One of the most popular
stories of the past five years has been the Twilight saga. It was read
by millions and then was seen by more millions when it was sent to the big
screen. But other then debuting at fifth on the New York Times Bestsellers
list, none of the books in the saga ever won a legitimate, literary award. (And
no, teen choice and teen magazine awards are not legitimate.) Does that mean
Stephanie Meyer isn’t of the literary caliber of other best selling authors?
Well, maybe.
Why don’t these best
selling books and their authors win more awards?
Fifty Shades of Grey, and its trilogy has
recently become one of the most talked about books on the Times bestsellers list. But E.L. James and his Fifty
Shades series has won zero awards. But then why
is it so popular? Why are sales for Fifty Shades going up and up?Answer: The big screen.
Recently, Fifty
Shades of Grey has become very popular and one of the most talked of books on
the Times. Recently, it was announced that Fifty Shades of Grey was
being picked up for a major motion picture with a rumored cast consisting of Channing
Tatum—which, much like the books, highly attracts women, who then read the
books and talk the books out so they can see the movie.
And the same is said for the Twilight saga.
Teenage girls became obsessed with the vampire-love story. Then a werewolf got
introduced and the book had all the cliché plot structures needed to make a
teenage girl obsessed. Then you send the movie to the big screen and cast so
called, “attractive” guys as the main characters and the world rages for more Twilight
and the movies become some of the most successful movies of all time. Thus, the
books and Stephanie Meyer become much more popular, even if they have zero
literary awards. Not to say they’re bad authors, but many best selling authors
owe their fame to Hollywood producers, directors, and obsessed teenage girls.
Speaking as a girl, I personally enjoy when directors use attractive guys when casting actors for movies. I picture these type of guys while I'm reading because it's just a natural process. Casting attractive actors is a way to appeal to girls everywhere, bringing people to the theaters, and making money for everyone involved. I don't see anything wrong with it!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I love your take on this. I've never heard someone give literary credit to a director or a screen-write, but it makes a lot of sense. Thinking back, a lot of best selling books were made into movies, or the movie was novelized. So the publicity for the movie was also helping to sell the book. That's a very interesting thought.
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