Since
Bonnie posted her comments on authors and how they portray twins I’ve been
looking at how twins are depicted in media.
Twins don’t ever seem to be shown as same gender fraternal twins, and
only rarely do they do boy/girl fraternal twins. My assumption is that these types
tend to come across as regular siblings and it’s harder to define and depict the
twin thing whereas with identical twins there is more to work with, just show
how they are alike and special. The problem is too many authors forget that they
aren’t carbon copies.
Far
too often you find stories where no one can tell the twins apart, and as a twin
I can tell you, that doesn’t happen. Someone is going to be able to tell them
apart even when they are attempting to fool you.
Recently
I was reading Richard Paul Evans’ first two Michael Vey books. In them, he has
a set of twins, one of which is Michael Vey’s girlfriend. The other is one of
the enemy. I know, classic good twin/evil twin. But not really. See the “evil
twin” has been brainwashed by the bad guy since she was young girl. One would
assume had she grown up with a loving family as her twin had, she wouldn’t be
twisted, like the man who raised her.
At
first I thought Mr. Evans’ fell into the same twin trap everyone else seems to
with the people around them periodically getting them mixed up and always
commenting on how alike they are. Then near the end of the second book the bad
guy, in one of his attempts to break Mrs. Vey, has the bad twin impersonate
Michael’s girlfriend. Mrs. Vey is at first fooled, but then realizes the eyes
aren’t quite right. She spotted the dissimilarity and pointed out that the trick
didn’t work. The fun part was when the bad guy attempted a similar thing on
Michael who eventually just told the bad guy that his girlfriend was prettier.
Both the Vey’s could tell them apart.
Mr.
Evans got it right.
Yes,
people get twins mixed up, but there are going to be a few, who can tell the
difference. Both my husband and Bonnie’s could always tell us apart. The
weekend we started dating my husband saw a picture of our family and easily
picked me out. My brother-in-law never once confused me for his wife.
No
two people are exactly alike.
There
are variations. It’s not impossible to find them and thereby tell the
difference. That’s why I find it highly implausible that a twin could step into
their twin’s life and impersonate them for any length of time without someone
figuring it out.
So
anyone who wants to can pass this on to Richard Paul Evans. I admire him.
Here
is an author who knows how to weave a good tale, and made it big even with his
first book even after all the publishers rejected him.
Here
is a man who is faithful to his wife, children, family, and church.
Here
is a man who didn’t let Tourette’s syndrome stop him or slow him down, he’s
even used it to write his books. I think he could truly stand tall next to men
like Nephi and Helaman (and yes, he’d know who they are). (I once dated a man
with Tourette’s, so I do know a little about it.)
Here
is a man who gets twins.
The
more I learn about him, the more I like him.
