The Hook | The What
The Hook
We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of perfectly functional drama plots, all ruined by one tired cliché: the Unclaimed Boyfriend Trope. This is where the female lead (FL) is incessantly harassed, stalked, or publicly shamed by a secondary female character (SFC) who is obsessed with the male lead (ML)—a male lead who, despite having eyes, a voice, and a functioning prefrontal cortex, refuses to use any of these things to solve the problem. Instead, he just watches his lady suffer while expecting her to "handle it." It's not a rivalry; it's a profound failure of male leadership.