew
And it's not what you did
It's how you live
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
God Bless!
Mwah XOXO
JoJo |
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David
Posts:499
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| 07/31/2009 11:33 PM |
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Hm, it sounds a lot to me like you are a describing a very real interest in the bad boy persona, Jojo. As we've discussed, stories affect your romantic drive. Desiring a bad boy in stories will have a direct impact on what you desire in real life.
Vegeta was always a dark, twisted character, even when he was at his best. Yes, he did genuinely love his kids and wife (one of my favorite DBZ scenes was when he sees adult Trunks get supposedly killed by Cell and Vegeta goes absolutely insane), but that doesn't take away from the fact that he is a way dark guy. Plus, Goku was obviously the better father to his sons than Vegeta to his kids. Goku willingly and happily sacrificed himself for Gohan, not to mention all the other times he would sacrifice himself just to save a bunch of strangers (the dude died a bunch).
Fun bit of trivia:
Kakarot = Carrot
Vegeta = Vegetable
Radditz = Raddish
Alright, now for an actually important question. Who would win in a fight, Goku at his strongest or Superman at his strongest?
There is only one answer and it is obvious. |
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Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
- C.S. Lewis |
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JoJo
Posts:1670
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| 07/31/2009 11:42 PM |
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Goku is my choice for winner
haha
seeing as you brought it up...
Nappa is a type of lettuce
Brolli = Broccoli
Bardock aparently is also a type of vegetable haha
vegeta also sacrificed himself, I must say, yes, not as many times a goku, but yeah... and vegeta assisted goku quite a number of times (weither it was fusion or distraction) that allowed goku to save everyone else
anyways off the dbz topic and back to the real topic...
idk I just dont like bad boys in real life even though I like them in stories... it's really weird... and I honestly cannot explain it...
about being obsessed with the bad boys, as the original post is reffering to. I think it's mainly cuz of the confidence thing and the adventure thing. though I do know plenty of great "good" guys who are pretty high up on those too... so idk |
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Turn up the music
Turn it up loud
Take a few chances
Let it all out
'Cause you won't regret it
Lookin' back from where you have been
'Cause it's not who you knew
And it's not what you did
It's how you live
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
God Bless!
Mwah XOXO
JoJo |
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clare
Posts:952
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| 08/01/2009 12:51 AM |
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| Bad boys in books are funny because you get to see the whole picture and who thinks what about who. As far as that affecting us in real life, not at all! At least not for me. I don't like Mr. Goody ( or the kind or guy who's only sport is golfing) but the average guy has enough of a bad streak to satisfy a girl. Some are really good at hiding it and you have to find it. |
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David
Posts:499
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| 08/01/2009 1:28 AM |
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Whatcha gonna do... whatcha gonna when they come for you. Bad boys, bad boys.
Ok I promise not to do that again.
but the average guy has enough of a bad streak to satisfy a girl.
Why does it require a bad streak to satisfy a girl? Why doesn't a good streak satisfy a girl? |
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Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
- C.S. Lewis |
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David
Posts:499
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| 08/01/2009 1:29 AM |
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A bad streak should be seen as just that - bad. Something not good. Something to be avoided. Not something to satisfy.
I've said it before and I will say it again. A girl's attraction to the bad boy persona is based on a perversion of good desires. In other words, it is based on her dark side. |
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Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
- C.S. Lewis |
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David
Posts:499
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| 08/01/2009 1:30 AM |
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| Oh and by the way, the correct answer was Goku. Obviously. |
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Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
- C.S. Lewis |
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JoJo
Posts:1670
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| 08/01/2009 1:52 AM |
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haha of course the answer was Goku... he flippin super sayan 4 not to mention if he turned into that monkey thing, which I can't recall it's name
besides that, I love laughing at the stupidity of the bad boy guys in stories, it like they put up this persona and everyone knows they cant live up to it, even though they try and it's funny. it's kinda the same reason I used to watch wwe, it's funny (lets not start a convo on wwe tho please )
IDK it's like guys want their wife to be sexy, in a way, and girls like the adventure-ish side ect of the bad boy, but like i said, normal guys (well at least the ones I know) have this too, hence why I don't go for bad boys in real life
And clare I totally agree with what you're saying hehe. |
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Turn up the music
Turn it up loud
Take a few chances
Let it all out
'Cause you won't regret it
Lookin' back from where you have been
'Cause it's not who you knew
And it's not what you did
It's how you live
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
God Bless!
