From Liberals to Vampires :)

Everyone in America has probably heard of Stephanie Myer’s book series “Twilight”. Myer’s fictional books about vampires sold over 22 million copies to various age groups, more than any other author. This is clear evidence of how much literature has changed in the last 60 years. In the article “On Campus, Vampires Are Besting the Beats”, the author comments and compares modern forms of what is considered great literature, with the radical writings of the ‘psychedelic’ 60’s and 70’s. The author compares college students, in particular, who in the 1960’s, were captivated by the liberal literature of Sylvia Plath, Malcolm X, Anaïs Nin, and other radical authors. For college students today, “the best selling titles on college campuses are mostly about hunky vampires or Barack Obama”. The author states, “Here we have a generation of young adults away from home for the first time, free to enjoy the most experimental period of their lives, yet they’re choosing books like 13-year-old girls”. In the 1960’s. students adored polemic authors, whereas now we live in an age where political correctness sets the boundaries in expression of opinion. Nicholas DiSabatino, a senior English major at Kent State, states, “’People think we’re really liberal,’ he says, ‘but we’re really very moderate’”. Others, however, believe that people of our time are still just as liberal but utilize the media, like Facebook and Blogger, to express their views rather than the press and written literature.
As a student, I believe that our age is too advocative of political correctness, rather than allowing students to express their opinions to any extreme in writing and literature. As Americans, we are entitled to freedom of speech and the press, therefore we should be able to convey our thoughts and opinions in writing with no limits. In addition, I think that modern literature has become more for entertainment, rather than provoking thought. Yes, “Twilight” is entertaining and fascinating in the fictionist vampire world, but what we need is entertaining literature that makes us think, that gets us expressing, that makes our minds wander.