He’s so hot! He’s so cool! When he walks into a room, all eyes are on him!
Most romance movies, especially the high school ones, centre on the “bad boy” trope, a branch of the “enemies to lovers” trope. He is rude, aloof, dressed mostly in dark colors, and silent until he turns violent.
But for some reason, he is a symbol of masculinity. If he is gruff and quiet, that means he doesn’t carelessly throw his words around. If he manhandles someone, that’s his way of showing how strong he is. The ruder he is to a girl, the more he likes her. If he shows attitude to authority, he’s so fearless!
Now, take a step back and let’s look at this character objectively, shall we?
If he doesn’t talk much and when he does, it is rude, maybe, just maybe, he has nothing sensible to talk about. He’s been portraying the role of a cool dude for so long that he forgot to pay attention in class.
If he is grabbing girls and pushing them around or dragging them, he is actually using force to get people to notice him. Because let’s face it, he may think he’s cool, but he lacks personality, and no one notices him. He could be waving his hands in the background, but no one might glance at him. And so, he must resort to using force to remind people that he exists.
The more rude he is to a girl, the more of an inferiority complex he has because deep inside, it is suddenly hitting him that the girl before him may be smarter and have more of a personality than he will ever have. But if he puts her down, breaks her ego, then he has a chance to be noticed.
Challenging authority is just his way to get attention again. The teachers know he is failing and have already given up on him. But if he talks to them rudely or throws papers around like an angry child, maybe they will notice him and consider him a student with some potential after all.
The worst part of this trope is the redemption arc. One second, he is the cool bad boy who doesn’t care about anything, and in the next second, he is writing poems and singing songs for the girl who finally looked his way and challenged his pathetic ideology.
Now he can’t live without her. He must stare at her every second, follow her wherever she goes.
He’s turned into a stalker, but the girl doesn’t realize it yet. She helped bandage his hand after he punched a junior, now he wants a follow-up for some reason. The girl didn’t apply to be a school nurse, but now that is what is expected out of her, and she begins to carry a first aid box.
Any guy who comes to talk to this girl gets pushed around. The girl’s friends tell her he is being so protective, and it’s so hot, and they wished someone cared about them that much. The girl’s initial thought might be why this bully is being controlling, but she’s brainwashed by her friends, who have a distorted notion about romance.
This kind of behavior is romanticized instead of ostracized.
So, what is the point of the “bad boy” trope in romance movies? It’s to show us that while anyone is capable of changing their behavior and should be given second chances, it also teaches us that this kind of behavior is never acceptable in a healthy relationship.
But of course, the message is lost in cutesy montages and a loud song playing in the background.
Someone pushing you or dragging you along is a major red flag, and in this case, red is the color of danger and not romance.
In fact, let’s see if the genders were reversed. Imagine a “bad girl” trope: A muscular girl dragging around a boy would cause immediate outrage because, in romance movies, heroines are supposed to be soft and sweet. She can have a fiery temper, but that’s so the hero can notice she has some personality.
The hero has to be the tough one. He has to display his strength to prove he can protect the heroine from people who want to ask her for her class notes. He has to stalk her to show he is possessive and that the heroine belongs only to him. She may not be allowed to talk to her family if he chooses that they are not right for her.
But hey, who needs a healthy relationship when you can have a guy who treats you like a project and stares at you while you sleep? So romantic.
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