Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The Heroes in Our Lives--Real World Version vs. Romance

I decided today that turnabout is fair play. Yesterday I blogged about real world women vs. our heroines. Today I'll take a peek at the men we know vs. the men we write about, fantasize about, try to bring to life for our readers.

Men. Oh. Glorious. Men.

Let's see the fictional hero is flawed internally, but he will change and grow along with the heroine. He's usually an incredible male specimen with gloriously perfect abs, legs, thighs... *all parts working well* ahem ahem ahem. And, as many of you know, they often resemble darling and handsome men like Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale and more.

It is delightful to have collages of these guys in my office and not one member of my family bats an eye. In fact, they took me to see WOLVERINE for Mother's Day (the ultimate mom fantasy aaaaahhhhh Hugh naked jumping down a huge waterfall .... aaaahhhh).

But what about the real heroes? You know, the flawed dudes we know and love be they fathers, boyfriends, brothers, lovers or husbands? Well, let's see--what makes my personal hero a hero in my eyes? It's not his physique (anymore LOL). He's in need of a hip replacement, perpetually in pain, mildly set in his ways, and he loves to read aloud FB entries to us (much to our great displeasure meh). He is always reading math books (very very scary) and he doesn't have a problem emitting gas or blowing his nose loudly in front of us (me and DD).

But he's still my hero? Why? Here's a list of an ordinary man who acts like a hero by doing these tasks:

*cleans litter box
*helps clean up any illness residue from me or DD
*limps to work every day despite his pain
*has long lengthy discussions with DD about math, chemistry and other oddities I know nothing about
*loves his family
*brings home the bacon
*supports my writing despite the lack of money
*isn't jealous of Hugh Jackman
*folds laundry (when asked -- he's not clairvoyant)
*cries when sad things happen
*makes beds and cleans toilets (when asked LOL)
*wants to give me the moon and the stars and the sun even if he can't always deliver

So there are some points about my hero.

How about you? Can you add to the list?

4 comments:

Ellen Brickley said...

I'm not a big drinker, and I have an ex who used to buy me a bar of chocolate every time he bought a drink when we were in the college bar because he wasn't buying me a drink.

And he always picked out a particular bar of choocolate because he knew I'd gone nuts for the Easter Egg version of it.

We didn't date for long and it didn't end well, but I've always remembered that one with some fondness!

Christine said...

It's the small things and the gestures that show they care and remember our special likes that make a hero a hero.

Anonymous said...

Great post! My hubby will do any domestic chore, often without being asked. He's not a typical romantic, but he finds ways to show he cares that are more meaningful than flowers and jewelry (though I never turn those down).

His unending support of whatever I'm doing has been unwavering through the years. For all those reasons and many more he's my hero.

Christine said...

Gwen, I think that is my greatest reason for adoring my DH. He supports my dream and when I waver, he doesn't let me stay in wavering mode. I know of too many authors (some even published!) who don't get that kind of support.

We're chasing a rainbow. They believe we'll get the pot of gold a the end. I feel I have received a lot of gold in the relationships and intellectual growth over the past few years. Writing has given me so much as a person.