Christmas Hallmark Cliches

December is over, which means that with Christmas, we’re now done with the Hallmark holiday movies. I can’t be the only one who binge watches those over December. Hubby thinks that it’s hilarious, since I hate the terrible dialogue and obvious plot holes, but it’s like I can’t look away. I get frustrated by the story, but I want to keep with the ‘feel good’ experience.

That being said, there’s definitely been several clichés that I’ve noticed pop up in various movies, so I thought I’d share my top Christmas movie clichés with all of you.

1.       Santa’s helper, or the angel, or random person who interferes with a person’s life without any warning at all. Or explanation.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I would be really annoyed with some random person if they suddenly turned my life back ten years, or forced me to relive a day over and over until I finally got the Christmas message. I mean, who gives them the power to decide that this person needs to learn a lesson? It almost makes me think of Krampus, the evil elf, who comes and punishes children who were naughty. Just let them learn the lessons on their own!

2.       Everyone is in a broken and irreparable relationship.

Holidays are apparently for finding love, but there’s no way to do that if you’re already in a relationship! So cue the controlling, domineering boyfriend, or the clingy, over the top girlfriend, just ripe for dumping! And why would you want to dump him/her? Because the love of your life is just around the Christmas corner. I mean, I get that the holidays aren’t fun to spend on your own, but seriously, why is everyone is such a bad relationship in December? It makes absolutely no sense to me.

3.       The workaholic, focused-on-her-career woman who just needs to understand that love is around the corner.

And obviously, she should stop focusing on her career because that’s not within the Christmas spirit. It always seems that there’s a story focused on a woman whose boss is over the top and forces her to work Christmas with the promise of a promotion if she just gets this one thing done. And of course, it can’t wait until the holidays. Enter the love interest who shows her that a career isn’t everything. In fact, it’s probably not important at all. Cue the happy Christmas music. I actually yelled at a movie because a woman chose to completely leave her job because she could have a family. Why can’t you do both?

4.       Insta-love. Boy meets girl, boy and girl have an amazing night together, and now their lives are intertwined for forever.

I’m not a fan of insta-love in general. The holidays are short. Three, four weeks max? That’s not enough time to decide that you’re destined to be together. Maybe you should spend some time… I don’t know… when you’re not hopped up on candy cane sugar? Real relationships are about compromise, and dealing with the world, not avoiding it because it’s Christmas. Once the lights are put away, and the songs in the department stores are back to normal, the magic could wear off. Then you’re back where you started, in that broken, irreparable relationship that only blossoms in the Christmas season.

So those are my top clichés for Christmas movies. And don’t get me wrong, I still love them, even though I don’t always know why. What are your top clichés for Christmas movies? 

Americans on Display

Last week, I talked about clichés concerning race and culture. More often than not, a cliché is there because there is a basis for it. I get to see it from all sides because I’m an American who looks Asian.

When I was living in Spain, no one knew what I was. I was obviously not Hispanic (usually) though I spoke the language fluently. Most people couldn’t even tell I had an accent. I looked Asian, but I spoke English. Most of the time, that meant I could blend in, and no one assumed I spoke their language.

You know that American cliché? The one of the tourist who talks really loud, wears ridiculous clothes and assumes everyone speaks English?

They actually exist.

I had a friend dress up as an American tourist for Halloween once. He wore a very bright Hawaiian shirt, a large camera, and socks with sandals. It was hilarious. Until I saw someone dressed just like that in Madrid, right down to the socks and sandals. He had his wife with him, and at least three or four kids. I watched in a strange mix of fascination and horror as he shouted to his family, “Come on kids! They’ve got trains underground here!”

 In the metro, American speak as loud as they want, assuming that people don’t understand what they’re saying. To tell the truth, probably sixty percent of us did. English is a language that most other countries teach their children to speak. If they don’t feel comfortable speaking it, I can guarantee that most of them at least understand it.

