Chick Lit - The Genre

As I am an unapologetic aficianado of The X-Files, Deadpool, Romero films, and bad sci fi films, you wouldn't think it, but I am a huge fan of chick lit. I'm not sure if this is something every girl feels, or just me, but every so often, I just need to read a brainless romcom book. And I really mean it when I say need - it's a compulsion, like OCD.

But believe me when I say - they're batshit. While reading, everyone suspends their disbelief to some extent, but chick lit exists in another universe altogether. Oh, there are some good ones, certainly, that manage to be smart, funny, and semi-believable. (My favourites: Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger, The Eight by Katherine Neville [not strictly chick lit, but I count it] and I have a soft spot in my heart for Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella). But trust me - these are really difficult to find. You'd think that we could just stick with those authors I named above and it would be a chick lit goldmine, but they've all come out with really terrible books (Chasing Harry Winston, The Magic Circle, and the Shopaholic series, respectively).

Reading most chick lit is kind of like entering a parallel universe - the people are similar to what you know, but not quite there. The people seem normal, except something will happen and their reactions will be COMPLETELY not what you expect. In Twilight, Bella finds out the guy she loves is a vampire...and her reaction is basically, "Oh, yeah, I kind of expected that...LET'S MAKE OUT." In the Shopaholic series, everyone loves Becky and thinks she's so adorable and likeable, when in fact she is probably the most annoying human being created in the chick lit genre, a narcissist who has no self-control. In The Magic Circle, Ariel sleeps with her cousin, and doesn't think this is awkward at all.

Here's what I recently discovered - in chick lit world, it would appear that incest is not out of the ordinary. Let's talk The Magic Circle. Katherine Neville writes thrillers aimed to appeal to women. Her first novel, The Eight, is fantastic. Her second novel, A Calculated Risk, is said to be decent as well. Her third, The Magic Circle? Well...between the convoluted plot lines, the complete absence of a magic circle, an unnecessary POV from Joseph of Arimathea, you have a very, very, very, awful book. I could have slogged through it, but I quit halfway through when I realized that the main love interest was her cousin. I believe it was her first cousin as well. If you ask anyone you know if this would be okay, I believe that every single person would say something along the lines of, "ew." Incest = WEIRD and it's so culturally unacceptable in North America. In a normal world, someone would feel weird about having feelings for their cousin and even weirder after they slept with them. I thought the whole incest thing was a one off, but I recently finished reading She Went All The Way by Meg Cabot. The protagonists, Lou and Jack, start hooking up and then later on they get married. Lou's dad and Jack's mom also fall in love and move in together. Technically, this is acceptable. No one's ACTUALLY related. But I'm pretty sure that someone would be like, "Uh, you're practically step siblings...gross." Interestingly enough, Gossip Girl had a plotline similar to this. Dan and Serena started dating and then Serena's mom and Dan's dad decided to date. Serena begged her mom not to because she didn't want to be dating her stepbrother. Later on, Dan and Serena find out that they have a mutual half sibling. If I'm recalling correctly, everyone made a huge deal about this (leading to Gossip Girl, hilariously and erroneously, stating that they shared DNA.) Even though everyone's reactions went to ridiculous lengths, I felt this to be more believable. People are extra-sensitive to things that seem even a little culturally unacceptable. I believe in this book, Lou mentions the fact that their parents are in love to Jack, who laughs it off and then IT IS NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN.

(Side note about the incest thing: in season 2 of Reaper, Sock sleeps with his stepsister. No one thinks this is strange. Is quasi-incest becoming socially acceptable?)

In the same book, the parents (Eleanor and Frank) find out that their children are fucking and they don't say anything. They're not uncomfortable. They're not anything. And yes, Jack and Lou are in their late 20s, early 30s, but I can personally say that I will always feel uncomfortable discussing sex with my mom.

Most chick lit has sex scenes. I'm fine with the fade to blacks. I LOVE fade to blacks. Especially after reading Ghost, fade to blacks are as nice as Christmas. Some chick lit novels have graphic sex scenes. I guess they're supposed to turn you on, but it just makes me uncomfortable. It makes me feel like a voyeur, like I glanced out the window and saw my neighbours having sex. I just want to close the curtains.

Not to mention that chick lit is allegedly empowering, but sometimes fails horribly. The heroines are usually strong, independent, career-oriented women...until they meet a guy. Oh, and apparently there's a bunch dealing with women who fall in love with their abusers. Now we're getting into this horrifying fringe subculture of romance novels, none of which I've read, thank God.
http://cereta.livejournal.com/450650.html
A girl is kidnapped by a sheikh, raped every night for months, and then eventually falls in love with him.
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/decadent_by_shayla_black/
A girl is expecting normal sex with a guy, and then he unexpectedly starts anal sexing her.

I mean, what? How is this acceptable? A good chick lit will make you feel good. A good chick lit will make you happy. A bad chick lit will make you feel dirty, and no one wants that from their wish fulfillment.

Yes, chick lit is wish fulfillment. A certain degree of suspension of disbelief is necessary. But sometimes the authors' ids come out to play, and that is never a good thing. See Ringo, John.

There aren't that many genres with such extremes. Chick lit is either really good or horribly, terrifyingly bad. The only other similar genre I can think of at the moment is urban fantasy. I am intimately acquainted with the ups and downs of urban fantasy, as my brother and I have been searching for about a year now for a bonding series to replace The Dresden Files while we wait for new books to come out. We fail. But that's a story for another time. No other genre that I can think of have such extremes.

Mostly I look on chick lit as something of a problem child that I love dearly: I really want it to succeed. I root for the good books. I continue to look for the good. But when they're bad, I just feel disappointed.