Wednesday (on Saturday) Takes the Bad Boy Too Far

[veschwab]

Hey guys. My YARebels vlog this week: a quick look at abuse/manipulation in YA.

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Now I'm off to Memphis for the weekend to help my aunt move! SO BUSY. BUT you should be very happy to know that this morning I *gasp* SLEPT IN. Yes, yes, I know, it's a MIRACLE.

Comments

[dawn_metcalf]

Thanks for putting this out there! I think you really nailed it by pointing out that this specific form of violence has a very different connotation when it's part of the love interest -- that this is supposed to be the "ideal" person, the one the reader, through the characters, want most. If being violent/dangerous/threatening/manipulative/emotionally abusive is set up as desirable, we better be saying something very intentional about these characters.

I don't necessarily agree that we all want the bad boy (or the pretty boy or the most popular boy, either), but there *is* a darkness that we're drawn to as curious people: the mystery, the unknown, the person who we can "save" by being a good person and showing them the way to the light, as it were. But there is a very dangerous message that has become prevalent in YA where this type of person is sexy-hott, a mixture of danger and threat and love, and THAT can become a pretty nasty trope when played out in reality.

Of course we write fiction and of course these aren't real people and of course there is a lot to be said for trying on "What Ifs" in the safety of our favorite books and those authors we trust most to take us on this ride. But there is a time to get off the ride and know what is desirable may not be what is real or good or healthy. This line is a personal one to tread, but I'd like to think folks do so knowingly and consciously and not as a default. Writing with full intention is part of the responsibility of being a writer.

Our #1 job is to write our story. I believe a close second should be to remember who is on the other side of the page and treat them with the honor and respect they deserve. To cop out to dangerous tropes because they are easier/expected/gritty/edgy is a disservice to everyone if it doesn't serve the story or the reader. (This coming from someone who wrote a violent book, but hopefully, I did so with every intention to put love/anger/action & mercy in its place. We shall see.)

Thanks for making me think!