Below
is my attempt to delve into the appeal of Paranormal literature. Though not so
old, it is already becoming dated (Dystopias are the new thing, it seems).
Trouble is, I don’t read Young Adult Paranormal literature. I like reading
about it, because it produces interesting discussions…I just don’t enjoy
reading paranormal romances. Not my thing. The real reason that I
even had enough information to write this is because I have a book-review
addiction, and an affinity for snark: YA (young adult) paranormal romances
produce scads of both. So, having read more reviews and snark pieces on this
style of novel that I care to admit, I was more or less able to pick up on the
trends as an outsider, and form on opinion on the ‘why’ of the thing.
Bookstore
shelves are stuffed to bursting with Young Adult paranormal novels these days.
Not only that, but the contents of these novels, per most genre fiction, fit
neatly into a comfortingly familiar plot structure; young girl meets
mysterious, inexplicable boy who also inexplicably loves her despite her plain humanity.
The boy will turn out to be one of the following; fallen angel, vampire,
werewolf, faerie king or some such mystical being.
It
is not a bad set-up and though the famous (or infamous?) Stephanie Meyer had a
firm hand in popularizing the sub-genre, she was hardly the first person to put
this fantasy to paper. The appeal is obvious; the tension of two different worlds,
a heavily exaggerated version of a cultural or class conflict—a ‘higher’ being
drawing a lower into some epic, earth-shattering romance. ‘Meant for
each-other’ to the impossible extreme.
Catering
largely to teenagers, but appealing to almost the entire age spectrum, the gist
I get from my critical-book-review addiction is that most of these tales break
down into a series of tension-fraught make-out scenes, with the paranormal
conflict laced throughout so as to make all this hormone-charged behavior so
much more epic than it would otherwise be.
Is
it surprising that teen girls want romance? Hardly. Is it a shock that they
find the exploration of sexuality in these books fascinating? Not at all. Is
there more to this obsession with otherworldly romance, than meets the eye?
Absolutely.
And the desires buried in the text go beyond the secularly obvious.
So
let’s begin at the beginning (“and then, when we get to the end, let’s stop!”):
Otherworldly. Something beyond our normal parameters. What is it that draws people
to the “other” which can’t be defined, contained or at all transformed? It
can’t be discarded. The lure is too strong. The mysterious “other” is what it
is and it’s worth your time (Why? Because). Some people wonder and question.
But she knows. That nameless girl who represents all the heroines in
these stories knows. Therein lies the appeal. The very idea that
there is no concrete explanation is half the draw.
But,
wait a minute…why is it always a girl being drawn “upward” into this
mystical romance, and not the other way around? We could cite sexism or
marketing strategy. The trope sells like hotcakes. But that’s an insufficient
explanation. Why does the formula resonate?
Well
first of all, from a strictly story-standpoint…it’s the most basic Cinderella tale:
being rescued from the normal, from the mundane, from the unpleasantness of
regular life.
But
from a broader, spiritual stand-point, I think we can answer that question of
resonation when we recall that the church is referred to as the ‘bride’; a
woman, plucked from obscurity to become something far beyond her natural
capabilities. The same metaphor is used in the Bible to describe God's relationship with Israel, most particularly through the prophet Hosea. She was meant for it, somehow...in spite of the circumstances, and in spite of herself, even.
It
should also be noted that there is a male version of this trope and the
sci-fi/fantasy world is positively saturated with it. The farm-boy/rogue/outcast
who turns out to be the ‘destined-one’/king/savior-of-all-mankind. The parallel
here is a bit more overt and accepted than in vampire “chick-lit”. ‘Messiah’
figures in literature are very common. But, for some reason, it’s the bride/Cinderella
figure that is the current money-maker, cultivating avid fans who line up for
book-number-whatever like it’s Harry Potter or something. (I definitely get the
appeal of both tropes, but I like the more action-y fisticuff characters my own
self…those are on the up-and-up in YA female-oriented literature as well, a la Hunger Games). It’s
a dime novel that doesn’t look like a dime novel, essentially.
