InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Surrender to me"

lang_ea (lang_ea) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-05-03 20:02:00

Current mood:	hyperactive
Entry tags:	genre: romance, publisher: marvel comics

(ROMANCE) Hero Dickery

Since I've just recently acquired a new stash of 70's comics (many of them romance :P) I've been scanning and filing them under several labels, like unusual art, awesome fashion details and the crackiest of story lines!
So now I'd like to introduce a collection of the most dickiest of characters (heroes and heroines!).

Starting with a 'Our Love Story' story arc issued by Marvel!

Thus, this is our heroine Annie. She says she's poor, she doesn't stop mentioning it. Even though she's got what looks like the heaviest fake eyelashes in the world, and massive amounts of hair spray (unless her head is shaped that way)!

Okay, Cynthia? Pink is not your color. Pink is NOT your color.
BUT GOD, your PJs are rockin' in this page.

Oh yeah, I also found a new theme in quite a few 70's romances: Lotsa disembodied floating heads.

MOAR DISEMBODIED FLOATING HEADS!

DO do do do DO do do do!

Because waitressing is a horrible, horribly embarrassing job you have to take it crying in your sleep.
Wait--she wears make up to bed??

Okay, he dated someone because...He thought it was FUNNY?! What the HELL, man? And seriously, what was he gonna tell Annie before they were so rudely interrupted??

"Hey doll-face, party at my frat house?"

I don't know dudes, but this guy seems to me a right pillock. X)
For someone that lets a girl parade him around (and a hot one at that) like some new chihuahua just for kicks before making his move with her mouth-breathing lower-class roommate (WE GET IT, YOU'RE POOR!|), he's definitely got something else on his mind which has everything to do but honesty.
Just a thought, but yeah, hoped you enjoyed it!

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lang_ea
2009-05-04 05:58 am UTC (link)

Yeah, this is what always makes romance comics messed up. The story arcs are always short and they're often filled with not so subtle messages like 'For CHRISTS' SAKE marry someone with cash and prestige" or "Don't go out and party with the reefers" or "There are NO such things as LESBIANS! these are just girls that hadn't met the right boyfriend"

I can pretty much go on and on.

But yeah, this would certainly give the wrong message to those tweenage girls of the time. Bad enough putting a good light on a vacant girl that hardly did anything else but gawp like a fish and mope and cringe (girls: This is NOT sexy). But putting in the message that it will all come to together in the end like that? Bleh.

Still, it sure reminds me of a murderess that has pretty much lost touch of reality. Can't remember what her name is, but it's a true case of a 'widow maker'--she marries, gets through a couple or so years, and then kills them with arsenic. (by putting fly paper on the raw meat or something?) Anyways, she did it because she found the married life not what she had wanted, so it was a way to start all over again.

I was shocked to find that not only was her maturity level down to that of a mischievous 12 year old, but she also STILL reads the ROMANCE COMICS even up to the age of FIFTY when she was finally caught! Says much, nay?

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psychop_rex
2009-05-04 04:22 pm UTC (link)

That's pretty creepy, all right. What I find a bit worrying is not so much the stuff you listed above, although I agree it's certainly misguided - those are cultural issues; they show up in various guises everywhere - it's the fact that these comics seem to be encouraging girls to seek out one particular type of man, and not a particularly nice one.
You probably already know what I'm talking about, but I'll elucidate. This type of man is suave, and generally rich, or at least not poor. He's handsome in a way that suggests he puts a good deal of time and effort into making himself that way - right now it's moussed hair and aftershave, in a decade or so it'll be a toupee and plastic surgery. He tends to talk down to people - he calls his women things like 'you silly little goose', or 'you little fool', as seen here. He usually has a temper, which means he broods and growls and occasionally yells at people. All of which, in romance comics, seem intended to imply 'handsome, romantic, take-charge kinda guy, full of passion - what a catch! Melt into his arms at once if you ever meet him', but to anyone who can read between the lines a bit, it spells 'DANGER DANGER DANGER!'
THAT, in my opinion, is the real problem - not only setting the bar impossibly high in terms of appearance, but being severely misguiding in terms of what a girl should look for in personality. Never mind someone who's NICE - who treats you well, who has a good sense of humor, who has similar taste in movies, etc.; in short, someone who you might possibly have a FUTURE with - oh no, go for the DANGEROUS man, go for the guy who will probably smack you around when he gets mad and most likely leave you for a younger woman the moment you start showing some wrinkles. This happens over and over again in these sorts of comics, and I for one find it damn disturbing.

