Why Do We (Still) Love The Bad Girl?

At noon in Manhattan in the hallways of the Ritz Carlton across from Central Park, she strikes quite a figure.

She's tall, lean and wears black leggings that make her legs look about five miles long.

Her ensemble includes a short black shirt and tight white cashmere sweater. In her new movie, "Young Adult," she skips the cashmere to just wear that type of skirt with an equally tight black top.

Look out. The bad girl is back.

Charlize Theron isn't a bad girl in real life. But she is one in "Young Adult" where she's an approaching midlife teen novelist who is fed up with life.

Divorced. Lonely. Living with a teeny tiny dog — incidentally a pooch that is neglected by her.

That life cup isn't very full. So, she decides to return to her Minnesota hometown and snag her high school boyfriend again, which is why she needs the slinky outfit

Two problems: He's married …and a new father.

Third problem: He's also very happy.

She doesn't care and says, "That's just baggage!"

My midlifer self had to love all that conflict because it's time to admit it. We love the bad girls on screen. They've always been a guilty pleasure and Hollywood doesn't want us to feel guilty about it anymore.

WHY DO WE LOVE THE BAD GIRLS

Who needed Crystal when you had Alexis on "Dynasty?" Who is the face of the new series "Revenge?" It's not all those young little simps, but the ripe, midlifer bad girl played by the delicious Madeleine Stowe.

It's no wonder that all those hard partying "Bridesmaids" were just named Entertainers of the Year by Entertainment Weekly. Girls gone wild? Bring it on!

As someone in midlife, my fascination with the baddies never changes.

I asked Theron about why we love the bad girls and she did get a bit upset.

Q: You try to steal someone's hubby in this new film. What are your views on this situation where you're clearly The Bad Girl.

Charlize replied, "We come from a society where everyone is still comfortable to label women as either the Madonna or the whore. We're either really good hookers or we're really good mothers.

"But we're nothing in-between. I'm not a fan of labels. I think it's very easy to look at someone and just throw a label on them. They're a b—— or they're crazy. I think that's a cop out."

Warning: She's not condoning her character's actions.

"Not at all. I'm not someone who justifies bad behavior. I just don't have a lot of empathy for putting a tag on someone.

"Believe me, this thing she's trying to do in the film is despicable. But the funny thing is I was never disgusted by her. I never had a hard time with her. I never thought, 'You know, I don't really like you.'"

But would she ever let this girl around her guy?

Theron laughs.

"I'd love to have a beer with this character. But I would never ever let her hang out with my boyfriend."

WHY DO WE LOVE THE BAD GIRLS?

Erica Kane is the one we'll always remember from "All My Children." Who can forget Scarlett O'Hara who didn't give a damn that she was married?

We don't necessarily want to be these women forever…but maybe a day or two would be big fun.

Forget our responsible lives full of work, chores and commitments. Bad Girls just put on some slinky outfit and tell the world, "Take it or leave it."

Perhaps there's a deeper psychological satisfaction here.

I asked Theron and she said that many of us remember high school…and not so fondly. We only wish our inner bad girls would have come out to play. We replay those scenes in our heads and only wish we could have stood up...just a bit more.

 "I had a lot of mean girl moments directed against me. That's because I was pretty much a mess," she says.

But the great thing is that those real life bad girls often end up having not such great lives.

The good girls often prevail, which is something you might not realize until midlife.

"There was a really popular girl in my school and I was obsessed with her. Like you could go to jail for it today. I was in tears one day because I couldn't sit by her. I have issues, OK," Theron says.

Cut to now.

 "A few weeks ago, I was at a fitting in London. This girl goes, 'Hey, I know you. You're Sharlene.' It was that girl. My obsession! And nothing had changed. She didn't even know my real name!" Theron gripes.

Well, only one of them is an internationally famous Oscar winner….

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