Tuesday, July 20, 2010

America's Love Affair with the Hapless Young Hero and Pretty Little Things

When looking for the first subject of this blog, I really couldn't help myself. All those titles, all those colorful covers, all those tales of first kisses and vampire boyfriends, how would I chose just one? The easy answer is that I couldn't choose just one. Let me preface this by noting how uncomfortable I feel trolling the isles of the Teen Reading section. 5'10" and noticeably, um, not 13, I don't exactly blend in. I usually amble in, hoping to look like I've stumbled in by mistake and, while furtively looking left and right, pick up books at random. I have to say, I'm surprised I haven't been flagged as a potential shoplifter. Anyway, I picked out Be More Chill and L.A. Candy, purely for aesthetic reasons and due to my inability to shake a shallow fascination with Lauren Conrad. What can I say, I grew up during the era when LC reigned queen over the real OC. As an aspiring writer myself, I had a sick desire to judge LC's ability to turn a phrase. And I've got to say, I really expected less of her. So kudos to Lauren, even though I suspect more kudos are due to her hardworking editors and proofreaders. Be More Chill? Well the cover art is great and the blurbs on the back are complimentary and that's all I need. Although these two books apparently have nothing in common-- LC's tome is a fresh and completely original "fictional" tale about a naive, young reality TV star navigating the shark infested waters of Hollywood, while Ned Vizzini's Be More Chill chronicles a socially stunted teen's rise out of obscurity thanks to the help of a super computer planted in his brain-- they together explore an important theme in teen reading and entertainment at large.

My theory stands thus: we, as a society (yes, chastise me for hubris, I am writing as society's mouth piece on the topic of teen entertainment) like our girls rich, beautiful,and if at all possible, famous, and our boys awkward and fumbling. I do not mean to suggest that the odd geeky female cannot win our heart, nor a rich, attractive guy capture our attention (it certainly wouldn't be the first time). I simply mean to challenge you to plumb the depths of your pop culture knowledge. Gossip Girl, A-List, the Clique, these are not your plain Jane classmates. Nor are the Michael Cera's nor your Lloyd Dobbler's (Say Anything? C'mon)your average heartthrobs. When it comes down to it, we don't mind our ladies on the vapid side as long as they're living the high life, yet we seem to be less interested in your WASPy, scowling hero. On the other side of the coin, the lady nerd is always less compelling than your average, retainer-wearing, sneaker-shuffling, never-made-it-to-second-base-bemoaning underdog of a boy. Still skeptical? Have a dive into pop culture... I'd love to hear about anything that beats your average fumbling yet lovable young man or infamous beautiful vixen. Look around at the shelves; it's what sells.

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