Cliche Much? Haven't We Seen that Before?

Crooked Smile? Check. Love Triangle? Check. Angels/Vampires? Check. Forbidden Love? Check. The list goes on, but only stops short to repeat itself. We've all been critical of it, the cliches, the "Haven't we seen this before?", the "Sigh. Not this again." response. As a book reviewer, I've always rolled my eyes at the fact that, not again, a vampire who tries to be good and send his girl away (Haven=Twilight) or the love triangle, where another boy is left behind as third wheel, pining for his love of another girl. Believe me, not only these cliches come up in books, but in Korean dramas, or any other dramas/TV shows for the matter. There's the rich boy who's a snob, (Chuck in Gossip Girls & Go Jyun Po in Boys Over Flowers), but then changes for the better because of a girl, who's usually poor. But then, oh no, here comes the past lover or the best friend who's left  behind. 

But I want to bring it to the fact, can we really blame the author for not being creative enough to think of new ideas? While working on a project for social change for a social entrepreneurship activity, I realized how a lot of my ideas were just "reinventions of the wheels" and it was extremely difficult to think of an innovative idea that was out of nowhere.

I don't think it can be justified that a book can be 'bad' or it can be justified in blaming the author for just copying the trends of teen novels. It's very rare do I come across a book that I think is original and has a plot or a character that I've never seen before. The nuances and the delivery of the characters are the factors that determine the book's quality or not. Take Demonglass for example. We've seen the forbidden love thing (enemies as lovers), the magic (Harry Potter), the burgeoning love triangle, witches, warlocks, vampires, werewolves. But what made me love this book was the humor and the characterization. How the author delivered the growing romance and created the suspense with the plot. 

Sorry for the ranting :(. I just wanted to express my opinions and say that even though I may slip up sometimes in my reviews, by mentioning I'm exhausted by the constant vampire fighting or the sympathy for the poor best friend, I only blame them for its depiction, not for its ideas. What are your responses to the growing number of cliches?  

Eclipse Movie Review

With an even a hotter cast, steamier kissing scenes, and beautifully executed action, there were only a few moments of cringing while watching Eclipse (and of course, more ogling).

The introduction scene really set the somber tone of the movie. I loved the tense and scary atmosphere Riley's transformation scene created. I loved the expansion on Riley’s role in the movie, since it helped play on the viewer’s sympathy and his past, which sadly, the book didn’t. (Lol, and I have to admit, Xavier Samuel was another reason I loved seeing Riley more. Sorry Edward, Riley just stole my heart :)).

The acting again done by Kristin Stewart and Robert Pattison was bleh. I won’t go into a rant about how I hated the main casting from the start, but there were parts when the scenes were just awkward (such as the one between Bella telling Jacob about her imminent transformation), I had to cover my eyes. However, I loved some of the humorous parts (funniest part: Edward muttering about Jacob’s abs “Doesn’t he have a shirt?”) and the relation between Bella and Charlie’s dad.

There were a lot of steamy kissing scenes that you might not want young children to see (there was a mom covering a child’s eyes next to me during those scenes), but the chemistry was done beautifully, with Bella/Edward and Bella/Jacob.

I loved loved the action scene. It was intense and epic, especially the practice scene. The action was horrifying like it was supposed to be and realistic, even Victoria’s head being beheaded.

A big complaint I have is the ending. After Bella rejects Jacob officially, it ended with her and Edward in a beautiful prairie with flowers, even though the book ended with Jacob’s dejected feelings.

Minor Points:

• Please, please, I hope they get Nikki Reed to dye her eyebrows or something. She looked way too much like Lady Gaga.
• Loved the flashbacks
• Boo Boo Stewart (Seth) and Xavier Samuel (Riley) just made the movie shine more!

Now, I'm in my "Twilight obsession" phase. (Time to reserve on Breaking Dawn again.) So how did you think Eclipse was?

Forbidden Love-Love it or Flop?

Ok, so I had to go off on a tangent about this whole issue of “forbidden love” and whether to other readers, if it really is a plot line that attracts people and creates a ride of emotions.

The concept of Forbidden Love is hitting its peak in popularity, creating intense fan groups, and getting movie companies excited in creating the bittersweet movie that teenage girls would swoon over, but is it too overrated?

For example, take Twilight for instance. Edward and Bella…either the best romantic couple ever or the worst and most cliché. For me, it’s in the middle of the road, they’re very sweet together, even though Bella needs to stop being a whiny ARGH and Edward needs to stop being so “I’m too bad for you” and waste a book on his mellow and low self-esteem issues (even though I love Jacob! Team Jacob!). I understand where Edward comes from, saying oh, I killed a lot of people, so I’m not perfect for you. But, seriously, so he’s not perfect. Big deal! No one is perfect and he needs to stop being so conceited in thinking he should be, but rather just accept that he’s irrevocably in love with Bella and Bella is in love with him and they can have a happy future, that since they both love each other like soulmates, they should accept it and really enjoy their lives, instead of mulling over how bad they are for the other person or how they’re not meant to be together.

And recently I’ve been watching a lot of Asian dramas and it annoys me so much when the woman protagonist tries to get away from the male protagonist, even though they both love each other. She keeps making up little, petty excuses saying how she’s older than him or saying she’s not rich enough for him. I get it if it lasts for a few episodes, but if that’s the whole plot or it’s half of the season…UGH!

So, I wanted to ask you guys of you opinions. Do you guys adore the concept of forbidden love or do you guys think it’s a flop?