I have been a huge fan of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings since I was a little kid. In many ways I had a crush on all of the Fellowship (well, except Boromir) as well as Eomer and Eowyn. However, my crush on most of them was pretty platonic - I simply would have loved to have hung out with them, gone adventuring with them. (One of the biggest problems with LOTR is its lack of kickass female characters, although Eowyn is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. I also have to admit that I didn't fully understand her until I was 19 and went through my first serious case of heartbreak. And really, what was Aragorn thinking?) But when it comes to fantasy crushes, I must admit that I have always been rather obsessed with elves. And not the type of elves that hang out with Santa (those are more like Tolkien's dwarves), but the tall, androgynous, other-wordly beings of Middle Earth. (There are certainly other fantasy writers who have depicted elves in a similar fashion, but none with the beauty and elegance of Tolkien's. After all, in the Tolkien mythos, elves were the first of Eru's (er, "god's") flesh and blood creations. I'd had quite a dreamy crush on Legolas, as the elven representative in the Fellowship, and when I first heard that Peter Jackson was going to film the LOTR trilogy, my first thought was a worry that Legolas would be presented in a way that would simply kill my longterm crush. Luckily for me, Jackson's choice was perfect:
And speaking of hotties with bows and arrows, I know I mentioned a while back that I quite enjoyed Season One of the BBC's latest incarnation of Robin Hood, and am avidly awaiting Season Two. Anyway, I have crushed on Robin Hood pretty much all of my life, although I must say that the choice of Jonas Armstrong was most excellent.
And, of course, this is my original crush right here.
Now, something I should probably mention... I've also had a bit of a thing for The Bad Guy over the years. When I was a kid, watching Star Wars for the first time, I totally thought that Leia should get with Darth Vader and turn him from the Dark Side. That was, of course, before I saw Return of the Jedi and learned that Vader was her father. Whoops. Believe me, that fantasy went away right then and there.
Since I frequently imagined myself as a tenth member of the Fellowship when I read LOTR, I also managed to create a Sauron-converting fantasy. It wasn't a particularly long-lasting fantasy though.
Now I wouldn't really call this a fantasy, but the dude is hot and his character - despite being an evil bastard - actually has depth and I found myself feeling rather a bit sorry for him. I can totally understand fantasizing about changing him... although luckily for me, I've grown out of that phase. Dating one "bad guy" in real life was enough for me.
I still think he's pretty damn attractive though!
Then there's Gaius Baltar of Battlestar Galactica. I don't hate him, per say, but I strongly dislike and wholeheartedly despise the self-serving little shit.
Frack you, Gaius.
20 comments:
I just don't get girls' fascination with bad guys, but this one has to be one of the worst: http://www.montanameth.org/View_Ads/tv/popupTV9.php
"This is your brain on drugs" public service announcements were never as hardcore as Montana's new war on Meth: http://www.montanameth.org/View_Ads/index.php
I do love all things John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and Clive Staples Lewis since I did a massive research paper during high school (before the advent of high speed internet and Wikipedia) on these two literaty giants. Sorry, Joanne "Jo" Rowling, but Harry Potter occupies the shallow end of kiddie pool compared to the worlds of Tolkien and Lewis which took numerous readings on my part to fully understand these massive works. Tolkien was annoyed because he meant for The Lord of the Rings to be published as one book, but the publishers got it right by breaking it into three easier to digest volumes.
I also loved Robin Hood from the first time I saw The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone fighting over the scrumptious Olivia de Haviland in the glorious technicolor of 1938. Damn, they don't make them like this anymore, but I'm glad to see that the new version has a kick-ass Maid Marion with a little meat on her bones. Quite attractive, even if the stories seem quite contrived and overacted. Xena and Herc ranged from Greece to England, Germany, and finally, to Japan. I just wish that Robin and his not so merry men would get out of the Shire, er...Forest.
I'm a bad-guy kind of girl, too, Jane. I have to admit that I've seen the new Robin Hood series a few times, but only to look at Guy, really.
John - that ad was totally disturbing. and sadly true. when you put it in a realistic light, there's rarely little that's pretty about falling for The Bad Guy. Nonetheless, there's still something appealing in a *fantasy* about finding something good in someone who would otherwise be classed as "bad" and "turning" him/her.
