These Books Among Us

If you are a millennial, you grew up with Harry Potter. Whether you read the books, or saw the movies, or did neither, you cannot doubt that Harry Potter surrounded your life. The franchise was everywhere.  Some may say that it was not a good thing, that it was too dark for children and too full of the devil's magic, but most would agree that it taught us, as a generation, something good about being human. For me, Harry Potter got me into reading. The novels introduced me into the joys of reading for more than just school work and that I could, hopefully, make a career out of it later in life. It also taught me that it's okay to love books. Hermione was my role model; still is actually. She is who she is and does not try to change herself for anyone's personal enjoyment. When I would get bullied for reading so much, for being a bookworm, I remembered Hermione and stood my ground. I wouldn't let some ass who was bigger than me tell me that I couldn't do what I love

As most of you reading this know, there seems to be a trend in the "hero complex" in young adult, middle grade, and children's novels. Stories like Percy Jackson, Hunger Games, and Whichwood all have younger people saving the world. But why has this become the norm for a lot of current writings? Well, let's explore that together. First off, what is the superhero complex and how can we try to identify the features of it in our literature and our lives? The superhero complex is often when a character has a desperate need to protect the people around them. They do not necessarily think of their own safety in the matter, only that they must protect. This person will have an inherent desire and compulsion to help people. There is also a need to do it all alone, to hopefully trim down the list of casualties. Many of the identifiable features of this include over protection, a disinterest in self preservation, and being quite controlling over any and all situatio

Hey guys! So I am going to go into my thirteen reasons why I think Young Adult novels are good for the world. These are going to range from the trivial to being more serious reasons. So without further ado, here we go. 1. Young adult novels are good for all ages. For actual young adults, they can help through times of change. Many of the characters are the same age as the young adults reading them. And while their problems may be on a much larger scale, there are still the social issues they have to navigate through in their own lives that the young readers may be going through in their own school. 2. Adults can relive their youth. Yeah, I know, this one's pretty cliche. But it's true. Maybe they're re-reading one of their favorite series from when they were in high school and it brings back the warm and fuzzy feelings they had getting their friends into the book. Maybe they are reading about young adults who had the same issues they were going through when they wer

If you ever went to school with other people, you probably saw bullying. It may have happened to you, or a friend, or a classmate, but it was there. It seems like it has always been there. No matter where you turn in literature or film or television, there seems to always be an underdog that the "popular kid" will pick on, belittle, and physically hurt. So this is in our media and our real lives. Obviously. So what is this post about. Well, I can tell you it's not going to be a mushy post about me talking about my experience with bullying and it's not going to necessarily be me calling out people who have bullied, no matter how much I want to. No, this post is going to be directed at the people who stand by. Now before you exit out of this tab, let me just tell you that I am not going to lecture you and tell you that you always have to step up and intervene in the most direct sense. I am not telling you that you must be the hero and get yourself hurt for someone

Hey guys! Two posts in one week? Who is this strange new Dana? (It's low key because I felt bad that I didn't post last week, so surprise!) Okay, hear me out on this post. I know a lot of you reading this do not necessarily disagree with me. We all love our favorite prime time shows and blockbuster movies. But for some reason, when a person loves their favorite best selling book (and tries to get others to read it and love it as much as they do) there is a more negative reaction from the book community. I am in no way saying that people are not entitled to their own opinions. I respect that fact and want others to feel comfortable enough to share those opinions whenever they choose. But once an opinion turns into trying to control what their peers enjoy, that's when it becomes a problem. I am sure you have gone through this yourself once or twice in your lifetime. You'll be so excited to share this cool new thing you've found out about and then be shunned by y

I have talked a lot on this blog about the connections between society and the fictitious narratives we as humans create out of our circumstances. Most people think of the historical moments going into their television shows. Say during President Obama's presidency, many people saw African American presidents portrayed in their favorite television shows and movies. This is just one way the present can alter our fictions. But some are more frightening than that. I am talking about the Rise of the Dystopian novel. The first dystopian novel written was The Time Machine by HG Wells and it was ahead of its time. Where many of the more popular dystopian novels are about the fears of society, the Time Machine is the fear of the other and of technology. When you read The Time Machine, you will see people who are not the stereotypical 1895 England person. They are "savage" but they are also the future. Is this a fear of technology taking the world back to it's primitive na

Hey guys! I know I was supposed to read this last week, but, I'm posting it now and that's all that matters. So, onto the post! Okay, so we went over vampires a little bit two weeks ago, right? Let's elaborate on my thoughts from them. Yes, vampires are often seen as a fear of sexualization and mortality in the eyes of scholars throughout academia. Yes, these are main points that I myself make. But there is more to it. A lot of the time in vampire novels, the vampires themselves are no fun. They are so broody and overly romantic and morose that nobody around them wants to have any fun. Is it really a shocker that the Cullen's didn't actually have any friends other than themselves? Not really. With Lord Brood over there, nobody could have a proper conversation to become their friends. This also happens in the Anne Rice novels. They are NO fun. They want to drink alcohol, drink blood, have sex, and repeat. Well, Louis also broods on top of it, but you get my

As many people have undoubtedly pointed out, human-kind has created monsters as a way to deal with our social issues without confronting them head on. Today, I am going to explore some of those monsters and show what they could possibly be standing in for. They help us acknowledge our fears without looking too directly at those fears. Zombies are monsters I can go on about forever. More often than not, zombies are allegories for the growing fears of consumerism and the mindlessness that goes along with it. People, much like zombies, have a drive to consume to no end, though instead of on human bodies, it is on goods like the newest gadgets. There is a conformist nature to these creatures as well. There is no need to stand out in the crowd because the crowd is a great place to be. You do not have to strive for higher or walk over competition because in the zombie state, there is no competition, just consumption! I think our fascination with zombies stems slightly from our desire

Everyone knows we are supposed to hate the villains in the story. They are the bad guys, the ones who are throwing a wrench into the safety the hero so desperately wants to hold onto. But for some reason, the villain is often times the audience’s favorite character, even more so than the hero. I want to try to take a peek into why that is in this post today. First off, lets define a villain. Dictionary.com says: a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel. And: a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot. They are criminals, lawbreakers, offenders, felons, convicts, malefactors, and wrongdoers. Villains are not anti-heroes. That is a fully different category and I would just like to make that distinction. Okay then, let’s start off with some examples, now, shall we? First off is going to be a lot of people’s favorite villain: Loki from the Thor and Avengers films. L