Friday, July 31, 2009

Does Strength Equal Stupidity?



So I was driving along yesterday and I happen to notice a nice looking, okay, Hawt! guy on a motorcycle next to me. Yes, I was quite lucky indeed. He wore jeans, a t-shirt, and sexy Keds on his feet. He had a firm chin, soft lips-perfect for long kisses and his hair was dark and wind-blown... He reminded me of my hero in The Challenge.

Wait... wind-blown? How do I know this? You guessed it, no helmet.

Now, this blog isn't about the foolishness of riding a bike, sans helmet. Nope, I'll let his significant other handle that topic. Today I was wondering - when writers of the paranormal creatures such as shapeshifters, vamps and the rest of our special heroes and heroines, give our characters indestructibility, does stupidity somehow sneak in too?

I know I'm guilty of making my characters somewhat fool hardy, at least in my mind I do, cause I really love to see a guy like Mr Hawtness on a sweet chopper bucking safety and society by letting the wind blow through his sexy, disheveled locks even though the road rash from one single fall could and would probably be deadly. Or maybe jumping from airplanes-free falling darn near to the ground and only then, hoping the chute will open, climbing mountains with big guns strapped to their backs, taking charge and kicking ass....Oh My!


Whew....


Must get back on topic... My question then is this. If we give them all this strength, does it automatically infuse in them the stupidity to risk themselves, would a safety first male be as sexy or maybe it's not stupidity just the traits of an alpha male?

What do you think?



Have a great weekend!

6 comments:

Paris said...

Serena,
Good point. I think if we put alpha heroes in the position of having to make a split decision and using your example of the motorcycle and not wearing a helmet (if that's what you need for the scene)you need to also supply a good motivation for not having the helmet. What if his best friend's little sister was killed in a motorcycle accident, he sees two teenagers, one has a helmet, the other doesn't--he gives his helmet to the girl (goes back to female image)because for some reason in his mind he thinks he was responsible for the bfls death?

You have to tie his actions to some perfectly reasonable and heroic reason for him to behave that way--if that's the road you decide to go down,so to speak;-)

Making a conscious decision to behave contrary to society's ideals will have consequences in the real world which sometimes does translate to fiction. I think it depends how deep you want to go.

Good post!

Serena Shay said...

Absolutely, Paris! If we dig deep enough there usually is a reason for our characters behaviours.

~I'm guessing just cuz they look so darn sexy doing it, is not a good enough reason. ;)~

If there isn't a reason, perhaps we need to analyze our heroes a little further. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Savanna Kougar said...

Serena, I'm thinking there's always that balance between freedom and being responsible.
You betcha if I had super powers that would prevent serious injury and death, I'd be out there on that motorcycle sans helmet or sans anything else.
On the other hand I had to make some decisions around being responsible and not doing certain fun daredevil things because I had other people to care for, who depended on me.
Characters often have that same dilemma...

Serena Shay said...

Very true, Savanna. The open road with the wind racing through ones hair has an allure all its own. I think most people would do riskier things if the fear of being hurt were eliminated.

Another good reason for giving our paranormal creatures love and someone to live for!

Have a great weekend!

Marianne Stephens said...

Taking chances for themselves is fine, but if another person is involved that doesn't have the same paranormal powers, the hero would have to take that into consideration...and be hero-likable for doing so!

Serena Shay said...

Hi Marianne,
Absolutely! If alpha shifter hero, falls in love with a human woman, he must, must, must protect her or else we would question his hero-ness. ;) Thanks for posting! Have a great Sunday.