Damsel wears De Pants

Been reading a lot lately what with our weekly trips to the bookstore, and a common trend I've seen in the more popular books nowadays is that a teenaged, brown-haired white girl is Divergent The Mockingjay Tested The Chosen One.

Of the three books I've read with this specific breed of protagonist, the books always start with The Boss Bitch Chosen One going about her day, happy-go-lucky but a little bit on the Rebellious Side, until, lo and behold, she is whisked away and faced with Adversity and Woe. Eventually she overcomes said Adversity and Woe (with the help of her One True Love, of course, whom Chosen One doesn't want to admit is her One True Love because that would endanger untold amounts of sheeple Innocent Citizens), but not without drawing the attention of The Big Bad (i.e., oppressive government structure that is Hell-bent on stamping out any trace of resistance/sparkling personalities). Row Row Fight The Powah, Chosen One is heralded as the Face of the Rebellion, which was right under her fucking nose the entire time but she didn't notice because her Third Eye had before that point been expertly sewn shut. Anti-Government Sentiments, Chosen One leads the Rebellion to Victory (because let's face it, all those years of covert planning would have been wasted if they'd picked up some Asian chick instead), and afterwards she lives happily ever after with her One True Love (who was actually pretty useless through the whole story, with random bouts of usefulness that were genius-level to the point that none of the Rebellion's megaminds had even considered it possible *coughforakidcough*). Chosen One may or may not pop out a few kids.

"We The People must triumph over Big Bully Government!" is the message these books send. Which is all well and good, and makes for an interesting story. Yes, yes, we must hold the Government accountable for all their transgressions, We The People must stand up and collectively say "NO" when injustice happens (instead of running to buy the new iPhone), and we must do our best to help others and make the world a better place for everyone. Especially the teen-something brunette white girls, because they just might be our Salvation.

This is a good plot line.

Too bad I'm fucking sick of reading it.




If I was slightly more confident in my writing abilities, I would most definitely be writing a book. One where teen-something brunette white girl is not The Chosen One, but instead where teen-something brunette white girl is a typical Sheeple. Completely, extra ordinary, with a hearty helping of Conformist on the side to compliment her cookie-cutter personality. She would not get through Adversity and Woe, if she even faced it at all. She would not find her One True Love, but instead become the Crazy Cat Lady we all fear so much. The Chosen One would pass her by without even a second glance, but Sheeple would not care because no one knows or cares who Chosen One is, anyway. Oh look, the iPhone 27 is coming out tomorrow!

Sound boring? Of course it does. Because up until now books presented a place where you could escape reality for a few hours, and not have to deal with how utterly boring and mediocre your life was. Now? The line between fantasy and reality is becoming blurred. An entire generation is convinced they are all destined for greatness, despite still living with their parents and squandering whatever money they get from their job at McDonald's on parties, and accessories which are little more than status symbols. Responsibility is a foreign concept; how could someone as great as them possibly make a mistake? No one reads because they have "better things to do" than lose themselves in a fantasy world for a few hours; why would they want to read about a fake world with fake characters when their own, real lives are already so great?

The drive for greatness is not there because they believe they're already great. On the other hand, the drive for greatness is meaningless when they're not driving the right car. It's even more meaningless when they have no idea where they're headed; You Only Live Once, but I would much rather live in a house than a cardboard box.


........this started out as a light-hearted review of The Hunger Games and all the books/movies like it but somehow devolved into a critique on humanity at present.



Hiatus is getting to me...