10.27.2009

When a hero goes too far

I just finished reading a really good book by a really great author. It was the final book in a trilogy of three sisters. The third sister, we'll call her Miss X, was a troubled young woman who didn't believe in love and had her share of men. She didn't believe in relationships and thought men only wanted her for one thing and made it so with her behavior. Until she met our hero. We'll call him jerkface. Okay fine, we'll call him Mr. X.

Anyway, Miss X and Mr. X meet and fall in love, while she is unsure of his feelings for her and insecure of the relationship in general, he is amazed and dazzled that a girl like her would ever fall in love with a guy like him. Are you seeing the recipe for disaster here?

So Mr. X learns from another party that Miss X has cheated on him, and without asking her about it, without confirming it with another source, he assumes that it must be true because of her history with men. Miss X tries to explain to him that it's not true, but of course, she must be lying. When Miss X learns that she's pregnant by Mr. X, he sends her away, telling her that he doesn't care or believe that it's his baby.

So she leaves. She moves out of the city and decides she's going to make it on her own. And she does. When her son is 4 years old he starts asking about his father and instead of lying to him and telling him that he's dead, she decides it might be time to introduce the two of them. See if Mr. X is willing to have a relationship with his son.

Well Mr X. is pissed off. How dare she keep him from his son all this time. She should have tried harder, after all she knew that he didn't believe her. (Pardon me while I barf on all the righteous indignation.) So Mr. X decides to take something away from her, so she'll have a complete understanding of how devastating what she did was to his ego. Err his life? His time with his son? The relationship that he didn't have with his son?

So Jerkface, I mean Mr. X, takes it upon himself to play Miss X for a fool. Let her believe that he still loves her, that they have a chance together so she'll drop her guard and be devastated when he serves her with papers to take their son away from her.

This MIGHT be a forgivable act IF Mr. X realized what a complete stupid jerk head thing this was to do BEFORE he actually served her with papers. Once she's served, in my opinion, this is unforgivable. There is no going back from this, there is no apology that is appropriate, there is no diamond big enough to forgive this. How do you ever trust a man who would do something like this? How do you ever believe that he isn't playing you again? How can ever trust that he's telling you the truth? HOW? HOW? HOW?

What do y'all think? Am I over reacting? That never happens, I never do that, but I might consider it a possibility if you guys say so. Tell me your opinion. Inquiring minds and all that . . .

13 comments:

  1. I do NOT know what book you are referring to and if I ever tell you I'm gonna read it ... warn me off !
    I like tension (think I've said that a time or two) and I REALLY like Beasts/Bad Boys (think that's been mentioned once or twice as well) but what he does goes beyond ...
    I'm with you all the way. Miss X may have had a reputation but she overcame - he was just a ... JerkFace. Can't see why she'd ever be interested in him.

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  2. Thank you Ban! It's good to know it's not just me. It really is a good trilogy. You wouldn't go wrong in reading it, Mr. X just hit a nerve. Trust is a big deal with me. Glad you agree. Thanks for chiming in. :)

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  3. whoah. I have the feeling that book would have hit the wall. And if there'd been a fire in the fireplace, it might have landed there. I'm sorry. I'd feel a bit betrayed by the writer for taking me, the reader, there. What an ancient and really bad trope, in my opinion. And...like...dude! *YOU* didn't believe her!!!! *DEEP BREATHES* Sorry. Just you describing that plot made me really angry. I don't care how good the first two books might be, I don't want to go there. I'll be careful to screen my books for that plotline.

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  4. Silver, I just didn't understand. Why would he actually follow through with a plan like that? I knew he felt betrayed and quite frankly, I understood that, but actually following through with something so incredibly hurtful and devious. I was just floored.

    Would it have been okay with either of you if he hadn't followed through, if he'd dropped his plan? Would you be okay with it knowing that he even thought of such a thing?

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  5. well, we're all human so, we come up with some pretty devious stuff ...
    yeah, I think I'd be alright if he felt hurt enough to come up with the idea but follow through ... naw - that just went too far. The only way that could have worked is if they DIDN'T end up together in the end, she sees him for the utter JerkHead he is and nails his @#$% to the wall.
    Like you said - how could she possibly trust this man enough to be with him after what he did as a result of an 'imagined' slight. He knew she was prego - HE chose not to believe in her, what right has he to feel betrayed ?!?

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  6. Let me get the story straight. Somebody whispered that she was fooling around on him and he believed this third party rather than her. And she's pregnant and rather than asking for proof, he plays the hurt party, tells her to get lost and deal with the consequences. Now...FIVE years later, HE'S the freaking aggreived party? Give me a freakin' break!!!!! WTF!?! (Five years because pregnancy, four year, and then time to locate him.) What right does he have to feel betrayed? I'm sorry. I have no sympathy for him at all. And then to file court papers for custody? In RL, there isn't a judge around who'd grant custody of a 'tender age' child to an estranged parent under those circumstances unless the mother was a drug addict or prostitute.

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  7. This is why we're friends. I love you guys!

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  8. Holy cow!! How did a book like this ever get into print?? I can see him coming up with the idea, but dropping it quickly once he came to his senses. This is soo not hero-worthy. This is toss-the-book-out-the-window worthy. I would have been really pissed to read about a hero-- excuse me, he is no hero-- asshole like this. There is no way he could redeem himself from this.

    I seriously can't beleive this got into print. For romance? Are you kidding??? *pfft*

    Would love to know the title of this series so I don't read it.

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  9. Miss X did forgive Mr. X, eventually, which I didn't understand at all, because I would NEVER be able to forgive that, but she is a better woman than I am. Of course, she's also fictional so that helps. ;) He did apologize and say he made a mistake, does that make it any better?

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  10. I'm not sure she's a better woman or simply TSTL. This guy is a Loser with a Capital L. No way would I take him back. And what kind of example is she setting for her child? Just sayin'...?

    Sorry. I've been stewing about this plot all day. LOL. Somebody should take this jerk out behind the barn and teach him how to be a man.

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  11. Get him Silver! I was stewing about this plot until I vented about it on my blog. So I feel much better! Thanks. :D

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  12. This sounds like one of those plots that just pile it on as thick as possible to make the story oh so dramatic, heart-wrenching and compelling. Even without actually serving her with the papers, I still wouldn't have been able to buy it. Firstly, not talking about things is a terrible excuse for conflict. Secondly, a guy who's going to flop between distrust, playing the martyr, and failing to turn the ol lens back on himself... he's not worth it in the first place. Thirdly, Miss X shouldn't even have given him the second chance of going back with the kid/getting involved so he could dupe her... let alone a THIRD chance.

    Good thing you vented about it. Bad plots can haunt a person for years :p

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  13. For me it wasn't the conniving to take her kid away. For me, the anti-hero behaviour started long before that, in denying that the kid could be his.

    Even if he didn't believe the child was his, it's anti-hero behaviour to berate a pregnant woman. It's anti-hero to spread a woman's legs and not care enough about her to make sure that she's all right during a pregnancy, or at least stick around for a paternity test. Even if he was one of five men f*cking her, there's still a 20% chance the kid could be his, and a real hero doesn't turn away when the woman he's in a relationship with has a 20% chance of having his child.

    That, to me, is where the trust is broken. That is where the relationship loses all hope of success.

    I hate to say it, because I'm sure we'll all have to rely on a bad trope one time or another, but a woman who is willing to go back after a man has treated her that badly deserves the hero she gets.

    Him serving the papers didn't even faze me, in fact as you were describing it, I kept waiting for the bad part. I'd just chalk this up to needing to engage your WILLING suspension of disbelief.

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