I am not afraid to admit that I jump on the book
bandwagons. I devoured the "Twilight" and "Hunger Games" series.
They sit on my bookshelf, looking deceptively pristine in their dust
jackets, hiding the dog-eared and sometimes dinner-smeared pages that drive my
other book loving friends to teeth grinding. I enjoyed these, perhaps junk food, reads immensely and
regret nothing. At least where
entertainment is concerned.
However, "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games" are the perpetuators
of a trend in literature that has run like a poisoned vein through my reading
catalogue. Both series introduce a
heroine that overcomes obstacles far beyond those any of us face on a daily
basis, I would hope. Bella from "Twilight" falls in love with a vampire and is plunged into a world of superhuman
battles. The "Hunger Games’" Katniss
is ripped from her home and family to literally compete for her life in an
incredibly vast gladiator-type arena.
The obstacles for both as they pursue their objectives are gigantic in
proportion, and both risk plenty.
The storytelling is thrilling, the love scenes are steamy, the women are
focused. And now, the other shoe.
I don’t like either
of them.
I have absolutely no desire to have coffee with either of
these women. If I had to spend a
weekend with them, I’d probably lock them in the hall closet on day one. I think the problem is
two-pronged.
The first nausea-inducing prong: these women are incredibly
lacking in empathy. Bella bemoans
her situation with her undead boyfriend, but doesn’t seem to give much thought
to what he’s going through. I
mean, the girl runs down an alley to get mugged and assaulted for the sake of
forcing him into coming to her rescue.
And this poor boy Jacob, who follows her around like a puppy dog (pun
intended), is only being used as a warm body to fight the loneliness Bella
feels when she is dumped by the aforementioned fanged boyfriend. I do not care how many vamps are trying
to kill Bella, Jacob is clearly the victim here.
Katniss seems to take a page right out of Bella’s book when
she deals with Peeta. Yes, I
understand that in the first book she was trying to get them both out alive and
I can let the manipulation of his feelings by her slide, but she spends the
better part of the rest of their young adult lives sleeping in the same bed
with a boy that is in love with her and thinking about another guy. It’s fine for the Desperate Housewives,
that’s who they are! Katniss is
supposed to be a heroine. I’m not
exactly waving her banner here.
The second prong stems from the first in a way (perhaps this
is a single prong with a prong offshoot rather than two prongs on their own),
and this is where I turn my glare directly on the writers. Stephanie and Suzanne, listen up. I find the idea that a heroine needs to
constantly have a love interest reproachful. You could argue that "Twilight" is a love story so it’s going
to be centered around love. Valid,
but cheap. I would dig a moment
when Bella did something, anything that didn’t completely revolve around
Edward. It would be a nice change
up. Especially in the second book,
which is my least favorite as she spends almost the entire novel crying about Edward. When she jumped off the cliff I
thought, Thank god. Then, I realized there were pages
left. This is supposed to be
contemporary literature. I do not
believe that a contemporary woman need make every move in her life dependent on
how it does or does not affect her partner.
Katniss and Suzanne are the greater scoundrels here. My understanding is that "The Hunger
Games" is about social and political unrest, a tyrannical government, and an
average girl from the equivalent of “the country” being pulled into the middle
of it all to be used as a pawn for both sides until she finally finds a way to
truly become a patriot. Well, what
about that means that she needs to simultaneously be sorting out her feelings
in a love triangle? When I think
about being in a situation in which I have been blatantly told by the most
powerful man in my country that I belong to him and will conduct my life the
way he sees fit, I’m not really sure I’d be worried about the boys next
door. Granted, I have never been
in that situation, but when I was in danger of failing Math 102 in college, I
had no time to wonder if the guy I was flirting with in Poli Sci would finally
ask me out today. Kids, I was too
busy trying to figure out what pie had to do with numbers, and I think Katniss
would have been a little preoccupied with the civil-freaking-war that was
happening.
Now, I’ve beat up Stephanie Meyer and Suzanne Collins plenty
on this one (and want to reiterate that I did, in fact, eat these books up with
a spoon and enjoyed the way I held my breath during the first kisses
and-ahem-other events in the personal lives of the characters), and I want to
take a moment to sing the praises of another author that I believe is writing
female characters that I would actually want my maybe-one-day-daughter to
admire. Tamora Pierce is a
phenomenal writer of young adult literature. So phenomenal that I (the tax-paying, lease signing, phone
bill avoiding twenty-six-year-old) run out to the bookstore whenever her newest
novel hits the shelf.
Except for a particular early series, Pierce writes
exclusively female central characters.
They live in a time and place that exist in an alternate universe and
each series ties into the others in an incredibly genius display of very long
form storytelling. Here is how
Pierce’s characters measure up on the two prongs:
Empathy in spades.
Every character Pierce writes from the orphan with the ability to
communicate with animals ("Wild Magic Quartet") to the little girls that aspire
to become knights of the realm ("The Lioness" and "Protector of the Small" Quartets) is incredibly selfless.
They consider how their actions will effect those around them and try
valiantly to always do what is right, rather than what their hormonal girl
brains tell them to. They think
clearly through a problem rather than just throwing themselves at it in a fit
of passion.
And the love interests. Pierce can still get your heart a-fluttering when her
heroines step into the arms of someone special, but the difference is that some
of them go entire books in their series without having a romantic interest in
their lives and guess what… the story doesn’t fall apart!!! Those are some of my favorite
books! As a woman trying to make a
career and a life for myself in the jungle of New York City, it’s like finding
a glass of water in the desert to see a heroine that doesn’t need to be
battling affairs of the heart while she’s battling a literal dragon! Greater still, the objects of these
heroines affections don’t treat them like fragile dolls built for saving
(Bella) or a paragon to be reached (Katniss). They respect them as partners and strong professionals. Where in Manhattan can I pick me up
some of that?
