Appealing to Both Sexes?

There are stories that appeal to both sexes, but last week, I was reminded again of how men and women want such different things out of the stories they read or watch on TV/film and how difficult it is to please both at the same time.

My latest obsession is the new TV adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, just called The Musketeers and revamped to give it a much more modern feel.  It’s kind of similar to the recent Robin Hood series which featured Richard Armitage in black leather – the musketeers wear leather too and their outfits are a wonderful blend of old and new.

The man behind this new adaptation, Adrian Hodges, has done a great job IMO and has brought something new to it rather than just reworking the same old story, the way most films have done in the past.  He takes a lot of liberties, of course, but it doesn’t seem to matter and all fits in very nicely.  There’s plenty of sword-fighting and violence to please male viewers (Vinnie Jones was in last week’s episode, which says a lot!), and there are sub-plots galore featuring women, not least the brilliantly selfish Milady de Winter.

The one sub-plot that interested me the most, however, was the budding romance between D’Artagnan and the married Constance, his landlady.  Over many weeks they got to know each other, helped one another out and the viewer could see respect, love and trust building between them until finally, they confessed their love and started an affair.

Photo from www.IMDb.com

Ok, so maybe it’s wrong to root for a couple where one party is married (to a very obvious buffoon, but still …), but the whole build-up to this romance was very well done and a joy to watch.  So an episode having concluded with that passionate declaration one week, I sat down with great anticipation to watch the next to see their love develop – and had my hopes dashed within minutes.  Why?

The writer obviously felt that this was what the series needed, keeping D’Artagnan free from a love interest and able to go on his way (albeit angry and disillusioned), but could he not have been allowed to be happy at least for a while?  As a woman, this made me feel completely cheated and if you’re reading this, Mr Hodges, I sincerely hope you’re planning on bringing them together again at a later stage, if not already in tonight’s episode!

Any man watching this probably didn’t even notice and thought it just another sub-plot, but with the enormous build-up to this particular romance it seemed to me to have much more significance.

This has turned into a bit of a rant, but I guess what I’m trying to say is that we can’t cheat our readers/viewers by leading them down one path, only to trample on their joy once we finally conclude this plot strand satisfactorily.  After a while, perhaps, but not so quickly or so callously.  But maybe that’s just my very female point of view …?