Twilight!

[Kalli]

I was going to quote some of your points, thephonegoddess, and explain how I agree with them, but it seems a lot easier to just say I agree with all of it.

Especially how it seems odd to single out a book and declare the tween obsessiveness unhealthy, and then go on to display something very close to obsessiveness when trying to discredit it.

[ThePhoneGoddess]

When Rudolph Valentino died several women committed suicide in despair. The crowds at his funeral were so massive and so emotional that people were seriously injured in the crush. Fan violence often occurs before, during and after sports events, for example, on a regular basis. Just this weekend some pop star showed up at a mall and thousands of tween girls got so violent that five people were sent to the hospital. People get worked up and freak out on other people all the time. It's not right, but it happens. A lot. It happens to people of all ages. Singling out a specific book because of some people's behavior over it does not make the book a menace to society.

I don't understand why teenagers aren't allowed to have bad taste anymore. I have a coworker who is very musical. He loves classical stuff, but thinks that nearly all 20th century music is crap, and is constantly bitching and moaning about how all the young people have such terrible taste and it's all rock music's fault and it should all be banned so teenagers will be FORCED to appreciate "good" music. How are you supposed to appreicate quality music, or quality literature, without ever reading any bad stuff? That's how you learn what is poor quality---you take in both good and bad and notice the differences between the two.

Personally, I'm a little disturbed by your obsession over these books. You have taken the time to compare, in great detail, the plot of a fictional novel to a list of domesitc violence signs. You have read the books just so you can condemn them. I find that to be extremely obsessive.

[LadyBarbossa]

To clarify, I'm not saying it's necessarily wrong to like anything. People yes, can like whatever the please. It's the unnaturally obsessive behavior that the Twilight series awakens in fans that disturbs me, as well as the vicious behavior towards non-fans and casual fans. Frankly, it's entirely uncalled for to ask someone if they like Twilight, and if the person says no, to ask them "Oh my god why not, what's wrong with you?" And then question everything from the person's IQ, sexuality, and if their sex drive even works at all. There are also stories popping up everywhere about fans being violent when they discover that another person doesn't share their love of the series. Teenagers have been beaten up, had rocks thrown at them, and their pets harmed just for saying they dislike Twilight.

Liking a series is one thing, but camping out for days at a movie theater and squealing like a maniac over it is another. Women in the 40+ bracket have thrown their dirty panties at 17 year old Taylor Lautner, who plays werewolf Jacob Black. Kind of a rabbit trail, but the double-standard displayed here is unfair, and this behavior is sick. Let's turn the tables for a moment, and imagine, if you will, 40+ year old men throwing their used underwear at Emma Watson, before she turned 18, or Miley Cyrus? Hell, even if they threw their shorts at adult actresses, I'm sure the public reaction would be quite different than the "LOL cougars, go Taylor!" attitude. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, we have girls under the age of ten racing up to Robert Pattinson, pulling down at the necks of their shirts and begging him to bite them. Some teenaged fans have actually scratched their own necks enough to draw blood and told him "I did it for you!" or asking him to lick the blood.

How about mentioning the part where Bella completely rejects Edward's "protection" and saw whoever the hell she wanted anyway, and the part where Edward admitted wrongdoing with that behaviour?

I was reading a domestic violence poster at the college today, and here are a few of the signs it listed -

Do you feel that you can’t do anything right for your partner?

In Bella's narrative, she is constantly expressing how inferior to Edward she feels she is, and how unworthy she is to be with him because he's so perfect.

feel emotionally numb or helpless?

When Bella is not with Edward, this is pretty much how she describes her mood. And during their brief break up period, she can't even think, let alone say his name or any of his family member's names without having physical and emotional pain, even months after they have left.

Does your partner criticize you and put you down?

Edward is forever reminding Bella how incapable she is and jokes that she might hurt herself doing laundry, even though she already has an inferiority complex about how much of a klutz she is.

blame you for his own abusive behavior?

He also frequently brings up the fact that he wouldn't be at a risk for becoming dangerous if Bella didn't smell so good. She constantly asks him to turn her vamp, which would effectively make her stop looking and smelling like filet mignon, yet he refuses. While the idea of her wanting to be undead and damned is questionable, it's still her decision and he does not respect it, leaving her human and in danger of tempting him to kill and eat her.

Does your partner:

have a bad and unpredictable temper?

Check.

threaten to commit suicide if you leave?

Both partners see suicide as an acceptable route to take should they ever be separated from each other, by death or not. Edward wastes no time in trying to kill himself when he is led to believe that Bella has died.

destroy your belongings?

Maybe not destroy, but after leaving her, Edward sneaks into Bella's house and removes all photographs of himself and his family from her personal album. He did not allow her to make her own choice in the matter.

act excessively jealous and possessive?
control where you go or what you do?
keep you from seeing your friends or family?

