Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Here’s an odd trope
Funny how you start noticing things.
I’m reading Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games trilogy, and am on book two at the moment. (Mild spoilers follow, if you care.) Interesting stuff, what with its hardboiled protagonist who is still so clueless at love, its curious mix of violence and romance. In book one, I thought I had it pegged as a romance variant of some sort, but then Collins trashed any chance at the HEA.
So Katniss, the protagonist, is torn between two guys: baker’s son Peeta, whom the fascistic Capital plans for her to marry, and Gale, the boy she has hunted with ever since her father died. Both are strong, noble, likable, yatta yatta. Both are nuts about her. I suspect Collins’s fans fight amongst themselves as to who Katniss’s true love should be.
Then I remembered Twilight‘s Bella, and how she is torn between the sparkly vampire guy and the werewolf guy. Choose the suave bloodsucker or the dog? Hmm. I suspect I’d go for the dog, especially since the bloodsucker can’t even bring himself to kiss her, for fear his idea of deep kissing might not be compatible with her survival.
And then I remembered Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum, who has her Italian Stallion Joseph Morelli, and strong-dark-quiet Ranger. And Princess Leia, torn between Han Solo and Luke, until they all discover that icky incest thing. But still.
It’s probably more widespread than that, but what I’m wondering is this: are their mirror image examples? Male protags with two equally hot and lovable women vying for their attention? Would romance readers even want to go there? How about gay romance, with characters struggling to determine who to do?
I think I’ll get the birthday girl over here to comment.
D.
On the Hunger Games trilogy, are you planning on reading Mockingjay? There absolutely were debates among fans about who the true love should be. Me, I thought one or both would die (along with Katniss as a martyr) because the utter violence and indifference to humanity seemed irreversible and all-consuming.
I think most romance readers (and writers) don’t go for the two awesome women wanting the same guy. Instead there’s one hot/nice woman and one skank who gets her comeuppance at the end, or is at least dumped or humiliated. Having a legitimate competitor for the hero’s affections would ruin the fantasy element that drives a lot of genre romance: that the h/h are soul mates and there is no true competition because they belong together.
In the m/m romance I’ve read, I’ve read the occasional book with two potential love interests, but more often that’s the set up for either a threat to the primary relationship or a shifting from couple to threeway.
Just downloaded Mockingjay to my Nook. Thanks for spoiling it for me 🙂 I really don’t expect Katniss or either of the two guys to bite it; despite the flashes of cruelty and shocking violence, there’s something about this series which strikes me as YA to the core. Perhaps the fact that all Katniss and Peeta ever seem to do is kiss. Or that the violence Katniss perpetrates is only either accidental or in self defense (or as a mercy killing, in book one). If Collins really wanted to signal that any of the main characters might die, she would have iced one or more family members.
I can understand why women wouldn’t want to see a guy/two women romance. I still wonder, however, whether there’s any mirror-image niche market for guys wanting to read something that steals all of romances tropes (but inverts them with regard to sex).
Did I spoil it? I’m sorry, I was trying to frame in terms of my expectations rather than the actual ending. Here’s the real spoiler: Bruce Willis’ character is already dead. Sorry, couldn’t resist. 😉
Mockingjay strikes me as a much less YA-type book than the first two books despite the fact that the characters are the same and the plot picks up immediately after the end of the last book. Katniss’ struggle between acceptable and unacceptable or unwarranted violence, particularly in the context of war, is a theme in the book. (Used with all the finesse of a bludgeon according to some readers.)
I would think that there *ought* to be a niche market like that for men, but most of the men in my life who enjoy reading would swear that they aren’t reading for romance/relationships and thus wouldn’t be interested. Unless it was porn. But I bet if it were written right and worked into a thriller or other fiction that wasn’t overtly romancy/relationshipy, it would sell.
I enjoy traditional romance, especially the contemporary stuff. In fact, it’s been ages since I’ve read one — I’ve kind of gotten off on a variety of tangents. But in any case, I doubt there’s a big audience out there of guys like me.
Who’s the Bruce Willis character? I can only imagine him playing the drunk mentor Haymitch.
what JMC said. Boy, I’m late to the parteee. But yeah, exactly what she said. Only I’m down on the skank thing lately. Tired of it.
I love the mockingjay books.
And yes, Bruce Willis as Haymitch would be perfect. Or Nick Nolte. Not Nicholas Cage, please god no–not that he’s in the running, but keep him out of there please. Come to think of it, he’d be good as one of the decadent silly designers tho.
I don’t think women vying for men is a big theme I’ve seen — at least not lately.