The Truth Behind the Trope: How “The Chosen One” Enables Gifted Kid Burnout

Katniss Everdeen, Percy Jackson and even Matilda are characters many of us grew up with and adored. They were the children who stood out, who endured, and who proved their worth through intelligence, resilience or sacrifice. Loving them often meant wanting to be like them. We tried to become the child who submerged themselves in knowledge or creativity, who exceeded expectations, and who challenged how others saw us.

This is often the starting point of what we now call the “gifted kid pipeline”. A system that rewards exceptionalism, breeds toxic perfectionism, and for many becomes a way to mask or hide traits of neurodiversity rather than actually support them.

Yes, I was the kid who always wanted to be Katniss Everdeen. And no, I didn't want to fight in the hunger games (I'd definitely not even last the full day), but there’s something about a character who can make such a change in a declining world that seems exciting. Was I jealous? Maybe. Is it slightly silly to be jealous of a fictional character? Yes, maybe. But when I was 10, I wanted to be noticed. I wanted to make a difference. It's silly but it's real, and definitely contributed to the burnt out teenage years where I felt I was never enough. It may seem dramatic, but if you get this, you’re definitely in the right place to be reading this.

We never see these “chosen” young people in their adult lives: we don't see Matilda's telepathy helping her do a food shop or apply to jobs. We never see Katniss in her full adult life, apart from one snippet of having children (because yes, even “the girl on fire” is only destined to be a mother). 

So, the bookworms don't get to see a reality where their favourite over achiever leads a warm, peaceful adulthood. If we have nothing to go off of, the late teenage/ early adult crash out hits even harder. There is always the possibility that our favourite fictional characters turned out to be just as burnt out and confused about the future as we are. But here's the secret: the authors behind these characters don't want you to see that reality, so they ignore it. 

In books, the chosen one who sacrifices their livelihoods to make change are predominantly women.

The male characters usually get an easier time of it: less reputation damage: less damage to their families and the people around them. Look at Peeta Mellark in The Hunger Games: an important character but his successes are directly linked to Katniss. She leads the revolution in district 13, eliminates both president Snow and Coin and Peeta is just there. Don’t get me wrong, his experiences are valid and still would be extremely hard to live with for anyone. But my real question is why is it always the female characters? Why is it always the women who are chosen to do the most impossible tasks and are always expected to succeed? 

Maybe it's just because they always do. We push ourselves to the limits just to make a statement or to feel like we have a purpose. We have so many ideas and changes we want to put in place to see a better world, which tries to take us down by doing so. We try to do this so early in life that it consumes every adult year, and we always feel we should be doing more, more so than many men feel in real life. 

Did these characters make us the way we are? Or are these characters just based off of the typical female “gifted kid” experience? I guess we’ll never truly know. But we can make ourselves aware of this pipeline that is so dominant across fantasy and real life. We are not in the wrong, we are not too much: we just want to help and that is beautiful. The most we can do is become more aware of this and start being more patient with ourselves. That’s all we can do and just wait to see what life will throw at us next. 

Written by, Charley Sands