Ode to Sloan Sabbath... aka there has to be something special.

I’m watching Newsroom and each week falling more in love with Sloan Sabbath. For those who are watching you’ll know why. For those who haven’t seen the show let me explain why… and everyone you better button down your bootstraps because this is going to be quite a rant.I just finished reading another book about the billionaire and the plain simple girls he saves by having sex with her. It was a recommend from a reviewer I trust and it was very well written. But I think I’ve just hit that point where I’m done with HER.

I kept waiting for the moment when we learn why she was so different from everyone else for him. What was it that made her special to him?I’m okay with a character who doesn’t see what’s special about herself, and he, the hero, shines the shiny light on her that suddenly makes her realize… wait, I am special. It’s what I call the Katherine Hepburn in the Rainmaker moment. When he forces her to say… “I’m pretty!” Even though she’s not. Because when she starts to believe what the hero is telling her, it is transformative. She finds herself. She becomes confident. It was there all along inside of her. You don’t have to be beautiful to understand that you can be beautiful as a person. And that makes interesting and different.

But in the recent trend of books where the ALL POWERFUL BILLIONAIRE falls for the seemingly plain heroine, we never get that moment. It’s like the reason he fell for her is just because. That he’s fine with her average looks, average intelligence, her shy personality. Because she just is who she is. And I get why this is a fabulous fantasy for some people but it’s so completely unreal.Billionaires DO NOT do this. Billionaires (for the most part) have worked pretty darn hard to get what they have. They are driven, highly intelligent and powerful. I’m sorry – but Jeff Bezos isn’t looking around for the plainest most uninteresting woman he can find and saying That’s Her! That’s who I want to spend my time with. It’s ludicrous.

Google billionaires. Google their wives! Now I’m not saying they all have to be models. Though many are. But many are not. But I bet there is something about them that is SPECIAL. Something. Maybe it’s compassion. Maybe it’s brains. Maybe it’s humor. Maybe she gives him a sense of peace.

And it works in reverse. If anyone watched the PGA Championship – you watched the winner, an average looking guy with a little belly and a funny walk grab the ass of a stunningly beautiful woman who is his wife. Now some people will say it’s money, but maybe it’s because this guy is SPECIAL. He’s got a rare talent. He’s got a work ethic that was powerful enough to take him to the pros. I would absolutely love that quality in a person regardless of what he looked like. These new heroines are not special in anything. Like it’s okay to celebrate mediocrity because everyone deserves to be loved, but it’s so far from reality it’s just getting silly. You want to make your heroine “trip”? Fine. She’s clumsy but please God don’t let that be the reason he falls in love with her!

Sloan on the Newsroom is a self-proclaimed nerd. She’s awkward in social situations, has a hard time communicating with people in general and she’s not good in relationships. Ever. She’s also hot and knows it. Doesn’t flaunt it, but doesn’t hide it. She’s beyond brilliant which is why she’s so awkward. And when she doesn’t realize it, she’s hysterically funny. That’s charming. Tripping isn’t charming!

In my heart of hearts I believe that there is something that makes each one of us special. That even if you think you’re boring, or plain, or shy, or weird or the ENTH degree of average there is still something within each of us that makes us unique and loveable. I am 100% okay with the billionaire finding that thing and showcasing that thing and making the heroine realize it.  

But I’m done with this heroine who is just plain and that’s what she is. And isn’t it the greatest fantasy in the world that the hottest and richest guy wants her. Sorry. I like a good fantasy. But that my friends is science fiction.Let’s bring back the special in our heroines!