I had a thing for bad boys ever since kindergarten.  I think they represented a kind of freedom I longed for in my hyper-controlled, good-girl world. My name was Sparkman, so the bad boy in my class called me, “Sparkplug.” I didn’t know what a sparkplug was, but I knew I wanted him. There was another boy just like him in fourth grade who stuck his tongue out a lot and wanted to be just like Gene Simmons when he grew up. And on and on through high school and college.

By the time I met my man, I had dated plenty of bad boys, who introduced me to adventures and trials, drama and trauma.  I spun out of control and lost my mind for a time.  When I came back to my senses, he was there, and he was a little bit bad, but not any more so than I had already become.  And now we’re having discussions about Shakespeare and how his stories relate, not only to real life, but our life.

Me: Which Shakespeare character do you relate to most?
Him: The guy from Henry IV .
Me:  Falstaff?
Him: No, the prince.
Me: You mean you’re not the bad influence, luring people into the dark side?
Him: Nope, I’m just a dude who likes to party.

But it’s more than that.  Prince Hal escaped from his father’s rule to go hang out with his friends. He got really wasted for a long time until he finally came back to his senses and put himself to the task of becoming king.

And now, we rule.

(forgive me, that was lame)

This entry was posted on Monday, August 18th, 2008 at 11:47 am and is filed under Shakespeare in the Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.