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peur_evol (peur_evol) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-04-11 16:19:00

Entry tags:

char: archie andrews, char: betty cooper, char: veronica lodge, publisher: archie

THE REAL ARCHIE

Lately, with all of the other Archie posts, the question was raised, "Was Archie always a Christian dickweed?".
The answer is NO, he's usually a secular dickweed.

from BETTY AND VERONICA #39, November 1958

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Re: Lantis or Eagle > Betty or Veronica

dr_hermes
2009-04-12 03:53 am UTC (link)

Ah, but it is a female fantasy. Maybe not yours, but many women just love "poor me" stories where the heroine suffers and weeps privately over how badly she's treated. Look at all the LIFETIME TV-movies and romance novels and soap operas where the sweet blameless heroine is betrayed or misused or unappreciated. That's the appeal of these stories, "I too am treated so badly." There's a big market for that kind of story.

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	Re: Lantis or Eagle > Betty or Veronica icon_uk 2009-04-12 05:37 am UTC (link)
	Do we know what the gender split is in Archie sales? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	Re: Lantis or Eagle > Betty or Veronica icon_uk 2009-04-12 05:40 am UTC (link)
	Also at a slight sidenote, I was browsing through a remaindered bookshop the other day, and I dunno about the US, but in the UK these places tend to be a slightly more fun than the big chains. This was confirmed by the sub-section of Biography just labelled "Crap Childhoods", which seems to be a growth industry these days. (Reply to this) (Parent)

Re: Lantis or Eagle > Betty or Veronica

dejadrew
2009-04-12 10:46 am UTC (link)

Yeah, but in those stories, isn't the asshole hero usually a magnificent monster? He's really hot, or really talented, or really brilliant, or really, really hot?

If the asshole boyfriend/husband IS a boring schlub, then the fantasy usually comes from her escaping him (either permanently or temporarily) for someone who is many times more AWESOME and also hot.

Archie isn't good-looking. He's also not a brilliant athlete, a talented artist, or a genius student. Neither does he have a "beautiful soul." He's a horny scrawny freckled kid who is consistently mediocre-at-best in all things. I can actually understand the Mistreated Maiden fantasy (though you're right, it's not my personal kick), but why would anybody want to fantasize about being mistreated by someone DULL?

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Re: Lantis or Eagle > Betty or Veronica

psychop_rex
2009-04-13 01:50 am UTC (link)

You're misreading the psychology of the situation - one of the reasons Archie has stayed popular all these years is that it manages to appeal to both the male (heterosexual male, anyway) AND female fantasies.
I think it's absolutely true that there's an element of Mistreated Maiden (as you put it) about Betty and Veronica - but as for your question about how could anyone fantasize about being mistreated by Archie - well, that's where the male fantasies start kicking in.
Archie, you see, is an interesting character, because he is everyteen. He's not great-looking, but he's not ugly, he's not super-talented at anything, but he has his moments, and while he's not an outright nerd, he's not Mr. Cool, either - which is presumably how he gets along with such a varied group of friends. In short, he is designed to appeal to the average teenage male - or, more realistically, for young boys who look forward to being the average teenage male - because everyone, at some point, has felt like a bit of a klutz or a spaz, just like Archie, but they like to think of themselves as reasonably popular and good-looking - again, just like Archie. By staying determinedly middle-of-the-road, he keeps his target audience's attention - and just for good measure, he's got two gorgeous girls fighting over him! Hubba hubba! Archie is not there for girls, even fictional ones, to fantasize about (although they do), he's there for boys to fantasize about being him - because, on a certain level, they already ARE him.

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