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Possibly my crippling clumsiness was seen as endearing rather than pathetic, casting me as a damsel in distress. (Twilight; chapter 3)
Over at Bites, Donna has started a meme about exposing cliches in Young Adult literature. I read a lot of YA lit and I love this kinds of analysis. The first cliche is “The clumsy kid, most likely female and usually endearing to the point of fawning over.” This is a trope that seems more prevalent outside of literature but we can thank Bella Swan for making it part of this discussion (and super-mainstream).
Thoughts:
- All teenagers are clumsy. It’s a byproduct of the changes their bodies are going through.
- High school is a scary place and I agree with the post that someone who is truly accident prone is more likely to be made fun of than considered adorable.
- But if someone is attracted to another someone and that someone is clumsy the first someone could find that clumsiness endearing.
- Bella has a point about the damsel in distress bit. People do respond to that, I know this from personal experience.
- I was a clumsy girl in high school and college. You know that other cliche about trained dancers being super clumsy when they are not dancing? Cliches have some truth to them folks!
Grade: Joey Potter ~ overdone is overdone, but I relate.
