So I went to see 50 Shades with the wife over the weekend. We were discussing how it's been so successful because of the mass appeal based on the template of Christian Grey. Basically he checks all the boxes to appeal to a wide enough segment of women to be a successful sell. Rich, young, good-looking, broken-but-salvageable, just a BIT of a d!ck, rich, pilot, rich...you get the idea. Something for everyone.
I asked my wife what she thought would make a good template for a similar character to appeal to men. She immediately shot back with the usual stereotypes--blonde, big boobs, available for sex at a moment's notice, rich. It struck me that NONE of the things she named off really appealed to me as something that would make "the complete package".
I think for men, there's such a wide range of things we find physically attractive that you can't really make that part of the template. My wife has an insecurity thing about big boobed blondes--not sure why because they don't really do anything special for me. Her other categories--similarly don't work. Rich doesn't work for a lot of men who prefer to be the provider. Available for sex just makes me think "starfish".
What I've come to as a template (at least for me) comes down mostly to personality qualities. I think men in general want someone to make them feel needed, desired, supported and respected. So Christina Grey would need to do that for her counterpart.
Needed emotionally and financially.
Desired physically (note the difference from my wife's response of "available for sex at the drop of a hat")
Respected. Looked up to. Admired.
Supported. No man is an island, and even the most macho dude needs some help.
Now take those qualities and drop them into a Hollywood starlet of your choosing, and you have Christina Grey.
What would be your template? Is my wife right? Are we both wrong? What would make a woman the total package for the largest cross-section of men?
I asked my wife what she thought would make a good template for a similar character to appeal to men. She immediately shot back with the usual stereotypes--blonde, big boobs, available for sex at a moment's notice, rich. It struck me that NONE of the things she named off really appealed to me as something that would make "the complete package".
I think for men, there's such a wide range of things we find physically attractive that you can't really make that part of the template. My wife has an insecurity thing about big boobed blondes--not sure why because they don't really do anything special for me. Her other categories--similarly don't work. Rich doesn't work for a lot of men who prefer to be the provider. Available for sex just makes me think "starfish".
What I've come to as a template (at least for me) comes down mostly to personality qualities. I think men in general want someone to make them feel needed, desired, supported and respected. So Christina Grey would need to do that for her counterpart.
Needed emotionally and financially.
Desired physically (note the difference from my wife's response of "available for sex at the drop of a hat")
Respected. Looked up to. Admired.
Supported. No man is an island, and even the most macho dude needs some help.
Now take those qualities and drop them into a Hollywood starlet of your choosing, and you have Christina Grey.
What would be your template? Is my wife right? Are we both wrong? What would make a woman the total package for the largest cross-section of men?
Put the internet to work for you.
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