YA fiction and unrealistic expectations (1 Viewer)

[raymondchouku]

I realized that whenever YA fiction with a female protagonist and a nod toward romance, people tend to get upset that these protagonists are too obsessed with their male love interest and they become their everything... But really isn't obsession the hallmark of teenagers? Teenagers tend, imo, to become obsessed with guys/girls and defy authority figures to have their Shakespearian romance Am I wrong? What are your Thoughts?

 

[AmysTeri]

Take my opinion w/ a grain of salt b/c I haven't read YA fiction in about 10 years, but the last one I did read was the 3rd book of the Twilight series. But hey, I read fanfction, so does that count?

On the one hand, yes, teenagers (male and female) can get quite obsessive over their love interests...either to a disturbing degree (in which that YA rating may go left very quickly) or to a degree that many of us can relate to (as in, we look back on how frickin' embarrassing we were and can't help but cringe and try to bury the memory until the next trip down memory lane.)

On the other hand, there's a significant part of our teenage population (I believe) who are much more mature and much less trope-driven than we get in some fiction. Yeah, they're still gonna be young, dumb, and over-dramatic sometimes, but I think some people want more from their characters (female protags especially) today. Like... Marinette from Miraculous Ladybug, maybe? Girl's stalker-level crazy over a boy, but we can see her still living her life, doing the world-saving bit, how passionate she is about fashion and pursuing other goals, etc. So even though she's an obsessive nut, viewers are able to overlook it and fall in love with her because she's more than just an obsessive nut.

Honestly, I'm just happy* when female protagonists don't turn into either a Mary Sue or a Bella Swan these days.

TL;DR: What you say is true, but teen characters can be fleshed out more than obsession and rejecting authority and making horrible life choices a la Lifetime movies in order to move the plot along.

 

[RandAlThor]

I like Kendra and Vin.
Annabeth when sh wast played by a mid 20 year old at 14 )(*()*()*()
Katniss was not boy crazy...

 

[jasque]

For the target audience, I think it's like that

 

[QueenB]

tbh looking back at my teens I feel like we mimicked what we read and watched because it was what we thought we were supposed to be like

I recently watched Euphoria and one thing that came to mind was how many of my classmates would try to mimic some of their behaviors cause they'd think they'd be cooler lol

 

[raymondchouku]

Like... Marinette from Miraculous Ladybug, maybe? Girl's stalker-level crazy over a boy, but we can see her still living her life, doing the world-saving bit, how passionate she is about fashion and pursuing other goals, etc.

Honestly, this is probably as close to Buffy Summers (the true heir to the throne) as modern YA gets. lmao

 

[raymondchouku]

YA fiction?

Young Adult fiction.

 

[Jimimis]

I mean if I had a boyfriend as hot as YA fiction guys are supposed to be my life would revolve around him too