The
trouble with both tropes is that these messiah-types and lover-hero types,
however otherworldly, are inevitably filled with human flaws and selfish
actions. Even the ostensibly ‘perfect’ ones come off as tin men and nobody
likes them because there’s no such thing. We do not know how to make what we
do not understand. We write human messiahs with supernatural powers,
because that’s all we can manage. We turn them into the ideals of what we want
to be, or how we wish we would be loved. We are trying to satisfy a
desire we were created to have…and which can be fulfilled...but only by
God.
Vicariousness
isn’t gonna cut it…but it sure has oceans of market-appeal: Romance, Sci-fi, Fanstasy, Video Games, Role Playing, Chick-flicks, Super Hero movies etc.
Now
what about the fact that, in many of these teen novels, the mysterious male
lead often treats the smitten girl condescendingly...even unkindly? He’s a “bad
boy.” He’s “dangerous.” What does this say about our society? Do women want
to be pushed around without explanation? Do they want to be treated poorly?
Must the man keep his epic secrets from them? Must he deal with her so
strangely? Must he be so difficult to understand? Must the heroine feels like
she’s kept in the dark?
(Frankly
that would annoy the ever-loving daylights out of me in a guy character, but
okay, it seems to be really popular)
Well,
I’m not alone in my belief that women don’t want to be treated like this by any
actual, human man (that’s a different discussion called “unhealthy
relationships”) but only by a fantasy ideal whose otherwise inscrutable
behavior is derived of irrefutably loving motives. They want to be loved
and pursued in this very unique way by this incredibly unattainable person. So
he gets invented on the page. These heroic figurines can’t live outside of the lines
they’re typed in, yet they represent the notion of something powerful and
all-knowing that we less-knowing humans long for.
To
suss this out, I can only recall that the heroes of both the Old Testament and the
New struggled with the genuine hardship of following God. He didn’t
always make sense to them. He was not always easy to obey. His judgments could
be devastating. His followers have been known to endure heartbreaking delays,
persecution and periods of silence, loneliness and pain. Sometimes he permits
horrible things to happen to those who love him, as in the cases of Job and
Joseph.
But
He was worth it to them. He is worth it to us. Also they were worth it
to Him, which is the confusing bit. His thoughts are not our thoughts
neither are our ways his ways. I’m tempted to say to this entire genre of
paranormal romance, as if to a person, “close…so close, but no cigar.” The
crucial facts are missing, so the passion is misdirected.
This
is where the central problem is. No human is worth this particular breed of
trust and devotion. No glittery hero either. So obsessions are created around
these human impossibilities to compensate for this giant misdirection away from
God towards Man. We should love and serve each other, not idolize each other.
Are we setting young girls up to idolize and idealize the men they date/marry? Yes, I
suspect so, and it’s easy to see how that will go awry.
It’s
perhaps too simple for me to dismiss these teen fantasies as merely that. But
in our modern world, in which ‘youth culture’ is dominant and worshiped, the
vamp-and-werewolf literature of today probably bears a more accurate
representation of people’s deepest desires than the Andy Hardy-and-Nancy Drew
of yesteryear. Young adult literature is dubbed excellent if it is bilingual; speaking
equally to its target audience and to the generation that raised them.
This
is the tricky part; these sorts of books are the fluff of our day. These are
the sugar-coating idealists. The wistful dreamers. The seekers of
happily-ever-after, producing ‘spunkified’ versions of old-fashioned damsels-in-distress.
The cynicism which surrounds these mouthfuls of cotton-candy can quickly melt
their thin cry for something ‘other’—oh how much hilarious snark they
have produced!—because it is so very thin. It hardly knows what it’s
asking for. It’s caught in the mire of a life unperceptive of God.
As
C.S. Lewis observed about ungodly or perverse affections, “Eros, turned
upside-down, blackened, distorted and filthy, still bore the traces of his
divinity.” So, are sewage weeds better than nothing growing at all? At the very
least, they show a lack of resignation to the pervading philosophies in which
all deep desire is dismissed as childish folly; love is a lie, faith is a
fairytale and destiny is for dungeons & dragons.
So
perhaps my respect for these pieces of literature is scant, but my empathy is
substantial. This washed-out fantasy love can be seen for what it is beneath
all the teen angst: yet another translation of a deep, unshakeable desire to
know, love and be loved by Someone enigmatically “other”—the only One who stands
so wonderfully beyond our natural selves—to be in the otherworld, with the One
who created the world.
