Obsessed Stalker to Hot Stud: Relationships in "Man Movies"

By no means is it critical that an action hero be a sweeping romance. I mean it's not Gone with the Wind but having relationships with other people is a part of life and should not be awkward plot points in a thriller or an action movie.


Women inherently connect with some kind of relationship. The generic female stereotype is that we only will see a movie if it stars Ryan Gosling and it involves white frilly weddings and long-lost love letters that are so poetic that your head will explode.

The problem is that the stereotype does come from some sort of reality. The movies that resonate with women often are filled with handsome men who are dripping with charm and romance. They find a normal but beautiful girl and their romance is whirlwind.

Now I don't demand that The Dark Knight set aside an hour to really develop a heartbreaking romance for the ages. That's not the point of the movie and awkwardly stopping the plot to focus on Bruce Wayne's girlfriend just destroys the flow.

But the relationships are always just thrown in there to serve a point. They either are WAY too emphasized or they are just there and are quickly thrown away.

Comic book movies often veer into the WAY too emphasized category. The hero is obsessed with a girl and huge chunks of their motivation is about wooing her or getting her to like him. It boggles the mind why Bruce Wayne is spending so much time on Rachel or why Peter Parker is spending so much energy on Mary Jane. By trying to make a relationship "realistic" it often diminishes the hero and the story gets lost in the shuffle. Even in Quantam of Solace, James Bond is a basketcase, unable to

function without this girl he barely knows. The hero then borders on an obsessed pathetic stalker because his only motivation is to get and then save this soul mate.

Then there's the throwaway romances. They are there to make the hero look like a stud or, sometimes, just a normal person with normal person urges. The girl is simply a plot point. The hero goes to this building, shoots a guy, sleeps with a girl, eats lunch, etc. The girl is there to either provide a little "relaxation" in the midst of an action-packed day or to just bump the ratings up to a hearty PG-13. I'm not talking so much about the more misogynistic, in your face sexist women. I'm more talking about the girl who comes in randomly, leaves for no reason, and serves no point except to spout exposition or make the hero look like a bad ass.

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