Quote:
Originally Posted by PennLady
So I found this and had to pass it along while kind of rolling my eyes.
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I get why this annoys you--as it focuses on chick lit and women in particular, as if a bunch of guys are shaking their heads saying, "Dude, I'd never be that gullible..." or whatever.
So in that the article is eye-rolling. But what it's pointing out is nothing new. People have always been influenced by fictional characters, to the point where we writers get taken to task for creating or not creating good role models. I mean, come on, let's head on back to
The Sorrows of Young Werther, a book published in 1787 that had Goethe's on the best seller's list and dozens of young men dressing like Werther and, supposedly, committing suicide because that's what their hero in the book did.
So is it really news that readers of the Brigit Jones' type character might identify enough with her to care about weight and looks as she does? Easy enough for a woman to fall into that mindset--and if the heroine she loves does it, why not?
The only eye-roll I see here is that it's focusing on a certain type of fiction appealing to women (and supposedly having admirable heroines) rather than fiction in general.
