I don’t understand the appeal behind Draco Malfoy.
The theory, I think, is that he has undeniable BAD BOY status. For reasons unbeknownst to the rest of the rational world, adolescent girls, particularly of the eleven-to-thirteen-year-old variety, love BAD BOYS. They think that BAD BOYS represent rebellion and awesomeness and sheer and utter coolness. It is even better if these BAD BOYS are portrayed as having a secret soft side that, preferably, only comes out when they are with the woman that they love. Even if this woman is technically not a woman but really just a whiny sixteen-year-old girl who can’t walk three steps without tripping over her own feet.
For some reason, BAD BOYS really go for that kind of thing.
Most people would think that BAD BOYS would date BAD GIRLS so that they could do things like ride motorcycles and get tattooed and pierce random body parts together, in a weird attempt at bonding. But pre-teen girls know better. BAD BOYS do not actually want a girl who acts like them and shares their same interest and superficial stuff like that. BAD BOYS want a girl who will understand them and does not mind their stalker-ish ways. BAD BOYS are really just soft and gooey on the inside and need their one true love to come and puncture them so all that soft and gooey filling can be exposed to the rest of the world. BAD BOYS just want understanding and real, meaningful relationships. They also like to talk by candlelight and will make romantic dinners if requested. Nobody else realizes this but pre-teen girls, but they know BAD BOYS better than anybody else, and they know that if they just love their BAD BOY long enough, he will come around and become a GOOD BOY. Except with a leather jacket and maybe a snottier attitude.
Which brings us back to Draco Malfoy. Admittedly he does not have a leather jacket, but he does try to kill people on a regular basis, which is considered an acceptable substitute. Girls who like BAD BOYS love Draco Malfoy. They are convinced that if only they can find some bumbling girl to fall in love with him, he will become squishy and moldable and will stop calling people insulting names and maybe not be a slimy spineless coward. Since there are very few bumbling girls in the Harry Potter universe, they settle for either Hermione Granger or Ginny Weasley as Malfoy’s intended love interest and work feverishly to convince the people around them that they are right and that Malfoy needs to marry one of them. Then they begin to resent Harry and Ron for winning the girls’ affections and taking them away from Malfoy and his BAD BOY ways. Soon they are arguing that Harry and Ron are probably evil and have maybe started a cult and are out to destroy Malfoy. It is in this way that they convince themselves that a villain is a good guy, and the good guys are the villains.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, Malfoy’s admirers are busy teaching themselves how to trip over their own feet and maybe if they’re really talented down a flight of stairs. It is, they know, their only hope for finding their own BAD BOY.
If they are lucky, he might even have a leather jacket.
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