The new BBC Robin Hood certainly has plenty of cheese and quite a few anachronisms - not to mention blatant references to the war in Iraq /slash/ the "war on terror" but I still enjoy it. And I love Marion's character.
Caitlin - It's hard *not* to look at him. I love the way his character evolves during the season, how he obviously is in love with Marion. You might enjoy watching this :-)
At first I really liked Legolas too, but the more I've watched the movies and read (some) of the books, I've developed more of a taste for Aragorn. Legolas is so - pretty. Not that that's a bad thing, it's just after awhile I liked the rugged look a little more.
And sadly, what chick doesn't kinda like the bad guy?
Girls always fall for the brute because they always fantasize about being beaten.
Um, no, actually they don't.
I'm more of an Aragorn girl, too. You can tell he'd be better in the sack. While Legolas would check on his pretty, pretty hair every five minutes.
And I thought I was the only one who crushed on Disney's Robin Hood! It was quite disturbing now that I think about it.
When I was a kid I used to think Gambit from the x-men cartoon was wonderful.
Then the live-action movie came out. I was not expecting to find Wolverine hot. I mean, in the cartoon he was icky. And yellow. But Hugh Jackman . . . *drool*
I had a crush on animated Gambit too! I wish they had cast him in the latest movie.
I found Wolverine annoying in the cartoon and comics (probably because he was in EVERYTHING), but yes movie Wolverine was hot hot hot. Can't wait for his spin-off.
I have to say any desire I had to be with a "bad boy" went away the night my ex slammed my head into a wood floor so hard that I spent the night crying and afraid to fall asleep because I thought I might have a concussion. Yeah, fuck bad boys. I'll take a nice guy over that shit any day.
On a lighter note, Legolas! He can come protect my fortress any day. Swoon....
I've never understood the female infatuation with the "bad boy." Any more than I can understand the male fixation on the "bimbo." I've always been the "nice guy," patiently waiting for women to grow out of the bad boy thing, when I will be waiting.
I always forget that Battlestar Glactica has a new series- I always immediately think of the old ridiculous 70s show that I saw when I was little.
Jane, you weren't kidding about not checking your email.
There is way too much talk about how hot guys are on this blog. I always feel like I walked into the wrong locker room at the gym. But I'll stay for the scenery ;)
A question for you girls. Would you prefer one of Jane's bad boys or someone real funny like Drew Carey?
Ahem... let's not call them "Jane's bad boys" please.
I do believe I wrote that dating one Bad Guy (and that was 10 years ago, BTW) was enough for me.
In fact, I do prefer guys who can make me laugh. Although please, can they look better than Drew Carey?
Since when is Drew Carey funny? And did you have to pick a comedian who's overweight, bald, and just generally funny looking? I'm pretty sure if you'd thrown out Jon Stewart, you'd get a resounding "YES!" from every girl present, including me.
Oh hell yeah!
I'll take a funny guy any day. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to swoon over Jon Stewart...
Drew Carey was very funny in person. And he's lost some weight. Jon Stewart though is extremely intelligent in addition to being funny, so I can see that. I'd take a funny woman- in fact, no matter how unattractive a woman may be at first, I find that someone who can make me laugh is a huge turn on.
I just noticed that anonymous comment up there- I think our pal anonymous has returned! I thought I had done away with him several threads back.
Jane, can you re-send your email to me that I just got--I accidentially deleted it (it went to junk mail for some reason). I figured asking you here would be quicker!
This just in--> I am Nick's dream woman. Smart, beautiful, AND funny. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go collect the tiny bits of my head that just exploded as a result of my ever inflating ego...
Also, Jane am I on any of these emails because I haven't seen any BSG related emails in like forever? I better go check the ole junk mail folder.
Laurie, you've found me out.
I would let Jon Stewart defile me in a stadium full of jealous onlookers!! And i'm not even gay. Imagine what I'd say if I was (yowza.)
Fortunately I didn't say kill. I was trying really hard not to say kill in this one becaus apparently the word kill makes us an NC17 blog, so whatever you do, doN't say the word kill because the more times you say it, the more we are "tagged" as naughty. Feel free to talk about eating syrup out of assholes though.
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