What's Up With the Running Man?

Dry Run recently received a couple of reviews (thank you, reviewers--you are the lifeblood of the modern author!) wondering why a place like Flights of Fantasy, the workplace of prostitutes Joe and Devin, where patrons act out a variety of chase scenarios before engaging in sexual acts, would exist. 

I hear you. Running around chasing someone isn't my idea of fun, at all. I'm a firm dweller in the "run only when chased" camp. Besides, I live deep in the heart of Texas, and for two-thirds of the year, I don't even want to leave my house, it's so freaking hot. Chase someone around? Yeah, pass.

But the men I picture patronizing Flights of Fantasy are far different from me.

They believe themselves to be the alpha male, the apex predator. They take what they want, and that power-grab is part of their fun. 

The idea of the chase isn't new. I read Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game in middle school. Maybe you did, too? In that story, a hunter becomes the hunted, trapped on a private island and pursued by a Russian big-game hunter. The film Predator explores a similar concept.

Look at the words modern America uses for powerful businessmen (and I say -men purposefully, because assertive women are too often viewed through a different lens when they achieve success). We use words like shark and wolf. Their sexual experiences are conquests.

It's easy for me to imagine that some men who view themselves that way (or who wish they were viewed that way) would be intrigued by the idea of being the hunter, the conqueror, of pitting their mental and physical endurance against a worthy opponent and coming out on top. The sex afterward is just an extension of the power trip--a way to dominate, to reinforce their position as the conqueror. 

Flights of Fantasy caters to those men.

Have literary ideas made their way into your world view or daydreams? Tell me about it in the comments.