Most young girls, when looking to the future, dream of their very own Prince Charming. He arrives sometime in their live. They see each other across a crowded room and everyone seems to fall away. It’s love at first sight; they spend time together, but are pulled away from each other by some unknown force, seemingly never to see each other again; they imagine him brooding over her, trying desperately to find her. Then finally, after many weeks of searching he finds her. He gives them their glass slippers; he kisses them out of their unending slumbers; he does whatever it takes to be with her.
Well in my fairytale, things are a little different. While other little girls fantasized about all the nameless Prince Charming’s taking them away into the sunset, when I watched the mandatory Disney movies as a kid, I sought not Aladdin or the transformed Beast; the men that I wanted were the villains. I was infatuated with Jafar and enamored with Gaston. I thought Jasmine was a fool for leaving Jafar, and how could Belle ever pass up a chance with Gaston. I was living proof that girl’s fall for the bad boy, and nothing my parents, friends, or Disney could do or say could make me ditch the bad guys for the heroes.
My parents laughed when I would kiss the screen when Jafar’s face would appear, and would say it was cute when I would act disgusted at Snow White riding away with Prince Charming. “She should’ve stayed asleep,” I could be heard saying, thinking her moronic for falling for such a nice guy.
As I grew older, I didn’t lose my infatuation for the villains, but it was less noticeable when I didn’t kiss the television screen when they appeared. The obsession translated to real life as I seemed to shy away from boys who showed any Prince Charming like qualities, and leaned more towards the bad boys. I sympathized with Anakin Skywalker, and actually liked him even more after he succumbed to the dark side. I only had eyes for Spiderman’s nemesis, Venom, in the third installment of the Spiderman movies. I thought Mary Jane was thick not to stay with Harry, but then quickly despised him as he helped fight alongside Spiderman in the end.
I’m not sure how it was that I acquired this fascination with all boys with villain like tendencies, but I’m pretty sure that it will always be there with me. While, lately I’ve learned that bad boys aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, my knees still grow weak at the sight of any villain.