My husband told me that most of the videogames he played were in English, and he had to figure out what they were saying so he could advance. He understood me when I thought no one spoke my language. My friends and I were at a bar in Sol (center of the city) and someone came up to us, and asked in broken English why so many Americans hung out in the bar.

It’s a little scary, to think of the impression that we make on other cultures without even realizing it. From TV shows to travelers, we’re everywhere, and on display. Sometimes, I wonder if we know how much other countries watch us. 

Dealing with Stereotypes

There’s no denying I look Asian. And there’s also no denying that most people have stereotypes about Asian people. They’re super smart, brilliant with electronics, short, take lots of pictures… really there’s an unending list. I’ve dealt with it my whole life, and occasionally, I’ve learned to embrace the cliché. Not because it’s true, but because it’s hilarious.

When I first became a nurse, I worked with some awesome people. Honestly, I’ve got to say that it was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had in my life. Most of my coworkers were from Kenya, though there were a few who were from Nigeria, and a few from Zambia. In the facility, there were the Africans, the African-Americans, and the white management.

Then there was me.

They all knew I was Asian, and they all assumed I was the complete package of the 'total' Asian.

I had one particular coworker, who was almost the exact opposite of me. He was African, about six-six, and definitely intimidating. Me, not so much. I’m barely over five foot, and I’ve got the kind of face that makes people think cute, not scary. Whenever the two of us worked together, we had a lot of fun. We had an elevated nurses’ station (so no one could climb over and attack us) and when we were both sitting, you couldn’t see me, but everyone could see him. A few resident’s family members thought he was talking to himself.

I happened to mention to him, as a joke, a few weeks after working together, that I was a karate black belt. It was a joke for me, because people tend to assume that I know martial arts. Truth is, I took one day of karate and then went home and told my mom I didn’t want to go back because I had to hit people.

Apparently my co-worker thought I was telling the truth. Mostly because I hadn't mastered the skill of sarcasm yet. For months, whenever I asked for help, or needed anything, he was there. Other nurses complained that he would try to get out of duties, but not with me. It wasn’t until much later that I learned it was because he was afraid of me. Me! The little, short, cute Asian. Just because I’d made a joke about being a black belt.

Me, my first day as a nurse

It became one of our inside jokes, once he found out I wasn’t trained in martial arts at all.

Anyone else have to deal with stereotypes? Do they work to your advantage or disadvantage?

My Top 5 Romance Pet Peeves

Hey all! It’s the week before February 14^th, which means love is in the air, right? Unfortunately, hubby and I are both pretty bad at celebrating holidays, and Valentine’s Day tends to be the forgotten one of the bunch. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy love.

Or love stories.

Recently, I’ve been on quite a Hallmark kick, which means I’ve been binging a lot of really bad romantic movies. Every time I watch one, I think about what I like, don’t like, so really… it’s research. The more I watch, the more trends I tend to see, and many of them irk me nonstop. Since we haven’t quite gotten to Valentine’s Day yet, I thought I’d list the top five annoying romance cliché’s I'm tired of.

1.       Instalove.

Seriously. I don’t know how else to say this. Whether it be by magic, or by true love or soul mates, for some reason, it’s acceptable to fall in love with someone, know you’re destined to be together forever (because said magic, soul mates, etc told you) and never really get to know the person. Hey, I’m all for love at first sight, and I’m not saying it doesn’t happen. But it doesn’t mean that you don’t have to get to know the person either. Everyone has a different background, different beliefs, and if you don’t talk about them, then your romance isn’t going to end up with that happily ever after.

2.       Lying.

This one irks me beyond belief. I know that during the third act, there needs to be something that keeps the lovers from being together, but when it’s a small matter of not communicating, it makes me want to scream. That’s what a good relationship is built on, communication. If you start lying to each other, no matter how ‘noble’ the reason, it’s still going to hurt the relationship. It’s one of the biggest reasons why I actually liked the movie version of Insurgent over the book version. They got rid of most of the lying and secret keeping between Four and Tris.

