A monster who’s monstrous on the outside but human on the inside is a lot less scary than a Nice Guy who is monstrous on the inside but hides it under a human exterior.

The woman chooses the monster for the same reason she chooses the bear

Monster house. The woman is the house and the man inside loves her

Honestly mostly because women are always shown to love beyond physical attraction or personality and that they love even though someone has flaws.

Meanwhile most movies won't even show a man loving an ugly women, let alone a monster lmao

Unfortunately there's a reason why Beauty and the Beast narratives only skew one way when it comes to gender. I would love to see a man falling for a 'monstrous' woman, but it would take spectacular writing to make it work. We can imagine dragons, wizards, entire alternate worlds, and suspend our disbelief, but the idea of a straight cis guy valuing what's inside beyond a woman's superficial appearance? Inconceivable.

krhm. I think some of the other reasons why women fall for monsters are these: 1. We are tired of superficial men, who want a super-skinny model girlfriend, and we women want to be even more demanding than superficial men and we want fictional monsters. 2. We are tired of false nice men, who first appear romantic and such before revealing how sexist and toxic they actually are. With some monsters we are not at least surprised when they're...... well, monsters.

Me when I'm an outsider because I watched my mom get axe murdered 😔

my take is not that most women specifically love monsters, but they like the idea of being loved by a monster. after all, doesn't it sound romantic to be the only one spared by a being who can snap your neck or some shit while he's otherwise grey and cold towards everyone else?

I said the said thing about Lisa Frankenstein being Cole Sprouse’s best role bc he barely talks in it 😭

I blame cartoons with non-human main characters, cough Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cough and after having a childhood crush on a turtle, you can't go back, you need more monsters XD.

Guillermo del toros frankenstein has finally hit the youtube video essay sphere and im so so happy

Speaking for myself, with my AuDHD in mind: there is a sympathy in the other that fellow people sometimes do not or can not give. The monster maybe doesn't understand the social rules that I also cannot figure out. The short falls of my understanding is not perceived as a lack of humanity but as an understandable struggle. A monster does not often hide their monstrosity under a mask. The monster wears no mask and that is enviable. The monster doesn't ask for a false face either. In fact, they ask to cast it away and show the face underneath. At least the monster is honest.

"humanist vampire seeking concenting suicidal person" is a french film where the girl is the monster and the man is human, and they bond over being outcasts among their species. It's a really good movie and not explicitly a romance but I think it's worth a watch!

To be fair, Buffy fell for Angel before she knew he was a vampire

Not my take but I saw someone else discussing this on a video about the same subject. She said that often women and girls are abused at any age. That we quickly learn that some of the worst monsters in the world are attractive, successful and make up everyday people. They know prince charming isn't real, so they fantasize. But instead of prince charming they fantasize about someone worse and just as capable of evil and destruction, but only chooses to do it's bidding either at the behest or in protection of a traumatized girl/woman. Personally I agree that this is part of it. But I also think that due to societal grooming and abuse, we also crave a trauma bond. When you're brought up around no good men, your brain is taught that it doesn't deserve any better. Which is why so many of these FMCs in these books and movies put up with terrible boundaries and stalker behaviour. They think, well hey at least he doesn't assault me.

Anime is full of monster romance. Ones like Inuyasha and Kamisama Kiss where the main characters fall for yokai are easy ones.

I would argue that these had a bigger effect on me than Beauty and the Beast did 😂

So this was fascinating and as a monster lover I eat up ANY content discussing it. Overall I agree with your take on Nosferatu! In the beginning i interpreted it as Ellen calling out for comfort, tenderness, some way of getting her needs met, unaware what that might be, and it’s not until she sees Orlok in his true form that she must face this darkness that’s inside her. Similar to how a lot of people who are drawn to the taboo, we don’t realize it’s taboo until we see other people’s response to it or that we hear what we should not want. Orlok looks monstrous, so she should fear him but she doesn’t
ETA Lisa Frankenstein is one of my favorite movies, my husband and I based our engagement photos off it

Anne Shirley (from the 80s miniseries) put it well: "I wouldn't want a man who was truly wicked, but I'd like it if he could be wicked"

To be loved so much a good man would burn down the world for you? Sure

To be loved so much a monster would be good? Would be kind? Gentle? Mama mia ❤ we don't want someone violent with us, but someone who actively chooses to be soft despite the inherent power imbalance

I think it's because in most cases, these monsters or aliens are wholly dedicated to the female protagonist. Like any other human male character, they never fall for other characters, they have a single love interest and all of their attention dedicated to them. The dedication, the narrative 'you're the only one for me' is what really makes it likable because there is no competition. The loyalty what every female wants.

I just can speak for myself ;
I hate hidden monsters. Perfect good looking men with hidden toxic character disgust me.
In a lot films today the monster appears as a obvious dangerous person, However, the relationship with the female main character often changes to a caring, loving one.
The typical story here would be the beauty and the beast.