Having trouble finding a loyal mate on campus? There’s no harm in fantasizing about all the wonderful, albeit fictional boyfriends from pop culture. I know I’m not the only one who’s watched “Sex and the City” and thought that I could really hit it off with Mr. Big. But while we’re waiting for Mr. Right (and Real), let’s celebrate our favorite storybook studs from literature (or you know, chick lit), movies, and the small screen.
1. Prince Charming. So what if Disney secretly embedded traditional gender roles and normative sexual practices into our young, developing minds? I still swoon over the many iterations of “Prince Charming” in the Disney Princesses movies. I have a particular soft spot for Prince Eric of “The Little Mermaid,” probably because he actually has distinguishing facial features.
2. Michael Moscovitz of “The Princess Diaries”. Why does whiny, flat-chested Mia get Columbia cutie Michael all to herself? Throughout the book series Michael was always smart, thoughtful, and totally patient with Mia when she wanted to wait to have sex. It also doesn’t hurt that Robert Carmine of Rooney played him in the film version.
3. Cappie of “Greek”. He puts up with Casey’s whiny sorority-girl antics throughout the show and still manages to look like the coolest guy on campus. The episode where he and Casey FINALLY get back together was some of the most satisfying TV I’ve seen to date.
4. Ian Miller of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. Played by John Corbett, this high-school teaching hunk turned newly-baptized Greek put up with fiance Toula’s crazy family in order to win her heart. That’s dedication!
5. Stephen Colletti of “Laguna Beach”. Okay, so technically he’s not a fictional boyfriend, but with all the scripting and pretense that goes on in the filming of MTV reality shows he might as well be. Stephen played boyfriend to both Kristin and LC on the first two seasons of LB, and he did it with the most adorable surfer-dude charm.
6. Benjamin Barry of “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”. He’s the guy who put up with every annoying girlfriend move in the book to win Kate Hudson in the end (and alright, a bet). Matthew McConaughey is undoubtedly one of the dreamiest actors in Hollywood. I’d give him my love fern!
7. Patrick Verona of “10 Things I Hate About You”. Oh Heath Ledger, may he rest in peace. Some may say his best role was the Joker, but I have to go with his brooding, bad-boy character in “10 Things”. He even wins the heart of Julia Stiles (and okay, okay a bet!).
8. Tom Hansen of “(500) Days of Summer”. Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, also featured in the above title, plays the boyish, attentive, love-struck hero role to a T in this film. The scene where he sings The Pixies at a karaoke bar completely won me over. I’ll take your sloppy seconds, Summer.
9. Mr. Big of “Sex and the City”. Wouldn’t we all like to be Mrs. John James Preston? Even though he’s known for his extramarital affairs and general big-shot attitude, Big has style. There’s a reason he and Carrie ended up together in the end!
10. Seth Cohen of “The O.C.”. Possibly the best fictional boyfriend of all time, comic-book-reading, Death-Cab-listening, neurotic-monologue-performing Adam Brody stole our hearts as everyone’s favorite anti-WASP on the O.C. Who couldn’t love the boy who came up with “Chrismukkah”?
So there you have it, ladies: the best of the best fictional BFs. But how do we make our campus cuties more akin to Cappie? A quick step-by-step guide:
- Text boy.
- Invite over for “movie night.”
- Roll tape.
- “Ooh” and “ah” at the appropriate moments, i.e., when Big meets Carrie in Paris or Tom takes Summer to Ikea.
- Say “It’s my dream for a guy to do that for me!”
- Repeat as necessary.
Don’t despair if your guy doesn’t immediately transform into Heath Ledger . . . it takes months of subtle (or not-so-subtle) hints for a guy to really make a change. In the meantime, I’m gonna go watch the second season of The O. C. now…hi Seth!