Oh Jane, what have you done?

So first, a few responses to some comments (and how lovely to have you read and respond. Thank you!):
1. Hana, after reading your comment, I was struck that by the overwhelming irony that Mr. Klosterman uses a great amount of generalizations to try to criticize the generalizations of The Real World generation. You're right--he's not entirely accurate, but he makes a point worth pondering. Do we become the people we think that others want us to be or do we strive to be our own people? But that also opens up a third option--do we fight the stereotypes and try to be the opposite thereby creating another stereotypical personality?
2. Chris, I'd love to walk! I've been sick this week so exercise hasn't been happening, but I'll give you a call next week. I love Christmas in February. :)
3. Julie, you do need to read this book. It's quality. Chuck thinks we become the people that MTV has already put on tv. After all, this is a time when you can be famous for being famous. You don't need any skill or talent or even intellect. It's much easier to be who you think people want. Because what part of reality tv is real?

In my next post, we will be taking a trip down memory lane with the gang from Bayside High. But now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

I remember the day so very clearly. I was in the 8th grade English class with Mrs. Neufell at Trinity Junior High. She gave us a list of approved book, and told us to pick one. After we read it, we were going to have a test. And the book that I picked changed my life. That afternoon was the first time I read any of the words of Jane Austen. My flute needed something done to it, so mom drove us out to Barling to see the guy who fixes instruments and I read the whole way there and back (and my mom doesn't drive fast, so I got a bit of reading done--"just because the speed limit says 35 doesn't mean you have to go 35"). And by the time I was back home, I was hooked. There was this whole other world out there that I could learn about. A different time, a different place, a different culture. It was beautiful. And then later that year the BBC aired their 6 hour Pride and Prejudice for the first time. I met Colin Firth (be still my heart) and Mr. Darcy's role as my hero had been cemented in my heart.

But I've been sick this past week (yes, I feel much better now that the drugs have had time to work), and when I'm sick I go for comfort and familiarity. Which means I watch P&P. All glorious 6 hours of it. But I was struck this time by something: Mr. Darcy really is a jerk at the beginning. And then the next time Elizabeth sees him, he acts completely different. Why does she fall for that? It strikes me as odd actually. And then I asked myself the question: why am I in love with Mr. Darcy? Is it because he's brooding and handsome? Because that's great in fiction but not in real life. I don't want the emotionally distant and arrogant type that he is, but something keeps me coming back for more. I'm like a junkie--I can't stay away from all things Jane.

So it begs the question: Jane, what have you done to me? Have you turned me into a girl who is always looking for the unattainable? Have I become that girl who always wants what I can't possibly have? Is it wrong to be in love with a fictional character? Jane, Jane, Jane...have you ruined my life?

There's actually a whole new genre of literature that addresses this basic question; last year I read the book Jane Austen Ruined My Life. It's fiction, but in it the leading lady (much like myself) has spent her life loving Mr. Darcy, and she thinks she's found him only to have her heart stomped on. So she goes out into the world blaming Jane for thinking that she could have ever had it all in the first place. And later on, when she does find someone who genuinely cares about her, she doesn't trust it because she's been so hurt in the past. So can Jane ruin lives?

I think that part of the lasting appeal of Jane's books are that they're basically fairy tales. In the end, the good people are rewarded and the bad people are outed and punished in some form or fashion. And wouldn't it be nice if the real world were like that? I wish I could know within a few chapters of conversation if people have good intentions or bad. And I think it's not such a bad thing to want the world to be a little bit simpler. Maybe I read Jane because she always has hope in the end; her books in with weddings, and that's a beginning. Maybe it's about the possibility. Jane can only take us so far and then we have to figure it out on our own. But she surely does leave us with the hope that things will work out in the end, that happiness is within our grasp.