I've been reading a book where a teenage girl falls in love with a
400- year- old guy. Yeah, that's nothing strange to see in YA paranormal
novels because those very old guys usually stopped aging long ago and
still look like teens. I've read many books like that; it was mostly 'a
girl falls in love with a vampire' thing. And, frankly, that never
bothered me. But now that I'm no longer a teen myself, it all started to
feel wrong. I realized it doesn't really matter that the guy has a body
of teenager; he can no longer be considered a teenager.
I
still remember a discussion I had with my friends about The Vampire
Diaries (a girl torn between two vampire brothers). We were talking
about the TV series mostly and not so much about the books, but I guess
our opinion could be applied to both. So, some of my friends claimed
that it was ok for the main character, Elena, to end up with the younger
brother, Stefan, because he was seventeen forever. I found their
reasoning a bit funny because the old brother, Damon, is supposed to be
in his twenties, so that's not really far away. But what everyone seemed
to ignore was the fact that both brothers were at least a hundred years
old (depends if you're referring to the TV series or the books). So, is
Stefan really a seventeen- year- old? Nope, not even close. He's had
years to live, just like his brother, and got to experience so many
things. It's impossible that his mind stayed at the level of a
seventeen- year- old. I immediately picture all those child vampires in
adult novels that still look like children, but their eyes and behavior
reveal their true age, which is creepy as hell.
I believe
that real age has a lot to do with psychological age, because how are
you supposed to have a lot of experience if you didn't have time to gain
it? And if you have more experience, then you're supposed to be more
mature and have a bit different view on things around you. If I could
actually remember my Psychology classes, it would be great. I know we
were talking about this, but I just can't remember much of it because it
didn't interest me back then. Anyway, I could be right or wrong on
this.
Now let's go to the thing that I find creepy about
all of this: epic love story. Ok, I understand vampires stuck in their
teen years wouldn't have much success with women. Then again, that
depends on how young they looked when they were turned. Some teens do
look older than they actually are, and sometimes people in their
twenties can pass for teens. So, yeah, it's a bit hard to tell. It's not
such an issue that young looking vamps go for teen girls, but it
bothers me that those girls are usually very immature ones, who have
little to zero experience with boys in general. It doesn't even surprise
me that the girl instantly falls in love with the vamp, because what
does she actually know about love? She can think what she's feeling is
love, but shouldn't a 100+ year- old vamp know better? Fine, the vamp is
attracted to the girl because she's young and human, and he finds that
refreshing. But wouldn't his interest fade with time? Would he really
instantly fall in love with her and be sure it's true love? Wouldn't
there be too big gaps and differences of opinion? Or it's just that
girls don't think much at all in those stories except how gorgeous the
guy is?
I know there are relationships in real life with
big age difference that function just fine (young girls with rich old
guys and similar excluded), but those are very rare. I think the younger
person in these relationships is probably more mature than people of
her/his age. But that refers only to adults, and that's why I'm
completely fine with twenty-something-year-olds and old vamps. Twenty
might still be young in some cases, but there is less chance you'll fall
in love without thinking.
In conclusion, (because if I
don't stop writing now, this will turn into a monster), I'm not really
against instant love and teen-vampire relationships in books, because I
know a lot of people likes to read that, so why not? I only wish there
were more books with more mature girls, or at least girls who'll think
about it all and not immediately marry the vamp/turn into one. What is
so wrong with waiting a few years to see how it works out? It's not like
the girl will look that much older.
Ok, end of rant. Now you can throw tomatoes at me. *runs and hides*
P.S. I can't believe I wrote so much in such a short time. If this
were a school assignment, it would have taken me ages to write it. It's
possible I overlooked some mistakes because my stream of consciousness
isn't always the clearest thing in the world.
Oh, Apple
updated the price of my book. It took them a week. Ok, maybe less
because Smashwords didn't immediately send the info to them.
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