“_____ series is totally a rip off of ______ series!”

This seems to be a statement I’ve encountered a lot lately. And it made me wonder why people seem to say it so much.

Perhaps it’s because a series’ fan base is so loyal they cannot fathom another series that holds similar attributes. They feel they hold some sort of territorial grip over the author and their works. They might feel they need to “protect” the author from copycats. Another reason could be that the person complaining is not well read, that is to say that they have only read the series and live by it, and the second they read another book it will of course be in the same genre. This is because they enjoy the genre of the series they like. This might make them jump to the conclusion that any other series in that genre is a rip off the one they enjoy.

What they don’t realize though, is that there are only so many ideas out there before you have to start reinventing the old ones. That would be an explanation as to why there are hundreds of books related to dystopian civilizations and people having to go through trials. This is not to say that these books are all the same. On the contrary, each author puts their own spin on the genre. Just because an author decides to sew a story about magicians does not automatically make it a Harry Potter rip off. There is also the matter of trends. Vampires was the last big one and many authors jumped on that wagon. We are now in the trend of dystopian civilizations and trials.

So just enjoy each book you read and understand that you are reading a unique work, separate from any other.

-Collins

Why I don’t do Politics

Tis the season of elections and politicians kissing babies. Being the total Scrooge that I am, I wanted to share a younger person’s perspective on politics and explain why I don’t vote or follow elections. I can’t speak for everyone who doesn’t vote, but this is my reasoning.

The Naughty List:

• The first problem with politicians is that they do not have the best interests of the people at heart, they just hear dollar signs. It’s all about money, which isn’t surprising, because everything else is in this world.
• The candidates for vice president of the United States, during the debates, had nothing to talk about other than foreign affairs and nuclear weapons
• The system is corrupt
• I don’t need others shoving down my throat that I need to exercise my right to vote, I have just as much right to exercise my right to not vote
• I don’t want to waste a vote on choosing the least awful candidate, that’s not exercising my choice because they isn’t a good candidate to choose. That’s like deciding which poison would taste less bad when you try to off someone. Hemlock or arsenic? Hmm…
• Just voting for the least awful person so the party you would much less rather have in power can’t have majority
• Because what you were promised will never come to fruition
• Because even if who you voted into power wins, you will still dislike them when they do something you don’t agree with
• It’s not that I don’t care, it’s that I’d rather life in a blissful ignorance. The elections won’t really affect me (I’d just have to life with whatever they did anyway), and my one vote won’t make a difference (contrary to popular belief)
• Donald Trump is running for president…. nuff said.
• Politics are a joke. These people are supposed to run a country, but when they get on a debate, everyone is arguing over each other, making jabs, and bulldozing over the mediator.
• We vote into power a candidate to represent a large portion of people, but who’s to say this candidate really has the group’s interests in mind?

I clearly have a bone to pick with politics, so what would I suggest would make a big difference and actually include the thoughts and ideas of the people as a whole?

The Nice List:

• Create a system that brings the issues to the people. There are no candidates or one voice to speak for everyone. Have different legislation drafted to solve the problem and then have people vote for which solution sounds the best. This way, a larger portion of the population will have a say and feel that their opinion actually matters.

I know this system would perhaps have a few flaws to tweak, but I think it’s a decent idea. Nothing could be worse than the sham of a democracy we have now.

-Collins

Is a woman be defined by the length of her hemline? Yes.

This is a question that has always been steeped in controversy. There are usually two polar opposing views, but I wanted to share my take. Bear with me as I have to un-jumble the gazillion different opinions that are bouncing around inside my head.

Let’s start with the media’s view of women in general. We are usually portrayed as objects of sexual temptation and desire. This is not to say being a sexual being is wrong, but the use of the label “object” is what holds the negative connotation. In being labeled an object, we, as women, are broken down into pieces. We become “the girl with the big boobs,” or “The chick with the nice ass.” Rarely is a woman sought after because of her intellect or her personality.

Now here is the second problem. Women now have to choose how they want to display these assets. Do they want to dress conservatively, so as not to draw attention to their bodies? Or do they want to celebrate and flaunt the assets they are proud of by dressing more revealingly. In my opinion, neither option is wrong. But again, that nasty little connotation with dressing revealingly creeps into your mind, whether you like it or not. But now it gets a little confusing…

The media hypes up images of scantily clad women rocking their bodies, but society frowns upon that sort of thing. Many females in the music industry can be seen performing in skimpy leotards and other costumes that leave little to the imagination. Yet no one has a problem with this. But if an everyday women were to wear the same thing out in public, she would get quite a few stares and comments. How this disconnect happened, I don’t know.

Basically the whole issue boils down to sex. If a woman’s body were not sexualized to the extent it is, women could be free to wear what they wanted, and wouldn’t have to worry about unwanted attention. Everyone has the right to choose what she wants to wear; she can wear the damn miniskirt if she wants to.

There is a catch though. Our society won’t change its view overnight, and it’s going to be quite a long time before significant change can be made. So if a woman is going to be wearing a low cut mini-dress with no back and side cut-outs, you’d better believe she should be aware of the attention she is going to warrant. I’m not saying she should have the unwanted attention in the first place when she is clearly proud of her body, but it’s the unfortunate reality of the present.

I could ramble on forever, but you get the point. Please let me know in the comments what your take on this topic is.

-Collins