#also back on the fact that bella looks too young SHE'S OLDER THAN ELLIE

[shit-talker]

Why are people still so upset about bella playing ellie in tlou??? Like i dont care if the characters in the show dont look like the characters in the game because i actually perfer the story than the attractiveness of the characters and would rather they look a little different but be played by someone who genuinely understands this character, than someone who looks like them but just can't grasp the motives or anything. Like, seriously, it's an adaptation of the story, not a recreation of the cutscenes.

[hellolemonysnickerdoodles-blog]

gone with the wind: the original y/a

Over the past few months or so, I have made quite the transition in my reading tastes. For the past two years, I had ravenously devoured Y/A, and the effect of my reading diet was similar to consuming nothing but McDonald's for a month. It left my brain feeling bloated and stupid from the number of cliches I injected into it.

Don't get me wrong-I'm a huge romantic and some days, I like nothing more that curling up with a blanket, a cup of tea, and Clueless.

But sometimes, romantic Y/A goes too far.

Today, for the first time in my life, I watched "Gone with the Wind".

My parents immediately dropped out within the first ten minutes, but I stayed, because I was fascinated with its parallels between romantic Y/A, as well as romantic dramas produced today, such as Reign.

And here is my break-down:

GONE WITH THE WIND: THE ORIGINAL ROMANTIC Y/A

Study conducted by Lemony Snickerdoodles

1. The main female protagonist is portrayed as physically beautiful. To really emphasize this point, the film/book must establish that she is adored by all the boys in her vicinity.

Literally, in Gone with the Wind, Scarlett O'Hara is seen surrounded by a crowd of men worshiping her:

Nowadays, a romanticized ideal in romantic Y/A is the love triangle, to drive home the point to the young, insecure reader that to be desirable, all boys must love you, regardless of the inherent moral values you lose.

My personal favourite examples:

America, Maxon, and Aspen from The Selection Series

Bella, Edward, and Jacob from Twilight (duh)

and basically any romantic Y/A ever, even the "dystopian" ones

What really bothers me about this motif, is the audience of these novels and films are young, impressionable teen girls. It's incredibly toxic for these girls to form the mindset that the validation and love they deserve, must come from an outside source. This harmful ideal forms the foundation for many abusive relationships, or self-negativity/mental illnesses/body dysphoria that follows them into adulthood.

2. The main female protagonist is hated by all the other girls in the story.

In Gone with the Wind, the other girls literally slut-shame her, saying that the attractive ones burn out the quickest, that they are the ones that don't matter.

I'm not necessarily condoning Scarlett's behavior, as it is clear that she manipulates people or abuses other's praise of her beauty (pinching her cheeks in the mirror before going to see her love interest, arguing with her housekeeper/slave that she should be allowed to show off her shoulders because "she wants to party", and play with the men's hearts). She is incredibly immature and not a very likeable character, but the way she was portrayed and how her character was written speaks volumes about how women were viewed at the time. The fact that the author and screenwriter, as well as the production company (mostly men) couldn't be bothered to give her character more depth, or have any sort of growth, as well as alienating her from her fellow sex (to boost her allure to the opposite gender), is one-dimensional and absolutely lame.

What's even more lame, is that not much has changed.

Even in 2018, female protagonists (such as Willow in Dumplin', Anna in Anna in the French Kiss, etc.). These books, mainly written by female authours, continue to perpetuate this stereotype, encouraging girl hate amongst their young fans. They, as well as the society they reflect, teach girls that to be deemed attractive or to get the guy, or even get ahead in life, that they have to put others down. They teach that to be viewed as "cool" or viewed as an individual that they have to shame others for their personal self-expression.

3. The female protagonist's love life.

In Gone with the Wind, Scarlett confesses her love to a (visibly) older man, who is about to get married. She then marries Hamilton, a clumsy man who's desperately in love with her, just to spite him. She then cries during the wedding ceremony, because of how much she longs for the other man, and refuses to properly mourn during Hamilton's death.

In modern literature, we have not progressed much. (I'm looking at you, Anna and the French Kiss, The Selection Series, Love and Gelato). For some reason, emotional cheating is portrayed as "acceptable" and the victims of this cheating (i.e. Ellie or Etienne's girlfriend in Anna and the French Kiss) are portrayed as the villains. This also ties back to aforementioned girl hate debacle, and it's just absolutely ridiculous that this is viewed as a norm in teen literature, when in reality, it is heartbreaking and unnecessary cruel and teaches young teens that cheating is cool if "it's in the name of love". Like, it doesn't matter how attractive the other guy is. You have the moral responsibility to own up to your thoughts and actions, and break up with them politely and be honest about your feelings. These tropes just cultivate toxic and abusive relationships in readers and viewers.

4. The way other races are portrayed.

Now, I know that this movie was made in the 1940s and it was amazing and great that they got black actors, as well as Hattie McDaniel being the first black actress to win an Oscar, and yes, I know that it was the South, but it was a little upsetting how the film (made almost a hundred years after the Civil War ended) showed young black girls fanning the sleeping, immature white women, and it seems ridiculous that this book/film was made 15 years or so before To Kill a Mockingbird, or how it was "groundbreaking" to portray other races as more than props to meet a quota. I do applaud how it highlighted the racist stereotypes of the time, but it is disappointing that this radical progress has been delayed in modern times.

In modern Y/A, other races and cultures deviating from "white, straight male" are still portrayed as background noise, or written as if to satiate a checklist. There is no heart, no character building involved, just a description of their skin color and one basic hobby (she's black and she likes drawing). It feel unnatural and it's harmful for the product's young audience to view their own culture as unattractive, or incapable of being the star of a story. It's completely unacceptable today, when more than ever, we should be pushing for the equality and publicity every single American deserves.