3.       Love for the sake of love.

I’m all for romance. Actually, I prefer having some sort of romance in a story, but to throw two characters together and tell the audience they’re in love because it moves the plot along doesn’t do it for me. Where’ the chemistry? There are so many stories where I honestly don’t understand why the characters are attracted to one another. Or why they want to be in a same room together. There’s no buildup, and it feels contrived. I’m looking at you, Black Widow and Hulk!

4.       Indecisiveness

This one kind of goes in with the love triangles. Obviously, we aren’t always aware of our feelings, but to be wishy washy for long periods of time makes me frustrated. Or leading someone on that you’re obviously not in love with because – drama! I think this is one of the reason why love triangles are so hated. Because they never last that long in real life. The reader, and the third character are going to feel cheated. Don’t drag it out for so long that your readers stop caring.

5.       The boring, no-good boyfriend.

Okay, where did this guy come from? For some reason, there are so many stories where the girl is stuck in a dead-end relationship with some guy who is either boring, doesn’t care about her interests and hobbies, or is too stuck in his own work to notice her. Of course, this leads to the main love interest to swoop in and save the day, showing her what real love is. How is it that it’s okay for a girl to settle for guys like this? Shouldn’t we be teaching younger girls not to settle? Maybe that’s what the romance is trying to tell us? Also, for some reason, it’s perfectly acceptable for the girl to choose the new guy. There was one movie in particular I’d been watching, where I was rooting for the boring guy to just dump her because she wasn’t being faithful to him, in any sense of the word.

So there you have it! My top five pet peeves with romance. What drives you insane? What trends do you wish would just stop?

Whiny Girls?

On Sunday, I was talking to one of my cousins.  I enjoy talking to him about books because he’s the age group that most of my writing is geared toward.  It’s also interesting because he’s a boy, and so he has a different point of view.  He’s the one who recommended the Ascendance trilogy (I read the whole trilogy in a week).

I was trying to think of a book that he would enjoy, and I tried to recommend a few books that I’ve read recently, and he asked a question I didn’t expect.

Is the main character a boy or a girl?

Huh?  I know that I’ve read about boys not wanting to read books about girls, but I’d never actually experienced that before.  I told him that the main characters were girls, and he immediately dismissed the books.  Just because the main characters were girls.

His reasoning?  Girls in young adult books are ‘too whiny’. 

I’ve been thinking about what that means.  If it’s a young adult book, means the character is almost definitely a teenager.  How do you make a teenage girl realistic but not whiny?  Growing up, I feel like I was fairly whiny, and I felt the same way about my sisters.  Now that I’m not a teenager, it feels like they get whiner and whinier. 

Young adult books are about a character discovering who they are.  It’s less about the trials, and the overcoming, and more about determining how they fit in their world.  Growing up like that – it’s going to be rough, there’s going to be learning and overcoming.  And whining.  If there’s a character who never wonders what their purpose is, who never complains or has doubt, I don’t know that they would draw a reader in.  We want to read about someone with flaws.  Someone who isn’t perfect, who doesn’t have complete control of their lives.

But how do we create a character with flaws and doubts without turning off the male population?

Any thoughts?  Ideas?

Dum dum dum! I’m the Villain!

Last week, I wasn’t feeling so well, so I pulled up Netflix and decided to try “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2.”  I’m not always a fan of sequels, and I went in not expecting it to be as great as the first one.

I thought it was actually pretty creative, though there was one thing that really bothered me.  The villain came in the first few minutes of the movie and announced to the audience that he was indeed the villain.  Then he went on to become the main character’s mentor, though everything he did was clouded by the fact that I already knew that he was up to no good.

As I was watching, I started wondering why it was so important for the audience to know that he was evil to begin with.  Would the story have been different?  Probably not.  The young, enthusiastic inventor would have still learned from the older, wiser inventor.  He would have been sent out to save the island and ultimately saved the ‘animals’ living there.

The difference would have been that I wouldn’t be waiting for the other shoe to drop.  And I kept wondering how the main character couldn’t see it.  I mean, after all, he’s been so obvious in his evil intent that I told the audience within a few minutes.  How couldn’t he see it too?  I think I would have enjoyed the movie more if I had been with the main character, wondering if he was doing the right thing, instead of knowing he was making a mistake.

