Issues with adultery stories.

7 Apr 2010

Quote by DamonX
Quote by NobeUddy
You can't have a "good" story about a cheating, disrespecting whore no matter how its written ...

Peyton Place. 1957 and over a year on the best seller list. It sold 60,000 copies the first week. Topics include infidelity, , and murder and has become the breeding ground for countless imitations in daytime soaps and prime time addictions. (Desperate housewives.)

This quoted comment is so self indulgently ignorant that it is laughable.

So back to the actual topic...

I've made the argument that most stories require an antagonist of some sort, but most of the trolls don't seem to agree with that. They tend to object to any antagonistic character of any kind. I tend to like books or movies where the main character is "evil" or "bad" because I find it more interesting. Patrick Bates, Hannibal Lector, or even "Alfie" are good examples of characters that possess traits that are perceived as "undesirable". Makes for a good read I think.

Ya, I think any good story needs some kind of tension right? And if the main character is the guy that creates the tension then all the better. The most you get out of romantic comedies is that the guy is a dipshit, the girl freaks out, everything gets screwed up halfway through the movie, and then the couple gets their shit together and make things right again at the end- how exciting! lol

I like movies with really evil people and things too, just not all the time. Sometimes I just want some excitement in my movie.

7 Apr 2010

Yeah, I'm also a big fan of the Byronic Hero in stories or movies as well. To have a dark, deeply flawed protagonist usually makes for a more exciting (and often more realistic) story. Usually even the anti-heros end up having something redeeming about their character as the story/series continues and comes to a close...

I even started feeling sincere empathy for Hannibal Lector after watching the prequel "Hannibal Rising". A good story will always have some underlying explanation for why the anti-hero turned bad.

OK, well except for American Psycho but the character of Patrick Bateman was more just a metaphor for fucked-up yuppie-greed.

Funny how in these stories/movies, the people the hero victimizes all end up being characterizations of people that somehow 'deserve it'.

That way its much easier to root for the bad guy... which I love to do.

7 Apr 2010

There have been tons of stories that have a seemingly bad character perform such deeds upon much worse people. And in the end, aren't we all flawed? Even Superman isn't perfect, and Casino Royale told a great story by planting deeper imperfections into a character that had long ago become stale. These are just three-dimensional facets that make the stories and characters more interesting.

I think some of the best stories told play to the imperfections and deeply internal inflections of the characters in question. Hence, in adultery stories, you find some of the best examples of this...married people who are out for some justifiable revenge on the spouse that cheated forever before them...spouses who inevitably cave to that sexy co-worker they've been denying for years...spouses who got married young and eventually fall prey to their own curiosity about the open life they could have had, and so on. I'm married, and I honestly think part of the fun of reading an adultery story is similar to the fun of reading any erotic story; you're allowed to be immersed in situations that have not and may never happen to you, without ever betraying anyone or anything about the life you presently lead. Hence, you may be 100% devoted to your wife and read erotica, which to me, is a form of porn without actually insulting your spouse by having to physically look at potentially better looking and certainly nude people.

Now, I'm also about to get divorced, which is a whole other issue. However, I don't think that makes my point any less valid.

And DamonX, short of hardcore snuff or things that you know within yourself are going to offend readers from the outset regardless of their personal tastes, don't worry one fucking bit about the bullshit a few whiny-assed haters have to say. If they don't like your work, they don't need to read it. If I don't like a movie, I get up and leave the theater. If I don't like a book, I shut the cover and return it for a better one. If I don't like someone's story, I move on. You have all the ability in the world to report and/or delete the bullshit and baseless comments of people who despised your work from the outset for whatever reason, but chose to keep reading anyway.

I may be biased, because I actually enjoy your work, but I don't think my point is any less valid there either.

4 Jul 2010

I saw a lot of comments on cheating wife stories on that other site. I agree with most of what other people have said on this tread on the topic. The ironic thing is when you take a look at stories that involve a wife cheating on her husband and it is not listed in a cheating wife category per se on some of these other sites they are ususally scored high and considered hot.

-MV