Madonna-Whore, Meet Savior-Scum
TNG Managing Editor Corey submitted this piece.
The version I associate with - which I have come to call the Savior-Scum Complex - is the desire of gay men to find a guy who is part gentleman, hero, and rescuer from the depths of the single abyss, and part dumb asshole who you know will treat you like shit. (I can only imagine that a lot of hetero women share this same kind of concept, based on my interactions with them; I'm not sure if gay or bi women have a take, but if so I'd love to hear it.)
What I hadn't realized before is that the District is the perfect / worst place on earth for a Savior-Scum sufferer. It is hard to imagine a more phallocentric, messiah-on-the-outside, dirtbag-on-the-inside figure than the American Politician. As I read Ben's post from Wednesday on our need for Barack Obama so save our poor souls, I realized that he is the perfect candidate for this. I'll admit it - I'm very attracted to our new president, and not just because he looks like this with his shirt off. While I want him to do a great job and fix all our nation's problems, I also know that I will probably only be disappointed in the end. He will pivot from his principles, make an egregious error, be the center of some scandal, or otherwise find a way to let us (or at least people like me) down.
At best, politicians prove themselves human and flawed; at worst, they prove themselves to be somehow sub-human - dark, Blagojevichian creatures of the first ring of hell. And, perhaps perversely, part of me is more than happy to see this happen.
Hit me with your worst, Mr. President. We both know I want it.
3 comments:
Some girls just like bad boys and some boys do too. Why do you think so many women overlooked Bill Clinton's lust for chunky strumpets as that of a cad and torturer of his wife? You and Hillary just can't help yourselves, but we love you anyway ;-), as long as you don't start hearing "Let's Get it On" when Dick Cheney rolls by in his motorized wheelchair. Do that and you'll be dead to me.
I don't think 44 will ever disappoint me like W disappointed the few remaining moderates in his party.
Or rather that they were willing to overlook his actions even though they were those of a cad and torturer of his wife. My bad... Or maybe they have an open relationship because HRC is never going to be a size 16.
I have this little pet peeve. It bugs me when people talk about something that is quite old, and/or found in many cultures, as if it were something new and specific to the US (or the white upscale stereotype that most people mean by the US). A particularly annoying example would be the belief of so many Americans that the US never used torture or engaged in international aggression before
Dubya became president.
You've got the Madonna-Whore complex a bit garbled too, but that's okay.
It does sound like you're applying the Savior-Scum to Obama, because you clearly do have the idea that he's going to save our poor souls. But don't worry, he won't "pivot from his principles" -- he's a right-wing Democrat, and so far he's been quite true to his principles whether he's opposing same-sex marriage, caving in to the Republicans on tax cuts, or killing brown people on the other side of the world. I've found it very interesting how few Obama fans had any idea what his actual positions on specific issues were.
Post a Comment