Peter Pan, I am
When we are children, being different is praised and admired. Children's books are filled with characters that are odd or extraordinary or somehow don't fit in with everyone else, and this isn't a bad thing. These characters have adventures and the world they live in is far from ordinary. I've always loved children's books. They may be the only thing about childhood that I loved and still love today. All those pages filled with lands far away, mystery, suspense and wonder. I used to spend hours reading as a kid, and imagined myself to be the odd main characters. That took me away from the tedium of the ordinary, the everyday. There were many fictional types that I related to -- like the Fossil sisters in the Dancing Shoe series. Oh how I longed to be an English orphan who danced in the Christmas pantomime for her new stockings. I loved fantasy too -- the Chronicles of Narnia and the terrifying White Witch. I'm still charmed by Turkish Delight and I love that it's a real dessert. I'll order it just because it comes from Narnia and wonder if anyone else thinks the same thing. Then there was Maria von Trapp. While not a literary character, per se, I loved the idea that a woman could be so giddy and free that somehow she'd have to get shipped off to a nunnery where even the nuns couldn't deal with her and then she'd have to go live in a mansion where the lonely, haunted man was so charmed by her happiness and light that he dumped the evil baroness to be with her. A little nuts, but I love the idea that men really truly fall for the odd ducks. I could go on since I relate to just about every far off world and quirky heroine, there were a few that really stuck with me and in some way, maybe just by planting the seed of an idea helped shape who I am.
Pippi Longstocking was the first such character. Good god was she different. She braided her hair to make it stick out sideways, wore funny stockings and never gave a shit about what anyone else thought. She had mad style. I loved Pippi. I wanted to be Pippi. I even went so far as to take a clothes hanger to try to fashion braids that stuck out. I walked around for a solid week wearing stacks of costume jewelry beads until my mother made me take them off to effect Pippi's unique style. I outgrew Pippi, but I like to think I never got over the comfort that she found in being different from everyone else. I still wear odd outfits from time to time. Shorts w/ tights and lots of pearls and a Chanel-knockoff jacket to dinner. My ode to Pippi.
Next came Anne of Green Gables, perhaps the most defining character in my fictional/personal history. Oddly enough, I don't remember much about this series other than I wanted to be Anne Shirley so badly that I told everyone I had red hair even though mine was blonde because I thought that if I said it enough out loud it could maybe, possibly be true. I do remember this -- Anne lived by a couple of rules. The first was to always be true to yourself and to be yourself, no matter how silly or out of place in time, character or temperament you were. She believed in kindred spirits and very best friends. For Anne, her girl friendships were just as important as her romantic relationships (or in her case, relationship with Gilbert). I loved that. I started looking for kindred spirits as soon as I read about the idea. I still look for that in my friendships today and I think I've been quite lucky to find those qualities. Not people who are exactly like me, but people who get me.
Nancy Drew. I don't know that I would have ever become a lawyer if it weren't for Nancy Drew, girl detective. I really wanted to be a detective when I was a pre-teen reading these books. Quickly, though, I learned that detectives work on the police force if they are legitimate and private detectives are sort of scummy characters who work for insurance companies. Never mind. But solving mysteries, having your own career, driving a great car with the hot boyfriend. Nancy had it all. I went for the modern version of Nancy.
There are more, I'm sure. But these three really jump out. Perhaps because I spent the most fictional time with these women due to the prolific nature of their authors. I spent hours in the library devouring book after book about these women. Nature, nurture or literature. Maybe that's the question.
Pippi Longstocking was the first such character. Good god was she different. She braided her hair to make it stick out sideways, wore funny stockings and never gave a shit about what anyone else thought. She had mad style. I loved Pippi. I wanted to be Pippi. I even went so far as to take a clothes hanger to try to fashion braids that stuck out. I walked around for a solid week wearing stacks of costume jewelry beads until my mother made me take them off to effect Pippi's unique style. I outgrew Pippi, but I like to think I never got over the comfort that she found in being different from everyone else. I still wear odd outfits from time to time. Shorts w/ tights and lots of pearls and a Chanel-knockoff jacket to dinner. My ode to Pippi.
Next came Anne of Green Gables, perhaps the most defining character in my fictional/personal history. Oddly enough, I don't remember much about this series other than I wanted to be Anne Shirley so badly that I told everyone I had red hair even though mine was blonde because I thought that if I said it enough out loud it could maybe, possibly be true. I do remember this -- Anne lived by a couple of rules. The first was to always be true to yourself and to be yourself, no matter how silly or out of place in time, character or temperament you were. She believed in kindred spirits and very best friends. For Anne, her girl friendships were just as important as her romantic relationships (or in her case, relationship with Gilbert). I loved that. I started looking for kindred spirits as soon as I read about the idea. I still look for that in my friendships today and I think I've been quite lucky to find those qualities. Not people who are exactly like me, but people who get me.
Nancy Drew. I don't know that I would have ever become a lawyer if it weren't for Nancy Drew, girl detective. I really wanted to be a detective when I was a pre-teen reading these books. Quickly, though, I learned that detectives work on the police force if they are legitimate and private detectives are sort of scummy characters who work for insurance companies. Never mind. But solving mysteries, having your own career, driving a great car with the hot boyfriend. Nancy had it all. I went for the modern version of Nancy.
There are more, I'm sure. But these three really jump out. Perhaps because I spent the most fictional time with these women due to the prolific nature of their authors. I spent hours in the library devouring book after book about these women. Nature, nurture or literature. Maybe that's the question.
posted by LuLu at
12:25 AM
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