Accepting the Special

I was following a thread on one of the Song of Ice and Fire forums about people who can ride dragons. This one poster seemed to be very forceful in the idea that it wasn't only Targaryens (Dany's family) who could be dragonriders. Even though others kept explaining, logically, why they were, it just wasn't sitting with this person. Finally, the poster made a statement that came down to 'I just can't stomach the idea that the Targaryens get to be the special snowflakes who are the only people who ride dragons.'

This isn't a perspective I used to see, but in recent years, it is happening more often. Readers are offended at the idea of certain people in fantasy books being special. I don't get it. Do they not understand the genre? In fantasy, one of the major tropes is the idea of the Chosen One. Mind you, this concept can be found in many genres, but in fantasy, it's pretty common. And I don't mean trope in a bad way here. For something to exist as a genre, certain expectations are made.

Seriously, though, why is this a problem? It's like being angry that "Superman gets all those powers and he gets to be the last son of Krypton." "How come Santa Claus gets to deliver the gifts?" "Why did JESUS get to be the son of god? Can't that be anyone? Why was just one person chosen?"

Not to sound like an crotchety old person, but I see this mentality more in younger people. I think maybe the 'give everyone the trophy' thing may have done some more damage than we thought. And yes, everyone gets to be special, but in their OWN way. Some people get to ride dragons, others get to make the cool designs in coffee foam. Is one going to get you more glory than the other? Well, yes, of course it will. That's just how life is. We should all be treated equally, but that doesn't mean we're all going to live equal lives.

You can spend your whole life being angry about that and let the bitterness consume you to the point that you hate 'the beautiful people' or 'the rich people' or 'that family who can ride dragons'  . . . or you can be happy with what makes you awesome, and enjoy books and all the other stuff along the way. After all, every set of gifts comes with its own problems. Buffy may have been the chosen vampire slayer, but it means she has to deal with undead people all the time.