I'm tired of one dimensional characters who can't seem to rely on themselves. It's boring, authors. I don't want a page about how the main character looks, I want a page about how she's going to get herself out of a huge stupid love triangle-y mess that she's made. No tears. No woe is me dialogue. No crying out about how her heart can handle so much. ( I'm talking about you, Bella Swan. You disappoint me.)
And Kristen Stewart is a terrible actress. Robert Pattinson needs a cold shower. I'm tired of all of that crap. It's old, it's overdone, and too many people have complained about it by now.
And really, especially within the Young Adult genre of books, it needs to go. Too many young girls read books like Twilight or Fallen (yes I did read it, and yes I did hate every part of it.)
These books paint a unrealistic picture of what a
romantic relationship should be, versus what is real. The main character is a girl who is unsure about herself, looking for someone or something to complete her. The boy swoops in, dashingly good-looking and a little too misogynistic for my taste. He tells her that he can save her, and the girl immediately does anything for him. Fight here, fight there. She almost dies, and BOOM! He saves her, and happily ever after.
That's how all of these damn stories go.
I think it's ruining the young minds of America. Wanting to find something like Edward and Bella or Daniel and Luce have is impossible. And not just because Edward is a vampire, and Daniel is an angel. Finding that kind of relationship is impossible because they are too perfect. But 14 year old girls have no idea that they shouldn't been looking for that, because they are freshmen in high school and absolutely no clue about anything other than what to wear on picture day.
I wore the same exact shirt as my frenemy on picture day freshman year. You can see me seething with unspoken hatred at her in my picture. Also my hair was frizzy and big.
This isn't me.
Anyway, my point is, you can write a high fantasy novel about vampires or werewolves or angels and demons.
Or zombies. As long as you keep the main character as realistic as possible, it will be fine. No crazy romances ending in half breed mean babies. Write about girls that young girls can look up to.
When in doubt, read Harry Potter. (Image dedicated to Ana Lastra).
I'm glad you mentioned this, but I feel the need to bring up that novels aimed at male reader commit the same terrible role model faux pas probably just as often.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that bashing enough heads in will get you the busty, breathless babe (also a sin of action movies) is silly and useless in today's society.
I just saw the film, but not yet (you can bet I will now, though) read 'Drive' but a good portion of the film was devoted to standing that dangerous=sexy archetype on its head, and I think it is worth checking out if violence doesn't bother you too badly.
I wrote the longest damn comment ever and I accidentally hit Command Q.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't get into Twilight because of the characters. No one was a fully developed. Bella drools over Edward and thinks she isn't good enough for him. Ladies?? How is this interesting?? I read somewhere that Bella is a 1-dimensional character that is so flat because she can be easily replaced by a female reader. I'm onto you Meyers.
Since Severus Snape is being featured on this page, I feel it's my duty to bring in J.K. Rowling. Rowling's characters are fully developed and both the female and male characters are strong and interesting, unlike other characters in books.
Alan Rickman still looking good.
Love this! Thank you. And I love Harry Potter, so I must comment.
ReplyDeleteI don't have much to add to what you have said because you pretty much said it all.
But, I will add that though I enjoy Romeo and Juliet, I never could look up to her. What a terrible role model for young girls, right?
Well, I for sure found one who was better. As a kid, and again currently, my favorite series of books is about a female pirate. As a London street urchin she decides to join the Royal navy as a ships boy. And by book 3 of the series, she is captain of her own ship. Then turns pirate. Talk about a good strong female role model. She is beautiful, smart, cunning, oh and, strong. She doesn't need any man to save her.
As silly as it sounds, she really was one of my role models growing up. And not just for the fact that I have always wanted to be a pirate.
Ana, Alan Rickman will never look good. I'm sorry.
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