The Dark Side Calling.

It has become quite common in some circles to blame the state of modern society on the 1960's. These years, the argument says, undermined all of the tenets that society had come to rely on. Respect for elders, monogamy and obedience to the forces of law and order all went out of the window and the world began it's accelerated descent into heck.
Now, a passing knowledge of history would reveal that to be a vastly overrated estimation of the importance of those decades, but there is a theme that became more and more popular in the sixties and shows no signs of dying off- the "Bad Boy". The outsider who does not play by societies rules and, in fact, makes their own rules. The person who invites out sneaking admiration by living their own life in their own way.
The burgeoning film industries around the world found lucrative subjects to explore in the exploits of these misfits but from the earliest times, it has not been pure invention that has put anti-heroes into the public mind. Author Rosemary Sutcliff has said of Greek History "In a time of heroes who cannot be looked at it terms of black or white, none is more determinedly piebald than Alcibiades".
The trait seems to be part of human nature that most people can over-ride in the interest of a quite life yet the characteristic attitude slows no sign of dying out.
My own favourite "Bad Boy" is in truth a boy since he is the 11 year old William Brown.
William has all of the attributes of the classic rebel, he feels that society is wilful and mean, he cannot see any logic behind the rules and he finds the impositions it places upon him completely impossible to obey. He has a laser-like ability to cut through our adult euphemisms and evasions.
When his great Grandmother is dying, William accompanies his mother to the deathbed and when he is left alone with the old woman he asks "I'm just wondering if you are going, because if you're not I have to get back and feed my animals because I think Ginger might forget."
Most of William's schemes end in catastrophe yet he is indomitable and his confidence is undented.
I have great regard and even love for William but, as a parent, I can see that he would be a cause of great concern. But perhaps that is the reason for the continuing popularity of the "Bad Boys", we can experience their lives and travails without having to take responsibility for them.