It's time for another Book Banter with my friend
Suey! This week's topic: John Green. In typical Jenny fashion I shall be taking the against side. Suey has sent me three things she loved about John Green and I will rebuttal them here. Likewise, I have sent her three things I dislike about John Green and she will be rebuttal-ing them on her blog.
Check it out! Here we go!
1 I love that he’s smart and funny and witty. I love that he says things that make me think. I love that he says things that make me feel. I love the way he says things and the words he uses. I think he’s a great writer full of real emotion.
Truthfully, I can't complain about his actual writing. It's OK. It's the characters he writes that bother me. Are they characters you can love and relate to? Do they make you feel? Sure. If you want to love John Green. See, I have this theory that John secretly sees a therapist and that said therapist has assigned him to write stories about himself as a way to discover his inner self...either that or he's just a little narcissistic.
2 I love that he’s relatable. He’s normal. He’s gets people. He’s geeky like we all are. He owns up to it. He embraces it. He makes other geeky nerdy kids feel proud of that. He makes people feel like they can do anything. Because if he, a nerdy guy, can do it, we can all do it.
Well, I'm a nerd but I certainly don't relate to John. Sure, he's a nerdy little inspiration to people but I can name about a bazillion different author's that write about relatable, flawed, unpopular people that are an inspiration as well. I guess what I'm saying is, John is not unique. He's a nerd in a million that is showing the world that nerds can be cool too. Other's just do it without talking so fast in You Tube videos that really aren't THAT funny.
3 He uses his fame to teach and inspire other people. I mean, he’s probably pretty busy, and yet, he makes videos about history and literature and gets people excited about them. (His brother Hank does the science-y videos.) I love that he has so many projects all for bettering others. He has inspired so many people to go out and do their own projects and start their own things and be their own kind of creative. It’s just cool. And I love it.
Well, I'm glad he's such a great role model for kids...in person. I really haven't watched very many of his You Tube videos. His characters, however, are probably not the greatest role models for kids. Yes, they are real and gritty and honest. I love that! But I'm an adult not a teen. I would imagine parent's probably wouldn't be comfortable letting their kids read his books. The women are terrible, self loathing bad girls and there's smoking and swearing and scenes alluding to sex. So these kids love John Green and his Videos and are all inspired...and then they read his books. At this point they probably think he can do no wrong and are perfectly OK reading about these things...thinking it's normal.
