On this day fifteen years ago, hate won a battle against
love as 19 men crashed planes into buildings and the ground, killing 3000+
people. That hateful act started a war, the ultimate victory of hate over love,
in which thousands more lives were lost.
But as we remember the dreadful attacks of 9-11, I’m here to
tell you that while hate might win some battles, love is winning the war. And
fiction—especially the romance genre—proves it.
You see, people read fiction for hope. Because stories are about characters—people, usually—overcoming obstacles and triumphing over bad. And in romance particularly, stories are about love triumphing over hate, as evidenced by the genre’s insistence on happily-ever-after or at least happily-for-now endings. The basic thrust of the romance genre is that love conquers all, even hate. Even death. Even war.
According to Romance Writers of America (RWA), romance made 1.08 billion dollars in 2013. Folks, that's BILLION, with a B! During that year, 13% of fiction units sold were romance novels. The Fifty Shades of Gray trilogy has sold over 100-million copies and resulted in one of 2015's highest grossing movies. RWA itself has over ten thousand members, and in 2008 alone, over 7300 romance novels were published. Clearly, love remains a dominant force in American fiction.
So as you mourn today, as you remember the day that hate won a battle, remember too that love continues to win the war. That no matter how many lives are lost in hate’s name, that as long as people read or watch stories about love, as long as this romance genre exists, love is kicking butt and taking names. We’re winning the war on hate through words and stories of love. Love has always won, and it always will. Every time.
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