So Bad It’s Good: The Overview

With Fifty Shades of Grey sweeping the nation, I got to thinking about things that are so-bad-they’re-good, and I realized that the world is full of such things: books, tv shows, movies, and music. In other words, guilty pleasures. Naturally, they’re the perfect escape from the doldrums of everyday life. Example: Forget Dirty Dancing and Patrick Swayze lifting Jennifer Grey in a chilly lake; I’ll take Dirty Dancing II: Havana Nights with Diego Luna and sweaty, sultry hip-swiveling dancing in the heat of Cuba any day. Or, the poorly written, but deliciously irresistible Twilight series. I’m sure thousands across America read the first book thinking that it was something they could have written in your high school creative writing class, but it didn’t stop millions from devouring every sentence and swooning over Edward or Jacob. I would go so far as to classify my not-so-secret love of chick flicks in this category as well. Most of the plots are predictable and templated from one story to the next. (Lonely woman working in fashion/publishing/weddings/event planning meets insanely attractive and insanely single man who happens to be a thoughtful/sweet/perfect man. Wackiness ensues resulting in a happy fairy tale ending.) What is it about all of these things that has me—and countless other women—ignoring the terrible writing and keep coming back for more? I think it’s the swoon factor—the more you swoon while reading your secret fantasy coming to life on page or screen or in sound, the more it makes whatever it is you’re watching or reading or listening to land even more securely in the so-bad-it’s-good category.