Dot Wordsworth

Mind your language | 27 November 2010

The big news screen at Victoria Station said, ‘Colin Farrell to play British bad boy.’

issue 27 November 2010

The big news screen at Victoria Station said, ‘Colin Farrell to play British bad boy.’

In 2004 the headlines were, ‘Colin Farrell to play bad boy in US TV drama.’ Earlier this year he was apparently ‘retiring his bad-boy ways’. The big news screen at Victoria Station said, ‘Colin Farrell to play British bad boy.’ In 2004 the headlines were, ‘Colin Farrell to play bad boy in US TV drama.’ Earlier this year he was apparently ‘retiring his bad-boy ways’. Why is a bad boy worth millions at the box office, when a bad father, a bad lover or a bad bet are as off-putting as cold burnt porridge?

The image may have been much overdone in the past few years, but I discover it has been around longer than I suspected. The earliest example comes from 150 years ago, from the New York Times for 9 March 1860.

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