Saturday, February 20, 2010

Cliches I never want to see again.

A follow up to last week's "Cliches I'm not tired of...yet." If I see any of the following cliches again, I may be forced to take action or rip my eyes out or something equally drastic.

I was normal until he came along.

A normal girl. She's not popular, but she has a super close friend or two. She gets good grades. She might have a messed up family (absent mother or father, most likely), or maybe she's the one who is messed up, but something messed up is going on. She probably has only one hobby or no hobbies at all because she's so focused on school and her family/friend relationships. She lives a perfectly happy, normal life. That is, until she sees him. Once she catches him staring at her, she's a goner. She can't stop thinking about him, even though she tries not to. She unwillingly befriends him, and then she finds out he has a secret. A big secret: he's...some sort of dangerous supernatural creature. But she falls in love with him anyway.

(No, I am not only referring to Twilight.)

THIS SITUATION MAKES ME MAD. It's not SUPER common, but I have seen it multiple times and it's just ugh. *headdesk*

Cheerleaders suck.

Mean, popular, cheerleaders that hate our main character for no good reason. I mean, really? I can't believe this still shows up. Maybe it's because I can't relate because my school doesn't even have a cheerleading squad, but come on. This one is just plain annoying.

My best friend is prettier than me.

The best friend who is way smarter, prettier, more interesting, and more popular than our main character. This one is definitely made worse because the main character feels the need to mention how their best friend is better than them all the time. If the best friend was really more interesting, I think we would be reading her story, not the boring main character's.

I get it, the main character has low self esteem, but can't I read about someone with even a bit of confidence for once?

I take algebra every year.

--The main character takes algebra. This one is a little silly for me to hate, but I always notice that most of the time, the main character takes algebra no matter what grade they're in. It's not that hard to figure out what math a sophomore or junior takes, because a lot of them sure don't take algebra.

You could even be a little more specific a say Algebra II, but no, it's always just plain old algebra.

Or you could avoid this problem altogether by just saying "I have math homework today" instead of "I have Algebra homework today." Because really, it's mainly the annoying kids nobody likes who say things like "Hey ___, do we have any honors algebra II homework today?" or "My honors Algebra II homework took forever last night, but I totally understood it."*

edit: apparently some people are "offended" by this one. I know some juniors still take algebra, but the vast majority don't and unless the majority of YA characters suck at math, I don't get why they take it and why it even needs to be mentioned. Or maybe YA characters are too busy getting the answers to life's questions from English or art class to pass math?

---

That's all I can think of at the moment, but there are more, TRUST ME. Anyone else have any least favorites?

*Of course I didn't take these phrases from the annoying kid no one likes. ;)
Posted by at 3:00 AM
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23 comments:

  1. HAHAHAH! And luckily I took Honors classes but not math, never math! ;)
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  2. Great list! I really hate the "I was normal until he came long".
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  4. I took Algebra junior year in HS.
    My schedule went like this:
    Freshman: Pre-algebra
    Sophomore: Geometry/Trig
    Junior: Algebra (not 1 or 2, just plain)
    Senior: Pre-Calc

    I don't think this is so odd. It's probably just different school to school. This doesn't bother me as much as juniors who take biology since I've polled a lot of people and everyone had Bio freshman year because it seems to be the easiest of the sciences.
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  5. In general, the whole vampire theme!

    And gee, I had Algebra in 8th grade! 11th grade seems really late to me.
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  6. Oh hey, don't forget the one where the said plain girl (with two hot guys fighting over her naturally) goes out and does something really stupid to put herself in danger so that one of the hot guy can come and rescue her.
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  7. LOVE THIS LIST!!!

    Here's another one: Girl attends boarding school, but only because she's on scholarship. No way can you lump her in with all those RICH people! She is to be pitied.
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  8. Anon: I just think it's odd that even seniors in books are still taking algebra, and generally everyone around here is done with algebra by sophomore year. But I really don't mind that juniors in books take it, I mind that EVERYONE takes algebra that, no matter what. xD

    BUT YES, OMG STILL TAKING BIOLOGY! YES! AP Bio as a junior, yes, but just taking regular bio as a junior seems really late. Even if you take a freshman science (which like no schools around here offer anyway) you have to take bio sophomore year, right?

