There’s a trope in horror that I’ve noticed. Male partners or friends in movies/shows have a tendency to brush off concerns or dangers being expressed by their female partners/counterparts. It’s constant. Movies like The Orphan spring to mind when I think of dismissive male characters. In The Orphan, a family adopts a “little Russian girl” from an orphanage after their third child is stillborn. As time goes on, the wife has doubts and concerns, which she expresses to her husband. However, he dismisses it until he sees in for himself, in a very unconventional way. In the end, the wife is right, and he dies, which I will admit, I thought he deserved it for his stupidity. Nevertheless, he didn’t take things seriously until the end.

Other movies such as Splice, The Evil Dead remake, and Paranormal Activity, just to name a few, dip somewhat into this trope as well.

As I put the final touches on “The Mother” I realized my main male character embodied a bit of this trope. While I was writing, I wasn’t thinking about this trope so, I didn’t intentionally make him out to be this way. I really wanted to add some extra spice to the story line. However, I wonder if this trope or plot point is so engrained in us that it’s second nature to write a male character in such a way. Are we so used to men in books, movies, tv shows, and even in real life being so absent minded or dismissive of genuine concerns that it flows on the page without effort? That’s something to ponder about.