The V.C. Andrews Primer: Part 3, the Male Characters

Now, my friends, I fear that we have reached the end of our introduction to the world of V.C. Andrews -unless of course I think of something cool to add later, like a drinking game.

Like I've said before, there are exceptions to every rule, so not every character you encounter is going to fit every archetype.

Brothers: Probably the most infamous VCA type of all. Typically, VCA heroines find themselves in situations where they discover they belong to whole new families. Their new brothers (or brother figures), who they've probably dated at some point back in the day, are going to remain totally in love with them forever -or at least until someone kicks the bucket. Before the heroine came along, he was a normal, well adjusted guy. He's going to end up a whiny bitch, totally nuts, driven crazy by his love for his sister. You'll also encounter situations where the heroine and a guy were raised as brother and sister (or something similar), but thanks to a magic genetic revelation, they discover they're not related at all or at least not as closely related. Despite considering each other biological family members for so long, they waste no time hitting the sack. If the magic words in part two were "Madonna/whore complex" with part three it's "Oedipal complex" as these boys and most other males are very devoted to their mothers.

The unrelated love interest: This is where I'll probably differ from everyone else, in that I find that these guys range from pretty boring to downright shitty. We have spousal abuse, sleeping with the main character's sister, and the overall weirdness of him wanting to hook up with someone he was related to until five minutes ago. Obviously, they're more suitable for the girl because they're not related, but a lot of times they're her second choice and it's hard for me to really buy into their "great love" or whatever.

The guy who can't be just friends: Let's face it: every male our heroine comes in contact with is going to want her. Some, however, don't get the chance to be one of the great (related or non) loves of her life. That's not going to stop them from trying though. In one of the more unfunny (though no less exasperating) aspects of these books that's hard to snark about without being a jerk, there's a lot of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault going on. The same could be said for certain family members, but on some level with these books you expect evil behavior from the families. You don't expect it to happen every.single.time.the.girl.goes.outside. Needless to say, the main character doesn't have a lot of confidantes.

Fathers: Fathers or father figures can definitely be split into three main categories. If they die in the first couples of books, they were saintly and could do no wrong in the eyes of their daughter. It's only later on when it's most likely revealed that they had a creepy attraction for a family member. The next two categories are for fathers/father figures who die at the end of the series. The same goes for grandfathers as well (as there are no saintly grandfathers). They're either weak and easily manipulated by the stronger, more powerful women that surround them and eventually go crazy or they're completely evil and manipulative and finally die at the end after causing a butt ton of grief for everyone. In the prequels especially, you'll discover that it was usually an evil male who was responsible for the troubles the family had to go through for generations.

So if you've been paying attention you'll see that most men in these books suck beyond belief -with the exception of my favorite of course (and he's half of a highly inappropriate relationship, so God only knows what that says about me). In their defense, however, I will say that at least they suck in a highly readable, cheesetastic way....and at least they don't sparkle.

http://thechickmanifesto.blogspot.com/2009/01/vc-andrews-primer-part-3-male.html