Ed constantly puts down the few human friends that Bella has, and is excessively jealous of her friendship with Jacob, going so far as to dismantle the engine in her truck to stop her from seeing him. I'm sorry, but if a guy did this to me, I'd kick him so hard, he'd be coughing up his own testicles.

constantly check up on you?

I'd say that crawling in through the bedroom window and watching them sleep in their own house definitely qualifies.

While this is a fictional story, the message it constantly conveys is a negative one, and I have to wonder what Stephenie Meyer was thinking when she put all of these themes into her books.

*SPOILER ALERT*





She could have empowered Bella and given so much more strength and depth to her character if she'd written her to recognize that her relationship with Edward was unhealthy, but in the end, he's the one she picks. And even this might not have been so bad if Meyer hadn't created her werewolf pack. I'm in the midst of finishing my read of New Moon, and I have to admit that for the greater part of the story, Jacob Black is a really nice guy, despite his furry problem. He's kind, easygoing, and Bella actually has a personality when she's around him. She admits that being with Jacob makes her feel good and happy. Yet the story only finishes out to once again prove the old saying of "Nice guys finish last." I actually have a friend who dated a douchewad like Edward when she was a teenager, and when the inevitable happened and he dumped her like a soiled bedsheet, her parents had to keep a close eye on her because she kept threatening suicide. Her life was simply not worth living without this guy, even though all he ever did was put her down and even thought she was worthless enough to the point he jokingly said she should go ahead with her suicide.

Fortunately for my friend, she is now happily married to a different, wonderful guy and has two beautiful daughters and a stepson. But this isn't always the case. I just think that there are enough abusive and unhappy relationships in the world without someone encouraging it with a work of fiction that will appeal to incredibly impressionable teenage audiences who drink up Mrs. Meyer's every word like scripture.

[Ree]

Half the girls I know read that crap and now they are fixated on this unrealistic idea of a boyfriend.

Girls have had unrealistic ideas of a boyfriend for years, from the moment they are read their first fairy tale.

Pop culture has been fucking with people's expectations and societal perceptions for ever. This is nothing new. Get over it.

Exactly, Kalli.

[AdminAssistant]

Fryk,

That sounds like the rantings of a 13 year old girl. Go through my old diaries, and you would see similar (although better written) ravings over JTT and Davon Sawa.

[Fryk]

Originally Posted by Kalli
"Where? Show me an example."

Howzabout... this?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...8032105AAB76J7

[jackfaire]

his similies make me want to gouge out my eyes and yet i can't put his books down.

thank you yes!!!!

[kiwi]

Stephanie Meyer is a "good" story teller and a terrible writer.
Being a good story teller and a good writer are totally different parts of modern literature.
I LOVE Dan Browns basic story plot (I feel he re-writes the same story) and he can keep a very brisk pace, but the actual construction of the writing is just terrible. His similies make me want to gouge out my eyes and yet I can't put his books down.

[jackfaire]

The only thing that truly bothers me about Twilight fans is when they mock me for having loved Dawson's Creek. (thinking of specific person)

[Boozy]

Good post by ThePhoneGoddess.

I'd like to add something. What seems trite and cliched to an adult seems fresh and wonderful to an adolescent. While that does not excuse the alleged misogynism in the Twilight novels, it certainly excuses the "bad writing" to some extent.

I read a lot of garbage when I was a pre-teen, too. I grew up, and starting reading better stuff. So will today's kids.

[Nyoibo]

I will be fair and say it's not just Twilight that I hate but anything that dumbs down a generation.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Comparing Twilight to Anne Rice's books is like comparing Sweet Valley High to Jane Eyre, seriously.

And even SVH trumps Twilight in terms of characterisation, writing skills and storylines. O_o

[ThePhoneGoddess]

During the Victorian era cheap little booklets called 'penny dreadfuls' were marketed to young adolescents. Many of them contained quickly written sensational stories, were extremely popular among working class kids, and there were long and heated campaigns to ban them because older people decided that they were so bad they were corrupting the young.

I assure you, it's gone on for centuries. Part of being a teenager is having the right to listen to music and watch movies and read stuff that is not considered high on the cultural scale. When I was a teenager people were up in arms over Anne Rice books---I remember the heated arguments, people who turned their nose up at her, and the general snobbishness that her books weren't "real" literature.. Her writing is great! versus Her writing is overrated, bombastic and chiched!

[Greenday]

You do realise that many girls wonders why she's expected to conform to airbrushed model standards?

Rapscallion

None of the girls I know. They all make fun of them.

[Lace Neil Singer]

K, so how many of you have I lost as friends because I have Edward as my computer background and am on Team Edward?

Personally, I'm on Team Tyler's Van. >: ) Anyone want to join me?

http://jack0king.deviantart.com/art/...-Van-116583829