Thursday, January 26, 2012
Friend Zone Frustrations
Was I the only one who was incredibly aggravated by the conclusion of Chapter XVI? Up until the last few pages, it seems that our lovable protagonist, Jake, has had a pretty good chance of overcoming his impediment and getting together with Brett. I don't mean to be a romantic, but to me, it is more enjoyable to experience a story in which the protagonist prevails. Jake is getting friend zoned! As if this friend-zonage isn't bad enough, he is pathetically accepting it! My frustration, however, doesn't lie entirely with Jake. Brett is not behaving well. Her malevolence can be clearly measured in her conversation with Jake on the way back into the town. She only tells Jake that she is in love with Romero after asking him if he still loves her. As if the fact that she is hopelessly captivated by Romero isn't enough, she rubs it in by continually calling him "darling" and asking him to stay with her and be her wingman. Jake is has been shoved into the friend zone, and it is a horrible place to be. It is even worse because Jake has been so deflated, he submits and accepts his sad condition.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Oh I don't know, inevitably Jake will always be in the friend zone because of his impotency. Unless he believes in a solely Platonic love.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Matt. I have had about enough of Jake hopelessly pining after Brett and being at her every beck and call. Jake could easily change things at any point and unfortunately I don't think he's going to.
ReplyDeleteI was pretty bummed too. I can't believe any of the men were ok with this arrangement they seemed to all have with Brett. I suppose her sending away Romero was probably a good choice, but he's still going to be angry and possibly even think their going to get back together. Yeesh
ReplyDeleteIn response to Shelbi's comment about the men's comfort level with Brett's sexual agency: Nobody likes to lose, but everybody likes a winner.
DeleteI don't understand how Jake can be okay with being Brett's wingman either and what really bugs me is the love triangle Brett seems to have with almost every male in the book.
ReplyDeleteDo you all really think that Jake could (to quote Ashley) "easily change things" in how he deals with Brett? If it were easy, wouldn't he do it?
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, the end of that chapter is heartbreaking. Maybe it's not even that he's in the friend zone, but that he is somewhere past it, in the love zone, so to speak, but without any of the so-called rewards.