# Where the protagonist's love interest's boyfriend isn't a complete douche **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828 "2010-03-01T04:47:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/21 "2010-03-01T13:05:18Z")
Sweet Home Alabama ---
**Author:** ![montag01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@montag01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/montag01)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/22 "2010-03-01T13:05:55Z")
I’ll second **Superman Returns.** ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/23 "2010-03-01T13:07:10Z")
Lucas. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/24 "2010-03-01T13:27:06Z")
> [@Doctor\_Who](#): > > Wasn’t the boyfriend/husband (or whatever) in the last Superman movie an ok/good dude who just couldn’t compete with Supes? I’m not so sure about the “can’t compete” part - flying out to save the day takes a lot more guts when you \*don’t \*have superpowers. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/25 "2010-03-01T13:47:24Z")
On the distaff side, there’s **My Favorite Wife** , where Cary Grant’s second wife seems like a perfectly nice woman, but loses Cary to his first wife. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/26 "2010-03-01T13:52:59Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > On the distaff side, there’s **My Favorite Wife** , where Cary Grant’s second wife seems like a perfectly nice woman, but loses Cary to his first wife. But not in the remake _Move Over, Darling_, where Polly Bergen is a bitch on wheels, because who would do that to Doris Day? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/27 "2010-03-01T15:02:20Z")
Forgetting Sarah Marshall sort of fits, in that Russell Brand is the cheater who steals the main character’s girl. But he’s actually pretty cool, especially to the main character. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/28 "2010-03-01T15:16:37Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > In **Enchanted** , James Marsden’s Prince Edward is pretty nice guy. He’s a bit self-absorbed, but he has a good heart. He’s a much nicer guy than Patrick Dempsey’s cynical character. Cuter too. I still don’t know why Giselle (Amy Adams) wanted Dempsey instead of Marsden, except to be able to stay in New York. In that same movie, Dempsey’s girlfriend Nancy (Idina Menzel) seems like she’s going to be a conniving snooty bitch, but turns out to be a nice person too. I completely agree - you actually want everyone to have a happy ending in the movie, rather than hating the boyfriend/girlfriend. I feel the most bad for Nancy - she sincerely cares for Patrick Dempsey, and is really trying to be friends with his daughter, but somehow she just can’t make it work. Another one: [Imagine Me & You](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421994/). [spoiler]Man & woman, who have been best friends since childhood then eventually lovers, get married. The man is nice, sweet, cute, basically perfect. But the woman almost immediately falls for another woman, and in the end, leaves her husband for her. However, even though the husband is, understandably, devastated, he goes on with his life - and at the end of the movie, meets a gorgeous woman in a scene that’s similar to how his wife & her lover met[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/29 "2010-03-01T15:57:08Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I’m probably being wooshed, but where the hell did you get that idea from the OP or any other post? Lund’s virtue isn’t relevant; Laszlo’s is. I’m just saying that there is a whole 'nother layer of subtext going on below the nominal romantic triangle plot (and the blatant WWII allegory) that most viewers clearly miss. There are more machinations just below the surface of _Casablanca_ than in _The Spanish Prisoner_. And if you draw the threads together, you find that they’re all connected to Ilsa, who is actually a nasty bit of work underneath that ingenue façade. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/30 "2010-03-01T16:15:01Z")
Since The Notebook was stolen, I have one and a half left - in Unfaithful, Richard Gere is a perfectly fine husband. and until the end, in Run, Fatboy, Run the fiance (played by Hank Azaria) is a much better choice, but shows he is a jerk during the run. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/31 "2010-03-01T18:47:00Z")
Maybe I am not remembering correctly, but in _Reality Bites_ doesn’t Winona Ryder end up with Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller isn’t a complete douche. IN fact through most of the movie Hawke comes off as the asshole. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/32 "2010-03-01T21:09:01Z")
Aren’t there a lot of occurrences of this trope where the boyfriend is a genuine nice guy but that is portrayed as “bland” whereas the protagonist is the archtypical "bad boy"who steals the girl away from him (because, after all, don’t all women really want “bad boys” no matter what they say)? ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/33 "2010-03-01T21:18:09Z")
