October 11, 2024

Bryan: That right there is a textbook case of fuckboy-coding.

Me: I don’t think there is a textbook for that yet, considering you made it up 2 weeks ago.

Bryan: The lazy bum who invented it should get off his ass.

- Conversation on my couch, October 5, 2024

Greetings, readers. We have a special feature today: an appearance from my research partner, web admin, and husband, Bryan Fisher. Last month we decided to celebrate Star Trek Day by watching Star Trek: Enterprise, and he was inspired to coin a new term to describe one of the characters. Today, I’m interviewing him about what “fuckboy-coded” means.

The following has been edited for flow and clarity.

Bryan, what does “fuckboy” mean to you?

A man whose primary motivation is ass.

What is the difference between being a fuckboy and being fuckboy-coded?

Fuckboy-coded means the character who’s out to get laid, but it's played for comedy.

This came up because…

Trip (Connor Trinnear) from Enterprise is out to nail that alien booty. That appears to be his secondary function to being the Chief Engineer.

When you first made that observation, we hadn’t seen Trip pursue any women on-screen. But you were getting a vibe.

There’s just something about the character that made me think: he’s the man-character for whom all the sexual hijinks play out. His love for women is notable as his secondary or tertiary character trait (after “brilliant engineer” and “captain's emotional support character.”) I mean, he’s had how many love interests so far? 

As of halfway through season 2*, Trip has had 4 girlfriends, gotten knocked up by a fifth woman, and been robbed and stripped naked by a sixth.

All of which have been comedically driven! Other characters even make fun of him for getting pregnant, basically winking at the camera. And given that Enterprise likes to play really hard with tropes, it’s obvious that they’re making him the rom-com character.

(*Editor’s note/20-year-old spoiler alert: Trip has a serious relationship in seasons 3 and 4, but Bryan hasn’t seen those seasons yet.)

He also had to save the day in his underwear twice.

He is frequently seen in his underwear. I’m not ashamed to say that the man is actually attractive.

The writers lean into it hard. They open an episode on him playing the harmonica. Men who play instruments have to be the romantically charged ones. (I say this as a man who plays an instrument and is romantically inept.)

Hey now! Romantically inept? What am I?

You’re the woman that married a man who’s romantically inept. Also I’m cooking you dinner right now, while you interview me for your blog.

Thanks, honey. Now, what should go on our Fuckboy Coding Checklist?

You might be fuckboy-coded if:

1. Most of the romance plots on the show happen to you, but they’re all played for comic relief.

Case in point: Trip’s unofficial catchphrase is a defensive “I swear I've been a perfect gentleman,” in regards to the aliens who knock him up, trust him with their deep dark secret, or wrestle him into a swamp in his skivvies.

2. The other characters on your show call you out on your womanizing, even before the audience sees you with a statistically significant number of women.

In episode 5 of Enterprise, Trip and an alien connect telepathically, and have this conversation.

Him: You find me attractive.

Her: You like having people find you attractive.

- "Unexpected" (aired 2001-17-10)

This is the scene that ends with him getting pregnant. (This race, turns out, reproduces telepathically.) From that point on, the other characters start watching Trip closely as soon as a new woman enters the scene.

T'Pol: I'm simply noting that the last time you found someone this "competent," you wound up carrying her child.

- a superior officer justifies the close eye she's keeping on Trip and his new friend, "Oasis" (2002-04-03)

3. You’re actually not written to be a sleaze/jerk/irresponsible bastard, but you also can’t keep your pants on.

Maybe you’re a bad boy with a heart of gold. Maybe you’re super hot. Maybe you just so happen to meet lots of women who are into casual stuff. Wherever you go, you find yourself in girl trouble. But you’re not doing it on purpose; you’re a romantic at heart.

Trip has multiple relationships, not just one-night stands. He reminisces about planning a wedding with a waitress he fell for, and is surprised to learn she was doing that with all the Starfleet cadets who went to that bar.

Reed: You don't mean the waitress Ruby?

Trip: You knew Ruby?

Reed: I knew her more times than I can remember.

- Trip and an coworker discover they have a friend in common, biblically. “Shuttlepod One" (aired 2002-02-13)

 If he were simply hitting it and quitting it all across the galaxy, he'd be a fuckboy. Since he seems like he should be, but he isn't, he's fuckboy-coded.

What other examples of fuckboy-coding have you seen in your time as a feminist media critique research assistant?

Daniel Jackson of Stargate, kind of. He definitely had some incidents. I feel like they toned it down after a while, but he starts out that way. It’s harder with him because he actually marries Sha’re [after she's offered to him as a gift in the feature film.] But he’s not super faithful. While they’re searching the galaxy and trying to rescue her [on Stargate SG-1], he’s gallivanting around.

John Sheppard from Stargate Atlantis. His best friend Rodney calls him Captain Kirk, even though we don’t see many examples of him egregiously flirting with strangers. He only sleeps with alien women when they come onto him. And yet every time he meets a new woman, Rodney acts like they have to lock Sheppard up.

Captain Kirk kinda fits - he’s popular with the ladies, but not a huge jerk about it. In fact, he comes across as downright sweet in some portrayals.

Do all our DFGRR contestants qualify?

No. James Bond is just a fuckboy, plain and simple. Sam Winchester is a brokenhearted soft boy. 

What about - 

I have to interrupt this interview to serve you dinner.

Oo! As my father once said, “if you keep feeding Claire, she’ll stay. She’s a tribble.”

Editor’s note: There you have it, folks. For Bryan and the tribbles, keep your sexy lamps burning.