Elena Gilbert Appreciation Week: Intro
(A few months ago, I started preparing an Elena Gilbert Appreciation Week. Being me, I outlined everything, wrote an intro, wrote the first meta, and then completely forgot about the whole thing. I just found it all in my meta folders, and I thought I might as well post, before it gets even more outdated.
I don't know if I'll ever actually write other posts I planned for that Appreciation Week. Maybe I will, because some topics I've chosen still look interesting. If I do, this will be a masterpost. If I don't, well. I guess it will just be a useless post. This certainly won't be literally "a week". More like a random meta here and there.)
Elena Gilbert Appreciation Week: An Intro Post
I've been talking about Elena a lot; hell, I'm talking about her all the time. I spend so much time focused on Elena that sometimes I think I should stop or switch to another character, because in no time I'll start repeating myself. But I've been talking so much about narratives, and possibilities, and tropes - all the “brainy” stuff - without really touching anything personal (because, really, who would want to read about that?). And this is why I need this week to be about Elena. I need it to be about why I, as a person, love her so much.
It might not be particulary original, but personal stuff seldom is. You know, Elena, for me, is about all the stories I always wanted to hear, and the stories I always needed to hear (even if I didn't know that). Don't get me wrong - I know there must be many, many other examples of those stories. I might not know about them. I might've missed them. But, through Elena, they got to me. They made me relate to this girl so much it scares me sometimes. They made me take Elena personally.
Funny thing is, Elena doesn't actually influence me that much. She's more similar to who I used to be than to who I am now, maybe because I'm simply a bit older than she is. I can relate many of her choices and problems to the choices I've already made and the problems I've already solved. I didn't learn much from Elena. But I keep thinking that I wish I'd known her when I was 15. Back then, I was bookish and ambitious, and my head was full of ideas about who I should be. Books do that to bookish people. By the time I met Elena, I already got rid of most of those ideas. But I wish there had been girls like Elena in all the books I used to read back then. They would've made my growing up a bit easier, just like a bunch of heroines fueled by the Madonna/whore complex made it a bit more difficult.
Of course it's just a story. It's not a Growing Up 101 Manual that will solve all the problems, and it shouldn't be. It's quite simple, really: Elena's story is a story that would've made me feel better about myself when I was a teenager. I don't know about you, but that's good enough for me.
Posts:
1. This is a story about a girl who isn't perfect
I don't know if I'll ever actually write other posts I planned for that Appreciation Week. Maybe I will, because some topics I've chosen still look interesting. If I do, this will be a masterpost. If I don't, well. I guess it will just be a useless post. This certainly won't be literally "a week". More like a random meta here and there.)
Elena Gilbert Appreciation Week: An Intro Post
I've been talking about Elena a lot; hell, I'm talking about her all the time. I spend so much time focused on Elena that sometimes I think I should stop or switch to another character, because in no time I'll start repeating myself. But I've been talking so much about narratives, and possibilities, and tropes - all the “brainy” stuff - without really touching anything personal (because, really, who would want to read about that?). And this is why I need this week to be about Elena. I need it to be about why I, as a person, love her so much.
It might not be particulary original, but personal stuff seldom is. You know, Elena, for me, is about all the stories I always wanted to hear, and the stories I always needed to hear (even if I didn't know that). Don't get me wrong - I know there must be many, many other examples of those stories. I might not know about them. I might've missed them. But, through Elena, they got to me. They made me relate to this girl so much it scares me sometimes. They made me take Elena personally.
Funny thing is, Elena doesn't actually influence me that much. She's more similar to who I used to be than to who I am now, maybe because I'm simply a bit older than she is. I can relate many of her choices and problems to the choices I've already made and the problems I've already solved. I didn't learn much from Elena. But I keep thinking that I wish I'd known her when I was 15. Back then, I was bookish and ambitious, and my head was full of ideas about who I should be. Books do that to bookish people. By the time I met Elena, I already got rid of most of those ideas. But I wish there had been girls like Elena in all the books I used to read back then. They would've made my growing up a bit easier, just like a bunch of heroines fueled by the Madonna/whore complex made it a bit more difficult.
Of course it's just a story. It's not a Growing Up 101 Manual that will solve all the problems, and it shouldn't be. It's quite simple, really: Elena's story is a story that would've made me feel better about myself when I was a teenager. I don't know about you, but that's good enough for me.
Posts:
1. This is a story about a girl who isn't perfect