A youth leader's work is never done...treading the waters of some less than good teen pop culture

I'm struggle to write emails right now because my internet connection is playing up so I decided to blog instead.

As I start to be on the older end of the youth leader spectrum, suddenly keeping up with teen pop culture isn't as easy as it once was. Back in the day knowing (or at least having heard of) the TV shows, movies, music and books the teens were in to was second nature- helped by the fact that I listen to triple j and that I don't mind the odd angsty bit of teen drama/comedy on TV or in a film. Until a few years ago, I'd never heard of youth leaders going out of their way to watch, listen to or read what the teens were, and I wondered why anyone needed to. Then Twilight snuck up on me without my knowing about it and Justin Bieber was greeted with mass teen girl insanity when I'd never even heard of him. I realised that I may have lost my teen pop culture knowledge and was left to question whether I should make the effort to get it back.

Is it vital to know what is worth knowing about in the world of teen if you are going to be a youth leader? I'd say no. There are many youth leaders out there who don't. However is it a good idea to let be aware of it? I'd say definitely. Sometimes it isn't really an effort as it is something you'd do anyway- in my case listening to triple j and watching shows like Glee and Dr Who.

Unfortunately for the literary minded out there teen fiction of late (especially the fiction with mass appeal) has taken a turn for the worse and reading it can be quite the chore (Harry Potter isn't really young adult fiction so don't attack me Harry fans- it is good stuff)- where is the new John Marsden? Or next Looking for Alibrandi? At the same time, teen fiction is where teen girls (in particular) are getting a lot of their ideas and hopes from. This was partially in my mind when my book club made read me the first Twilight novel (it was so dreadful that I wasn't going to read anymore of them though I have seen the first three films), and I was shocked by the fact that novel was a testament to misplaced lust, female victimhood, and borderline abusive relationships. You may be thinking that I'm going too far but I read/watch quite a bit of vampire fiction (I considered writing my PhD on it) and I've never encountered a writer who was so unaware of the conventions of the genre that its inherent metaphors were so misplaced as to imply (almost implicitly state in fact) all of these things are normal. What does this knowledge benefit me? It means that I have some idea of where the teenage girls are getting their ideas from and that I can speak in a more informed way to both the teenagers and their parents about the books and whether they should be reading them- personally if teens are reading rubbish like Twilight, I'd say let them read as it is better than reading nothing but at the same time made sure that you (as youth leader or as parent or as anyone who has a role in a teen's life) know what things the books they read must be telling them so you can discuss the inherent issues (you don't have to struggle to read them, a wikipedia summary will probably tell you everything you need to know).Where does this bring me...to a youth leader's take on the new "it" book series for teens- Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games trilogy- be warned spoilers for people who haven't read them.

First published back in 2008, the film of the first book in the series will be out later this year. When describing these books to other adults, my short summary is "It is like Running Man but the competitors are less criminals and more teenagers". For those who don't get the reference have a longer plot summary. Sometime in the future, after the world has been destroyed by nuclear war, the US has been renamed Panem and has been divided in 13 districts (none of them wealthy, one of them supposedly destroyed) and a wealthy Capitol where people are obsessed with appearance and triviality. In order to demonstrate the control of the Capitol each year, two teenagers (one boy and one girl) are selected from each of the 12 existing districts to fight in the Hunger Games- an elaborate reality TV show designed by the Capitol in which the teens kill each other for the entertainment of the citizens of the Capitol and the horror of most of the people in the districts. Katniss Everdeen is 16 when her younger sister Prim is selected as the competitor for District 12 (somewhere in the current Appalachian region) in her first year of eligibility (when she is 12), and Katniss instantly volunteers to take her sister's place- also selected from District 12 is another 16 year old, Katniss's classmate Peeta Mellarck. At the time of her selection, Katniss is the sole provider for her family thanks to the hours she spends hunting illegally in the woods selecting District 12 with her best friend Gale Hawthorne. Under the tutelage of former District 12 Hunger Games winner, Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss and Peeta travel to Capitol, and start the Games though not before Peeta publicly reveals that he loves Katniss. The Games progress and following a trick by Katniss, both she and Peeta survive. The trick of Katniss provokes her forced involvement in the next Hunger Games in the second book and a rebellion across the districts in the third.

