For this post I read Tempted by Cecily Von Ziegesar. It is the sixth installment to the It Girl series.
Although this book was only remotely interesting, it did spark a few trains of thought in my head.
The setting of this book is at Waverly Academy, a private boarding school (made out to be only for the "privileged"). The main character is Jenny Humphrey, who has encountered her fair share of drama and mischief at Waverly, along with her roommate Callie; her friend, Brett; the "queen bee" of the school, Tinsley; and of course various boys.
The content of this book did really nothing for me, because it's all about drinking, hooking up, and stabbing friends in the back- with the occasional good deed. What interested me was the fact that in between chapters there were "screenshots", persay, of e-mails, text messages, and instant messages. I thought this portrayed perfectly how connected our world is in this day and age.
Nothing could happen at Waverly without at least one person forwarding out a mass text or e-mail about it. Nothing was private; nothing was considered "too personal". It is much the same in the real world- no one cares much what they gossip about or to whom they are gossiping, but apparently, it is imperative that they do. The newest news is the fastest spread, and if you can't keep up, you're simply considered out of the loop. The book also portrayed how twisted things can become if you don't know the information first-hand. Two girls hanging out suddenly becomes two girls hanging out drunk, which suddenly becomes 2 guys and 2 girls drinking together, which suddenly becomes those 4 people hanging out in a bedroom alone- You get the idea.
One last thing that bothered me is the fact that girls (and boys... I guess...) way younger than me are reading these books and getting the idea that a life like the girls' of Waverly is glamorous. They'll get the idea that all of the actions and ideas of those girls are okay. That bothers me, a lot. Hearing things about younger kids that want to do stuff like that leaves an uneasy feeling in my stomach, especially those that I have faith in to become someone, someday. I hope that they realize there is so much more to life than being the coolest kid in the grade.
Stacey
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2 comments:
Regarding your comment about young girls reading this and being influenced, I think that the decay of our society and morals is inevitable. I feel all that we can do is join them, or stay away and live without the excitement of novel [amoral] activities.
Stacey,
I agree with you that these books set a horrible moral standard for the young girls that read them, but you have to admit, they're pretty entertaining. I was just talking to some people about this the other day; maybe the problem isn't that girls are reading these books, it's that they are thinking that they are legit. I know that when I read books like this, or watch shows like Gossip Girl and 90210, I don't sit there comparing them to my own life. I consider them completely different universes, and I don't try to go modeling my own life after what characters like Blair and Serena do. I think the problem is not necessarily this type of media, but the way people compare their own lives to the media.
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