All I could think in relation to Freak Show was that I often fall for the wrong guys and I'm 27 and straight. I wonder what sort of message a book about a gay teenager is sending, when it suggests that IF you fall for the hot football star, maybe if you are interesting enough he will fall for you too. I know there are a lot of people in the closet, and I am sure there's a chance that real people like Flip do exist, but I'm not sure I bought it.
I KNOW I said before that I am all for the suspension of disbelief, but this book seemed to be striving for so much more. I loved that it addressed the way teenagers felt and I even bought it that Flip and Billy had that make-out session (there are very high statistics suggesting that most "straight" guys have had some sort of homosexual encounter, so I totally bought into that scene) and I believed in it when he ran off. Billy, invest in some curtains...
I have a lesbian friend who frequently used to fall for straight girls and she was frequently heartbroken, and then it broke my heart with her, because it ALWAYS sucks when you can't have the person you want, whatever the reasons are. Like I said, I consistently fall for the wrong guys and as far as I know gender was never a factor into why we didn't work out.
I am all for a happy ending, and I was rooting for Billy to teach those jerks in his school a lesson, and I was really glad when he stood up to the guy who attacked him. And I cried when they attacked him and I hated that no one stood up for him or helped him (except of course Flip!) But, I just think Flip underwent quite the transformation that most teenagers wouldn't have had. If they were adults maybe it would have worked for me.
I wanted Billy to get a super hot, nice, cool boyfriend--even Flip but he didn't seem real to me. But all the other teens in the book seemed fairly real to me. They were all petty and had total mob mentality, EXCEPT Flip who was perfect in every way. He never succumbed to peer pressure. Maybe I'm a cynic, but no one is that perfect.
But, I do want a tiara. And, I thought it was adorable when Flip bought Billy one even if I didn't get his character.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
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2 comments:
Yay for tiaras!
Hmm I obviously need to do a re-read to see if I can find what put you off Flip...I totally bought the whole thing. Maybe it was the way St. James drew Flip that helped? I'm not sure, but I'd love to find it.
Come to think of it, another gay football book came out (hah) last year called Out of the Pocket, about a gay footballer coming out of the closet. I haven't read it, but it's supposed to be pretty good I hear.
And now I'm thinking IS it a stretch for a straight guy to fall for Billy? I guess it's a stretch if he's indeed straight, but then I'm not sure Flip is straight either. In fact, I'd say that there's a good chance that he's not. It's definitely against the stereotype, but I think that's exactly what St. James is doing--busting up all the assumptions readers may have about his characters and playing up others.
Maybe Billy and Flip are both outcasts in that they break the stereotype: Billy as a drag queen and Flip as the questioning footballer? Maybe that's how they balance each other out?
I wanted to buy into him. But, I don't know I just didn't.
I would like to believe that there's that one good person in all the bad people and maybe it's Flip.
I might have been influenced by reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower and expected Flip to act like that jerk of a football player. Maybe I'm prejudiced against football players and assume that Flip must be a jerk. Maybe he's just a nice guy who happens to be athletically inclined...
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