Which, in turn, made me wonder what kind of villains I’m creating.  Are they all so evil that there’s no chance of redemption?  Does the main character know who they really are or do they have an angel face hiding what they’re really up to?

Personally, I’m starting to really enjoy creating angel faces. 

How about you?  What kind of villains do you like to read?

I Think I Just Read That…

This month, I’ve been playing around with my new e-reader, and though I still miss the feeling of turning pages and closing the book when I finish. 

Despite that, I am adjusting, and I’m loving the fact that there are so many books at my fingertips!  Just this month, I’ve read three novels, one anthology and novellas.  And it’s even better because I can finally support all of my writing buddies who are publishing as well.

What’s interesting is that as I’m reading (especially as quickly as I’m reading), I’m starting to notice a trend.  Common themes between stories that makes me compare them. 

A few months ago, my sister lent me a book, one she thought I would really enjoy.  I sat down, started reading and my first thought was: 

Uh oh.  I’ve already read this book. 

I hadn’t actually read it, but I’d read one remarkably similar.  Two siblings with unknown powers that made them gods, they’re separated from their family, guided by mentors who know the magic that they possess.  It probably sounds familiar to you too, though I’m probably not talking about the book that you’re thinking of. 

What surprised and delighted me about the novel that my sister gave me was that it was easier to jump into the world and enjoy the ride with the main characters.  In the book I’d read before, I’d actually stopped reading halfway through because I couldn’t stand the main characters.  (Something that very rarely happens to me as a reader.  I think there are only 5-6 books that I’ve ever not finished.) 

Both books started out with the same idea, the same blurb could be used for them.  But they went in two completely separate directions.  In writing, just like anything else when creating occurs, there is the chance of writing a story remarkably similar to someone else.  Even if they’re across the world.  Does that mean that we should give up?  Stop writing because someone else might be writing it?

No.  But it does give us the challenge to make our story ours.  What is it about your story (or my story) that stands out?  What’s the theme, who are the characters?  Two of the novels I read this month include children who are separated by special abilities by color.  Almost identical in that idea and aspect.  It’s a way of categorizing, of separating them.  And it’s something I’ve used in novels of my own.  Yet when comparing the two stories, they are remarkably different.  Enough so that I was able to enjoy both without worrying about whether I’ve “already read it.”

Create something that’s yours.  Find what makes your work unique.  Because chances are, that’s what your reader is going to remember.

Fantasy Cliches

Recently, I’ve been reading a lot of posts and comments made where people have said that fantasy has become old and clichéd.  It’s always the same – the dragons, the elves, the epic battles and magic, or maybe vampire sand werewolves.  They’ve lamented that there’s never anything new in fantasy.

I disagree.  I honestly can’t remember the last fantasy I’ve read with dragons.  Probably Eragon, several years ago, when I was stranded in Newark Airport for a day and a half.  We all know the popular or well-known mainstream fantasies.  And the complaints reminded me of something I’d found years ago – Something called the Fantasy Novelist’s Exam.  Check it out.  If you want a chuckle, this is what you’re been looking for.  http://www.rinkworks.com/fnovel/

Though it is funny to read the entire list of clichés in fantasy writing, there’s still some truth in it.  How many of us have come to expect something from this list, just because it’s fantasy?

The trick is to avoid the cliché.

Does every story have to have magical creatures, epic battles or wizards?  No.

I posed this question in a fantasy writer’s community, and I was surprised by the quick and insightful thoughts.  I was told that if someone is only finding these kinds of stories, they’re looking in the wrong place.  Fantasy is anything that has an element that doesn’t exist in our reality.  I write fantasy, and I have the tendency to minimalize the fantastical parts so that they almost seem a part of everyday life. 

Every reader will find their own unique niche.  There are so many options available and all we need to look.

What clichés are you tired of?  Not just in fantasy, but in books in general?