YA Culture: Stalk in the Name of Love?

*Please note: I'm putting on my devil horns and pulling out my briefcase--Yep. Playing Devil's advocate today. So take out your salt shaker and be prepared to take all this with at least a grain or two of the white stuff. ;-)

Question: Does the current YA culture encourage an acceptance and even deification of the stalker mentality?

My brother and I were recently talking about *this and he (having that pesky male perspective ;-) brought up the fact that while some of his Twilight hating friends are quick to jump on the stalker bandwagon, some admit to remembering other movies from their youth as amazingly romantic--movies where the guy was "devoted," "reckless" and "intense."

Remember the 1989 movie Say Anything with John Cusack?

I sure do. Remember that moment when Lloyd stood outside Diane's house and blared "In Your Eyes" in a tribute of his love and devotion? Wasn't that romantic?

Eh, not so much from a legal view point. That romantic hero could have definitely been tossed in the clink for stalking. Diane had just broken up with him, after all.

In the 1967 movie The Graduate Dustin Hoffman's character stalks Elaine and disrupts her wedding. Romantic? Not so much... But a classic, right? Of course, there aren't probably many tweens and teens watching *it.*

In the Twilight series a heck of a hullaballoo has been raised over vampire Edward's stalker-like tendencies. He watches Bella sleep, he shows up in her room without her permission, etc. As much as I enjoyed *many* aspects of the Twilight saga, there were moments alarm bells went off in my head because Edward was a bit too intense in his devotion. And yet that "intensity" is rewarded with Bella's love.

It makes me wonder if any guys get mixed signals as a result. I mean, you show up in places uninvited occasionally at generally inappropriate times and you get the girl. Errr... Hmm. And from the girl's perspective are we accidentally sending the message that if a guy stares at you and invades what you may consider as your privacy (um, bedroom) it just means he *really* likes you?

For my age group (and there are many of us who enjoyed Twilight for exactly the reasons it should be enjoyed) we have enough life experience to know that in real life even hunky Edward would freak us out if he pulled the same behaviors he did with Bella. I mean, there's flattery and then there's obsession, right? ;-)

Of course, when we were teens (mumble-mumble years ago) we had a waaay different view of the world, right? Emotions ran high (right along with the hormones) and everything we felt we felt SO very deeply.

Now, old and jaded, I wonder.

And the music I'm hearing more recently makes me wonder, too.

Lady GaGa's recent hit Paparazzi (which is quite catchy) has a few lines that freak me out:

I'll follow you until you love me.

And:
But I won't stop until that boy is mine. (There are a couple more, but fair use and all that ;-).

And even Taylor Swift (whom I adore) has a song called The Other Side of the Door with the following lines:
I said, "Leave," but all I really want is you To stand outside my window, throwing pebbles, screaming, "I'm in love with you."

And she sings it beautifully!

Love's complicated and confusing--I get that. Crushes are even worse (there's a reason they're called "crushes").

So should we as authors (or song writers or whatever) reduce the width, breadth or depth of the worlds we create and the characters that inhabit them to worry about people whose distinction between reality and fiction may not be a clear and clean line?

At what point do we need to censor our freedom of expression for the safety of our impressionable youth?

~Shannon-the-Ever-Curious


*Yes, such conversations are frequent in my family. ;-)

The Staying Power of Vampires: Playing Devil's Advocate

Disclaimer: The following is not in any way to suggest you stray from your particular religious flock, but rather to point out an odd correlation between a fall in church attendance and a rise in vampire popularity. Just think about it. Life's one big "What if..." ;-)

As a writer of werewolves, I think I'm legally required to be "Team Jacob." And frankly, having seen New Moon (and Jacob's ahh-mazing abs on display several times) I must say "Good show" ;-). Anyhow, as much as I prefer a heartbeat to the stone cold nothing of a vampire's chest, I have to admit I think vamps will be around for a while. And it goes beyond their pesky immortality--or maybe not so much if we think about it.

Let's look at our current culture and the relatively recent surge in vampire lovin'.

Being mere mortals one of the things that has always fascinated our species is the concept of immortality. We've fought wars (remember hearing about those crusades?) in hopes of getting pardoned for our sins and gaining admission to that great and relatively exclusive clubhouse in the sky. We've confessed our most unsavory thoughts and deeds and tried to follow the laws set by men who supposedly had them delivered by God (I wasn't around back then, so who am I to judge?). We've hurt ourselves and others all in the name of getting a ticket to heaven.

Today less people worldwide are attending church and other religious institutions and it seems more are being more vocal against organized religion. Without the message of how to attain immortality through godly behavior is it any wonder we're even more fascinated with the paranormal "alternatives." ;-)

I mean, come on. You can play by all the rules that religious dogma suggests (and there are gobs of them if you've ever bothered to read the books of the big 3) or you can dream of being bitten by a hot (well, actually cold ;-) vampire, suck some of their blood and shazam! Immortality.

Which is sexier? The heat of blood pumping (I dare say at a faster rate) as a vamp takes a bite and embraces the warmth that is no longer naturally theirs (and then gives a "mere mortal" a taste of vampy goodness) or remembering you aren't even supposed to have lusty thoughts because that's committing adultery according to dogma, too?

No wonder more folks tote copies of vampire novels around than Bible study stuff.

And, while we're being frank, the romance angle of vamps in fiction still has room for exploration. Yes, vamps (being immortal and around for a long time) have "been around the block" a time or two. They've probably seen and done stuff and become callous. So the trick for authors may be for the romantic lead to find the button on the vamp character that truly makes an experience seem new to them. If you'd lived forever and started to become bored and jaded with life, what would it take to excite you again?

So, although there are readers wanting to put an end to vampire popularity (the complaints I've seen!) writers may have a bigger stake ;-) in their success even now. Unless everyone suddenly gets religion and steps onto *that* highway to heaven with greater interest than we're currently seeing. I mean, the end of the world does come in 2012, right? ;-)

Simply Shannon ;-)