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SECOND_LEAD

                                             April 22, 2022

                                             Another entry in the
A pair of syndromes:                         section on low-fiction
                                             critical apparatus
  Second Male Syndrome  or
  Second Lead Syndrome                       MAPPING_THE_LOWLANDS

and                                            These "syndromes"
                                               weren't invented
  Second Couple Syndrome or                    by me for once.
  Second Relationship Syndrome
                                                       SYNDROME_SYNDROME


A common plot in "Romance Fiction"
is the triangle: the female lead                                                    
meets a male character and begins         The phrase "Triangle" is a bit of                  
to get involved with him, then            "low fiction cultural apparatus"                   
meets a second male character who         that's too obvious to expound on.        
provides competition for the first.                                            
                                                 Triangles themselves serve    
           In the kdrama version of              mutliple purposes: it's a very              
           this, the female lead is              flattering situation to have               
           *required* to return to the           two desireable males competing      
           first male.  The first love           for the heroine.
           is always the true love.               

In a typical story though,         An oddity of kdramas: they frequently
it would leave you with            discover their "first meeting" wasn't
the feeling that this              actually their first, and they knew
might've been a mistake:           each other when they were children.
the second male almost
invariably seemed like a
better person.

The first male invariably
comes off like a jerk, often
leaving you wondering if               As I see it, there are (at least)
he was really a good choice.           two reasons for this syndrome:

And that is "second lead               (1) Gender sterotypes: real men
syndrome".  Why did that               are buttheads, and real women
nice guy finish last?                  have an infinite capacity for
                                       for forgiveness.

                                          And they lived happily ever
                                          after in a state of co-dependency.

                                       (2) it generates dialog and slows
                                       the plot progress.

                                       Having them fight with each other first
                                       gives the story a place to evolve from,
                                       and giving the female lead a grievance
                                       (whether legitmate or the ever-popular
                                       "misunderstanding") is a useful hang-up
                                       for the first relationship, giving the
                                       second male a plausible window of
                                       opportunity.

                                                The fact that this
                                                genre element serves
                                                *multiple* purposes is
                                                pretty key, I think--
                                                
                                                OVERDETERMINED



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