Actually, what about _Romeo and Juliet_ (if you count Paris as Juliet’s intended) and _West Side Story_, with Chino as Maria’s would-be suitor? Oh goodness, what about _Gentlemen’s Agreement_? Or maybe this doesn’t count, since Celeste Holm’s character is just friends with Gregory Peck, though Celeste makes a play for Greg while Greg’s going out with cold fish Dorothy Malone? Maybe that’s a new topic – couples that _shoulda_ been, but weren’t. (Jo and Laurie, I’m looking at you!) Just thought of another one, similar to **tanstaafl** ’s theme suggestion: _Moonstruck_ has Cher’s Loretta engaged to Danny Aiello’s momma’s boy character. He’s kind of a sweetheart, but unable to make decisions on his own. Enter Nicholas Cage as Danny’s hot-headed brother. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/34 "2010-03-01T21:18:31Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > In **Enchanted** , James Marsden’s Prince Edward is pretty nice guy. He’s a bit self-absorbed, but he has a good heart. He’s a much nicer guy than Patrick Dempsey’s cynical character. Cuter too. I still don’t know why Giselle (Amy Adams) wanted Dempsey instead of Marsden, except to be able to stay in New York. In that same movie, Dempsey’s girlfriend Nancy (Idina Menzel) seems like she’s going to be a conniving snooty bitch, but turns out to be a nice person too. And don’t Marsden and Menzel end up together, too? It worked out nicely for everyone! > [@Raguleader](#): > > To flip the genders around a bit, Cameron Diaz in **My Best Friend’s Wedding** This was the first example of thought of. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > With bonus points for The Notebook, even! And this was the second. I hated, hated this movie. Toward the end I was pretending that James Garner was really the present-day version of whatshername’s nice stable fiance, and that at some point she would come to her senses and drop that whiny prick guy with the house. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/35 "2010-03-01T21:30:40Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > And don’t Marsden and Menzel end up together, too? It worked out nicely for everyone! > > This was the first example of thought of. > > And this was the second. I hated, hated this movie. Toward the end I was pretending that James Garner was really the present-day version of whatshername’s nice stable fiance, and that at some point she would come to her senses and drop that whiny prick guy with the house. I hated this movie too. I actually thought it could be improved immeasurably (anything \> 0 is by definition better) by simply changing the credits so that James Garner is not the guy she married, but the other guy. Noah left her years ago, but he stays around and pretends to be him for the story. I actually have only seen the last half, and I don’t know if it quite applies, but I think _Dan in Real Life_ may be a case. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/36 "2010-03-01T21:35:37Z")
In **Just Friends** , After going from fat, awkward high schooler to good looking, rich Hollywood douche, Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds) is forced to compete with fellow former high school dork turned super-nice guy EMT songwriter Dusty Dinkleman (Chris Klein) for the affections of his high school crush and best friend (Amy Smart). In the end it turns out that Dinkleman is really a “New Jersey player” and his “nice guy” act is just his scam for getting girls. In **Dan in Real Life** , Steve Carell’s character falls in love with his brother’s girlfriend. Dane Cook, who plays the brother, surprisingly isn’t really a douche in this movie. He is mostly just portrayed as being more of an athletic “guy’s guy” and not as intellectual or artistic as the rest of the family. > [@Skammer](#): > > And don’t Marsden and Menzel end up together, too? It worked out nicely for everyone! They do. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/37 "2010-03-01T21:35:57Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > Lucas. What I came in here to post. Not only was the boyfriend (Charlie Sheen) not a douchebag, he was a genuinely good guy that liked Lucas and protected him from bullies. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/38 "2010-03-01T21:41:42Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > And don’t Marsden and Menzel end up together, too? It worked out nicely for everyone! > [@msmith537](#): > > They do. In cartoonland. ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/39 "2010-03-01T21:54:51Z")
Ducky in **Pretty in Pink** is actually a lot nicer than the feeble Blaine. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828/40 "2010-03-01T21:56:17Z")
I came in to mention Sleepless in Seattle, but since it’s been taken, how about a gender-flipped example in The Wedding Planner? (Oh, haven’t seen it? Really? Shyeah right.) Jennifer Lopez falls in love with Matthew McConaghey while planning his wedding to Bridgitte Nielsen. But Nielsen isn’t a bridezilla or a castrating bitch, even though she does let the stress get to her sometimes. She’s actually really nice and on the ball, and when she realizes what’s developing between her fiance and Lopez, she steps aside. (Also, Lopez gets a comic relief romantic prospect who’s a doof, but turns in to a reliable friend.) –Cliffy [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-protagonists-love-interests-boyfriend-isnt-a-complete-douche/530828.md?page=3)