Mwah XOXO
JoJo |
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clare
Posts:952
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| 08/01/2009 3:32 PM |
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| Ok maybe I shouldn't confuse you with using bad boys david, how bout mischevieous (that's to hard to attempt to spell). I love good boys, my bf is one of those really good guys. What I mean by bad boy would be someone not content to sit at home 24/7 because he's so perfect. A guy has to have a little bit of attitude and sass, and will flirt just a little. Not with other girls, but just his gf. I don't encourage my bf to do anything wrong but I can't help laugh when he txts me from work and says it's flippin busy but he's just gona txt me anyway. Or if he wants me to jump off the trampoline into the pool and I say my mom would die if she saw and he says oh well what your mom thinks she isn't here. Nothing bad really, I just like that daring adventure guys have. Sometimes it can be called bad sometimes it's just funny! (let me shoot you with a bottle rocket and see what happens..no thanks but I'll shoot you!) |
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David
Posts:499
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| 08/01/2009 4:57 PM |
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Clare, check out the book Wild at Heart. Is that what you are talking about?
It is very important to distinguish between the good, moral drive for adventure that is natural to being male, and the sinful perversion of that drive, which is a big part of the bad boy persona. |
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Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
- C.S. Lewis |
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clare
Posts:952
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| 08/01/2009 6:32 PM |
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| Ya I get what you mean about bad boys and the adventure boy. I just found wild at hear and got it and my bf said if I make him read it he'll throw it away! Have you read Captivating, by the authors of wild at heart? It would probably be boring for any guy but there are parts that every young man needs to know. |
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MyLifeHisWill
Posts:184
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| 08/01/2009 7:05 PM |
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| Well, I think the attractive side of a bad boy, like was pointed out, is based on a girl's dark side. Its kinna like shes the "good" girl who does everything right and has followed all the rules and been cooped up and then Bad Boy comes along and takes her on an adventure. What attracted her to him? He satisfied all her "bad" desires to be the rebel she never had the chance to be. Being the "good girl" type who tries to be perfect (one of my many flaws) I understand this. You know, I would never sneek out of the house or do something without telling my mom kinna thing. So a guy who is daring and wants to pull you into a dangerous situation you've never been in is enticing. Kinna like going off of what Jojo said - A good Christian guy grows up his whole life being the "good" boy at church and the gentlmen to all the modest young ladies. Then he meets a scantily clad flirtatious girl who shows "intrest" in him, and he's enticed. Like Sampson. He was raised to be "set apart" and when he got his freedom it was the naughty, flirty, devious woman who caught his heart. Based on? The guys dark side. I mean, I think all of us "good little CHristians" have said at least once, "If I could go back in time and have no consequences I would...." and then we've named some obviously sinful act that we think would be fun if we didn't have to face the consequences we know we'd face. Like for instance, I would sneek out of the house and drive to the beach in my boyfriend's pickup truck (he actually doesnt have one lol but you get the point) and then get home just before dawn or I'd see how many guys I could get to go to a movie with me at the mall. I mean, I would never do these things in real life because I know not having a cell phone for the next 6 years or breaking my boyfriend's heart by fliriting with other guys isn't worth doing something naughty. Yet, in movies and in our culture girl's praise the bad boy and boys lust after the "naughty" women who are barely dressed. Why? Because of a perversion of our sexual desires. Yes, a woman should want adventure and desire a man who isn't boring and yes, a guy should want a physically attractive woman, but its perverted so that unless its done outside of marriage and unless it breaks all the rules it can't be fun! Men assume marrying a pretty woman for life isn't as fun as sleeping with a sexy tramp for a night. Women assume going on an adventure with her bad boy boyfirend and breaking all the rules is more fun than having your husband take you on a safe, yet exhiliarting adventure. Sure the bad stuff sounds enticing, but the consequences scare me away. The fifteen minutes of pleasure isn't worth 15 years of pain. Soooo yea. Thats what I got lol |
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I don't want to just "live" I want to experience life. |
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