    Kelly: OMG YES.
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  9. I totally agree with the algebra thing! I took algebra in 8th grade, so it's seems weird that older high school students in books would be taking it.
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  10. These are so funny. I have to say I never noticed the algebra thing because in the UK you just take 'Maths' every year and that involves a little bit of everything. I'll bet I notice it a heap from now on.
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  11. 1. not that this is helpful, but at my high school we had the "integrated" math system, meaning for three years we had a bit of everything. the high performance math kids had "integrated math 3" sophomore year, pre-calc junior year, and ap calc (there wasn't a regular calc option, only ap) senior year. the regular kids had integrated 3 junior year, and either pre-calc or ap stats senior year. or nothing senior year, because math wasn't required after junior year.
    but yes, you are exactly right, khy. maybe it was because we never had straight algebra or geometry or whatever, but we always said "math homework." the only people who said "pre-calc homework" were the annoying juniors who wanted rub in the fact that they were "smarter".

    2. what i am really sick of is "i met you in biology, and then our love began." i forgive maureen johnson for this because i love her, for one thing, but also because her characters already knew each other before being bio partners. and thirdly because it seemed as though they could have sat next to each other in any class. she didn't pick biology for tell-tale blood sampling (which i can't imagine any high school actually condoning) or discussions about ideal mates (ditto. i mean, it's one thing to be in health and maybe have your teacher tell you to think about it, but a completely different thing to have a class discussion in which one student is clearly talking about and embarrassing another).

    3. pretty much, i agree with you on all of these. i've never in my life met a mean, popular cheerleader, and "i was normal until he came along" makes me crazy. actually, 9 times out of 10, paranormal romance makes me crazy, but that's another story altogether.
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  12. Umm...I was a junior when I took algebra. Why? Because I sucked arse at math. There was other juniors with me and one senior and we all did feel quite stupid with a bunch of freshman, so I don't see it being uncommon. And I've never noticed algebra classes in books, but now I will be on the look out!

    I completely with ya on the I'm Normal Until He Came Along. I like it in a few stories, but now it's getting to be too much.
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  13. JYTBB: The math thing is just annoying because the number of people who take algebra after freshman year is REALLY small. Unless most YA characters suck at math, I don't see why most of them take it.

    Then again, it would make sense for them to suck at math because they are obviously better at English or art because they have an understanding English or art teacher that helps them understand their problems. x.x
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  14. LOL! I think you just figured out the mystery of the algebra cliche.
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  15. I took Algebra 1 in 7th grade and algebra 2 in 8th grade, so I completely agree about the algebra thing.

    I also don't like the cheerleader thing because at my school all the cheerleaders are the smartest people in my grade AND are really nice.

    Actually, I agree about EVERYTHING because I HATE hearing about self esteem issues (because I think those types of people are pathetic) and I HATE the whole "omg my life is sooo much better now that I have a boyfriend" Twilight/Evermore/tons-of-other-lame-books thing.

    AWESOME LIST!!!
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  17. I definitely agree with the I Was Normal Til HE came along. I get that there's hormones, and oooo boys, but I hate that a lot of girls seem to lose their identity in that cliche, like they change completely, which is stupid.

    Also, with the best friend cliche, if the best friend is so much more awesome, than why is the best friend friends with the main character, I mean, wouldn't the awesome/way better best friend go find other awesome/way better people to hang out with.
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  18. Oh no, it's not the algebra for me. It's the "we-are-stuck-together-in-chemistry/biology-class". =0=
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  19. In regards to math/science, I do agree with you. My math went like this:

    8th- Pre-Algebra
    9th- Algebra I
    10th- Geometry
    11th- Algebra II
    12th (optional)- Trig + Pre-Calc (yes, I was a math nerd)

    As for science, I had regular science freshman year and bio sophomore year. But I did also have friends who took Bio freshman year cuz they got out of the regular science by being smart, lol.

    That's why I liked Meg Cabot's PD series because Mia always was doing something new every year and it followed a standard pattern. But then again, most YA authors aren't doing a 10 book series that follows a character all through high school... Hm.

    But I loved your cliches- very funny! I like reading your thoughts on these things because they're so hilarious!
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  20. Totally agree with you. I'm getting a little annoyed with the ones where they were normal until something happens and now they have to go to a special school to hone their skills, weather it be magic, super natural fighting skills, necomancy, vampire skills etc.
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  21. I think you should present these at an SCBWI conference or something. "A Teen Speaks Out: Stop Putting These Cliches in Your Books!" People would eat it up.
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  22. nice post. thanks.
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  23. I totally agree with you about the cheerleaders! Our school has a squad, but they're not all that popular and certainly not known for their bitchiness.

    And the annoying kid who always has to mention the exact class? -- "oh, my honors biology AP homework was so ___" -- glad to know I'm not the only one who gets really annoyed at that. :)
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