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lang_ea
2009-05-04 06:28 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, it's sad how it's normally trial and failure that actually gets us to be able to stand and protect ourselves. I had an aunt that unfortunately had her life ruined by a guy waaay older than her. She was 13 when he (24) made his move on her and later they got married. He had a problem whenever his teenage wifey would spend the day in bed rather than get up when he did and cook and clean for him. The result was domestic abuse, screaming and divorce. My aunt learned the hard way that since no one would help her she had to get out on her own.

But yeah, personal stories aside; it is ludicrous how they're pitting kids to thinking that older guys are cool despite that a healthy-minded 20 year old wouldn't dream of touching a kid still in her training bra. Only that if he's got a car, a good wardrobe, and looks physically advanced (no acne, and a fully developed mesomorph anatomy :P) he's perfect. Like you said, never mind on the actual important things.

But yeah, I'd love to sit down with the plot writers and try to get out from them why they write those things knowing what effect it gets out. I even want to know if they were all men or something. :/

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psychop_rex
2009-05-04 06:53 pm UTC (link)

I'm guessing that most of them were. The thing about the type of man I described is that, to a large degree, he's every male's (well, heterosexual males, I can't speak for gay guys) fantasy identity. Handsome, rich, passionate, always in charge? I think most members of my gender have fantasized about one day becoming that man, including me.
Unfortunately, like many fantasies, he's not a very good idea in real life. It's one thing if he's in the context of, say, James Bond (who in many ways personifies this trait), where he's surrounded by scenery-chewing villains and beautiful temptresses and vicious assassins and things that go boom in spectacular ways - the whole thing's a fantasy. But in real life, it's different - real life doesn't take into account what happens in the ensuing weeks and months and years AFTER the first passionate encounter, and furthermore, THIS GUY EXISTS. He is a type of man that you could actually meet. So the writers, dreaming their dreams, populate their stories with these pouting, dangerous playboys, probably thinking that, like the rest of their work, they're writing unemulatable fantasy. But the thing is, their readership can and do emulate it, and they march into adulthood looking for these dangerous men, believing fervently in a happy ending that is probably not going to happen. Fantasies are very lovely, but they can be dangerous things if misused.

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dr_hermes
2009-05-05 07:29 pm UTC (link)

It goes deeper than romance stories, which didn't create this cliche. A lot of women in real life are attracted to authoritative, take-charge men. Maybe it's because it takes some of the responsibilty of decision making off their hands, maybe it gives them a sense of protection in an uncertain world. But certainly a lot of women have been and continue to be drawn to this type, and it's no use for their friends and family to try to talk sense into them.

It happens to men, too, in a slightly different way. Many a guy has emptied his bank account and gone into hock trying to win the favor of a woman who doesn't care and is already looking for the next sucker. Relationships require a lot of effort and honesty from both sides, if they're going to work out.

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psychop_rex
2009-05-05 07:34 pm UTC (link)

Oh, sure, but my point is that a lot of guys WISH they were authoritative, take-charge men, and when they write romance comics they tend to turn them into the heroes, thereby unknowingly perpetuating the stereotype. I'm sure that there are plenty of women who are attracted to them anyway, but this type of comic surely must have made sure that women got those expectations much earlier in life than they would have otherwise.

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dr_hermes
2009-05-05 09:00 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, I see your point. This story was written by Stan Lee, probably? In real life, he IS a pushy, ambitious take-charge personality, so it wasn't so much wish fulfilment for him so much as straightfordward identification. It would be interesting to see if any writers of romance novels are wussy little mousy guys in real life or (more likely) beefy middle-aged men with bald spots and cigars.

You're never sure with stories like these, or those thousands of paperback romances that get published every year, whether the writers believe what they're telling or if they're just hacking out what they know will sell. A mainstream novel is more likely to reveal what the author really believes, but stuff like this comic or Harlequin Romance novels are almost certainly following the formula they know the public will buy. ((

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