I read all three books in one week and I was thankfully that they were quick reads. They are very action packed and if you don't pick at them too much, I'm sure they would be OK or at least the first one would be. I found them full of plot holes. The concept in the first book was interesting as even though it is an old idea, the notion of using teens instead of adults is new. However I cared little for any of the characters (including Katniss and Peeta) nor were they unlikeable enough to interest me (the closest I came to liking anyone was the unlikeable alcoholic, Haymitch), and I couldn't stop myself from asking why certain devices were used and being unable to get past not being able understand little things like how they were filming the Hunger Games. The second and third book are much less interesting, especially if you aren't a massive fan of any of the characters, and the writing quality (which isn't great in the first book) gets worse especially as Katniss swings her affection from Gale to Peeta and back again (I may not like any of them but I think for most of the books she seems to picking the wrong one, and when she eventually wakes up to who the better boy is it is pretty much an epilogue in the third book and then it is only after his brain has been turned to mush and rebuilt). Putting my youth leader hat on, I'd add that these books are bleak in the extreme and at time insanely violent. I would say that they are definitely not for anyone under 12 or 13 (the age at which I read Tomorrow When The War Began which is leans in that direction- though it isn't as bleak or as violent) and even then only for more mature kids of that age as the theme will be too startling for younger or more immature readers. On the plus side, it is better than Twilight. Katniss is a considerable better hero for young girls than Twilight's Bella Swan . Katniss is confident, strong and has a sacrificial love for her family as opposed to Bella's constant victimhood. Both of the significant love interests are better than Edward Cullen as neither openly lusts after Katniss, neither ignores her nor goes out of his way to hurt her, both respect her, and both understand that she is not fully prepared for a relationship with either of them until the end of the trilogy. There are many things wrong with these books but their view of human relationships (especially in a Twilight universe) amongst the principle characters isn't one of them, and even though I didn't love the books, I'm going to watch the films.

Anyhow that me done of the worthwhile-ness of being aware of teen pop culture. I'm off to cleanse my brain from all the teen fiction with the combo of the rest of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Raymond Chandler's Farewell, My Lovely, Jeffrey Eugenides's The Marriage Plot and Terry Pratchett's Snuff.

How it ended....finishing the Novel Challenge

As I sit here wearing a t-shirt depicting the cover of a book I quite like (The Great Gatsby) and watching a mediocre film adaptation of one of my favourite books (the 2008 version of Evelyn Waugh's Bridehead Revisited- despite the presence of Matthew Goode and Ben Whishaw who are two of the best young actors in Britain, it isn't great- that said if you haven't read the book, you must do so), I'm reminded that I haven't let any loyal readers I might have know how the MS Novel Challenge ended up for me. In the end I read 19 books (I didn't finish The Tennant of Wildfell Hall but I'm still working on that) which would have totalled up to at least 10000 pages (probably significantly more) and, including one late direct donation a friend is making, I raised $350!

So much thanks to all who donated and read along with massive journey of books!

This means that whilst the blog will occasionally roam into the land of books (I think I'll be posting something tomorrow that is mildly about books in fact) , that they will no longer be the focus. If you don't want the book blogging to end I recommend the blog of someone I know who is attempting to read through all the "greatest" books ever written- http://rainymondaymorning.wordpress.com/ - currently she is reading A. S. Byatt's Possession. If you just want some book porn and think that my cover pictures did not suffice, check out the tumblr profile- http://libraryporn.tumblr.com/

So to end my Novel Challenge blog I will remind you again to read Marieke Hardy's You'll be Sorry When I'm Dead and, of course, everything ever written by Jonathan Franzen.

Just to end with a photo of some of the shelves of my bookshelf- some people have phobias of this bookshelf falling on them, which thankfully is yet to happen