To me, this lovely individual sounds like the Ryan Phillippe character in Cruel Intentions (1999). In case you haven’t seen the movie, let me briefly recap: Sebastian (Phillippe) and Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) are step-siblings (albeit with a ton of sexual tension), who make a bet that he will sleep with the new headmaster’s daughter at his private school, Annette (Reese Witherspoon). Annette is the author of an article for Seventeen magazine proclaiming that she will wait until marriage to have sex, so this is definitely a challenge. If he fails and Kathryn wins, she gets his really fancy classic sports car, but if he succeeds in his seduction of Annette, he gets “a night of unbridled passion” with Kathryn (gross). This is obviously a movie “on seduction” and even shows a female character (Gellar) trying to corrupt another young girl’s virtue. In this movie it’s not just the men that are corrupting—it’s the other women too!I think based on this movie the “rake” character hasn’t really evolved at all. He still used charm and wealth and an otherwise gentlemanly manner to get his way. He is unscrupulous in his methods and doesn’t care who he hurts on the way to his goal. He lies, steals, and blackmails without discrimination.
There are also numerous other media accounts of jerky guys who use women and then leave them…ok, so all I can think of is Cruel Intentions and the Wickham and Willoughby characters from Jane Austen…wow. There are a lot though, which I will probably think of after this is posted…Ok, I came up with Hugh Grant, who tends to play “that jerky guy” in almost all of his movies, especially in the Bridget Jones movies.
4 comments:
Wow! You came up with the exact same examples I did! I like how Ryan Phillippe and Hugh Grant ended up being kind of jerky in real life, too. Frankly though, I'm not sure Sarah Michelle Gellar's character is anything new. Our buddy Alphonzo talks about young women needing to be careful in their choice of companions because older, unchaste women might corrupt them. Gellar's character is also the one who ends up looking the worst, and is ultimately blamed for Phillippe's character's mistakes. I mean, come on, what about taking responsibility for your own actions?
Hey Sarah,
Good posting. You came up with a great example of a contemporary rake. I haven't seen *Cruel Intentions* in a really long time, but I do remember the general plot as well as the sexually--well--"liberal" habits of many of the characters, especially Sebastian. You're right: the nature/characteristics of a rake haven't changed that much since the 18th century.
I like how you used the example of Cruel Intentions in your post! This also just reminded me of the TV show, Gossip Girl.
I do not know if you watch it or not but it reminds me of the character named Chuck Bass. I feel that he would also be a good example of rake.
I also posted about this movie! Ryan Phillipe's character could not be more similar to the rake mentioned in "On Seduction". I agree that after viewing this movie, the rake has not seemed to have evolved. He is still using his place in society and his good looks to lure girls in and take their virtue. It seems like a lot of people caught on to these similarities.
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