In The Tender Trap (1955), Sinatra's character Charlie Reader is the on-screen manifestation of the playboy lifestyle. In the opening scene, viewers find Charlie reclining on a couch as the woman laying on top of him feeds him grapes. As Charlie's childhood friend Joe arrives at the bachelor pad and announces that he needs a place to stay while he and his wife take a break, a parade of young women march in and out of Charlie's apartment. I'm interested in the reasons why these girls were so attracted to Charlie. I think that the playboy bachelor, simultaneously very adult and very childish, fulfills some maternal instincts in the girls attracted to him.
Charlie is successful and wealthy--his career as a talent agent puts him in contact with rising stars and the generous salary allows him to live a lavish, comfortable lifestyle. Financial success can be a draw for some women, particularly the "gold digger" types who just want to be wined, dined, and gifted, but the women who spend their time with Charlie don't make him do the work of wooing. Instead, the women who come to Charlie do so to care for him. They bring him dinner, clean up the apartment, and walk his dog. When Joe tells Charlie that the women "want what they all want...to feed you, caress you, burp you, sew monograms on your shirts," he is alluding directly to the intensely child-like side of the playboy persona. Perhaps that's just it--playBOYs revel in boyish, youthful states and attract the maternal care of young women.
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