The most disturbing horror in AHS for her was the premise of infidelity, and that was giving her nightmares. I couldn’t agree more. It got me thinking about other plot themes that are instant dealbreakers for me, and why that is. I’m sure you have some, too. Let’s talk it out:
Infidelity
I think I’m just so tired of it, you know? I’m personally paranoid of this IRL, and it gives me this sinking hopeless feeling of “do any loves really last, ever” that I should probably talk to my therapist about instead of you guys, but DEAL WITH IT. People can rave about a book, however critically acclaimed, and if one of the major themes is infidelity, I can’t do it. For example, I muscled my way through On Beauty by Zadie Smith, in one of my “I need to read more prestigious things” phases. It’s fantastically written, but twisted me up inside. I hated every minute of it, like swallowing disgusting medicine that I knew was good for me.
What makes it worse is that it seems the reason this is such a prevalent topic in popular culture and literature is that it is so rampant in real life. It continues to wreck me in any form of entertainment. See: Closer.
Lolita-ism
This is often tied to infidelity, so maybe this whole post should just be called “Let’s make cheating not a thing.” But seriously, enough with the young girl and older man scenario. It skeeves me out, and more importantly, totally removes me from the story. Let’s just ban the word “nubile” from our vocabulary. American Beauty goes so far as to make it part of the American tradition. Baseball, suburbia, middle aged crises. I can’t do it! I can’t read about it.
Animal Cruelty
I’m not the first to say this: I can watch people die on screen, but can’t stand to see a dog hurt in any way. First of all, isn’t that a little disturbing in itself that a lot of people are so desensitized to human death? Regardless, “the dog dies” is an absolute plot dealbreaker for me.
Protagonist Oblivion
It irks me when the main character of any story is unrealistically clueless to what’s going on around them. Usually, this honor is given to female protagonists. I don’t especially mind when the author lets the reader in on more information than the characters, but I DO mind when it takes said characters much longer than necessary to figure it out themselves. I’m unabashedly biased toward badass females, so when a girl can barely tie her shoes, or worse yet—a kickass lady is uncharacteristically oblivious when convenient to the story—I move to put the book down.
I think those are my big four! I know I can handle a protagonist I dislike (see: The Magicians), but I will snap a book closed if someone hurts a dog. Now that I’ve sufficiently ranted, what are your big plot dealbreakers? Does it vary by genre?
