This doesn't stop me from B|'ing at the books, but you make a valid point that people probably like the books for the 'BEING TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH A VAMPIRE GUY WHO STALKS YOUR EVERY MOVE AND WAS WAITING FOR YOU AFTER CYCLING THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL 304820848934208349234 TIMES IS OK'. Unreliable narrators are fun even if they are full of WAT. XDDD
No point in hating SMeyers. I'm pretty sure she thinks she is Writing Great Things. :|
Right. I mean. GOD it is depressing that people love this stuff. I was reading movie reviews earlier today and ALL OF THE PEOPLE who were giving the movie good or bad reviews, were still doing it under the pretense that THE BOOKS ARE AMAZING. And either the movie CAPTURED THAT or failed to. BUT CLEARLY THE BOOKS ARE AMAZING. I even read an argue arguing why Bella is SUCH A GREAT ROLEMODEL FOR OUR CHILDREN.
And. Yes that's sad. but uh. SOME PARENTS would think it's upsetting that I endorse books about pedophiles.
BAD WRITING ASIDE, I think Bella would be a FANTASTIC character if. Written well. I think she's a lousy personal hero. But... we can't tell people who their heroes are allowed to be.
I'm actually going to take the book with me for my plane ride home. I'M KIND OF CURIOUS ABOUT THE APPEAL. I've been known to enjoy shoddy things.
However, I don't really think the comparison between violent video games and emotionally-fail books is too valid. It's a lot easier to acknowledge the reality of physical acts / situations, than feeeeeeeeeeeeliiiiiinnnngggs. I think a great number of girls would be pretty influenced by the books, at least for a small portion of their lives before they wake the fuck up.
Well, I'm not really talking about actions. ACTUALLY hurting people is the far extreme, much like any girls ACTUALLY locking themselves up in their rooms and slitting their wrists because they can't liiiiiiiiive without hiiiiiiiim. I'm talking about a general desensitization to violence, which I rank in the feeling category, just not ROMANTIC feelings.
I do think WAKE THE FUCK UP is the key point though. I had plenty of horrible misconceptions about love and romance and LIFE AND THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING when I was thirteen. But since I CONTINUED TO LIVE IN REALITY I figured things out. I don't forsee Twilight actually ruining a whole lot of girl's lives. Especially not on it's own.
The thing that bothers me most about the Twilight books is totally the portrayal of love. Him sneaking into her room to stare at her while she sleeps isn't cute, or romantic, it's downright creepy. And I want to believe that the message here is that, well, he's a vampire right? He probably has no idea how to behave like a normal person, and is sort of creepy anyway, but in a ...smooshy romantic way because that's what this book is about. But I never got the idea that the vampire was supposed to be anything but perfect in every way, despite his creepy stalkerness. And it makes me make D: face that apparently this is not evident to a lot of people, the creep factor.
But that's not so much a problem with Meyers herself, I don't think, as it is just in general how our media chooses to portray romance. She's as much of a product as a producer of the problem.
OH YEAH. IT'S SUPER CREEPY. When we got to the I WATCH YOU SLEEP part of the movie and her reaction wasn't "OH MY GOD YOU'RE JUST JUMPING INTO MY ROOM AND STARING AT ME WHAT" I was like "...."
I really have no trouble understanding why people don't like the books. Or why it's distressing that so many people DO. My main issue, thus far, is that both when I bought the book and when I went to see the movie, several people told me I shouldn't be giving money to this. Plus a lot of ANGRY FEMINISM that seems to be going on, as if the books themselves are the problem and not the people reading them. I dunno man. The books may suck, but they also got published, have a horde of fans and a movie. She may not WRITE well, but she's doing something right. I think she deserves her money.
I've only been following the whole Twilight thing lightly, being not in the intended audience nor finding it appealing, but as far as that type of outlook on life... it wasn't uncommon among teenage girls to begin with, in my experience. Having the book or not having the book only makes no difference, it's just a truly idealized view regardless of how healthy it is.
I... it APPARENTLY IS. I dunno. I never indulged in that one myself. But the books are TERRIBLY WRITTEN. It's not like a super amazing author is using their power for evil, brainwashing young teenage girls everywhere into obsessing over THE PERFECT MAN. Meyers just... wrote what everyone APPARENTLY already wants.
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This doesn't stop me from B|'ing at the books, but you make a valid point that people probably like the books for the 'BEING TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH A VAMPIRE GUY WHO STALKS YOUR EVERY MOVE AND WAS WAITING FOR YOU AFTER CYCLING THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL 304820848934208349234 TIMES IS OK'. Unreliable narrators are fun even if they are full of WAT. XDDD
No point in hating SMeyers. I'm pretty sure she thinks she is Writing Great Things. :|
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And. Yes that's sad. but uh. SOME PARENTS would think it's upsetting that I endorse books about pedophiles.
BAD WRITING ASIDE, I think Bella would be a FANTASTIC character if. Written well. I think she's a lousy personal hero. But... we can't tell people who their heroes are allowed to be.
I'm actually going to take the book with me for my plane ride home. I'M KIND OF CURIOUS ABOUT THE APPEAL. I've been known to enjoy shoddy things.
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However, I don't really think the comparison between violent video games and emotionally-fail books is too valid. It's a lot easier to acknowledge the reality of physical acts / situations, than feeeeeeeeeeeeliiiiiinnnngggs. I think a great number of girls would be pretty influenced by the books, at least for a small portion of their lives before they wake the fuck up.
bytheway, I miss you!
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I do think WAKE THE FUCK UP is the key point though. I had plenty of horrible misconceptions about love and romance and LIFE AND THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING when I was thirteen. But since I CONTINUED TO LIVE IN REALITY I figured things out. I don't forsee Twilight actually ruining a whole lot of girl's lives. Especially not on it's own.
IMISSYOUTOO. *cuddles*
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But that's not so much a problem with Meyers herself, I don't think, as it is just in general how our media chooses to portray romance. She's as much of a product as a producer of the problem.
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I really have no trouble understanding why people don't like the books. Or why it's distressing that so many people DO. My main issue, thus far, is that both when I bought the book and when I went to see the movie, several people told me I shouldn't be giving money to this. Plus a lot of ANGRY FEMINISM that seems to be going on, as if the books themselves are the problem and not the people reading them. I dunno man. The books may suck, but they also got published, have a horde of fans and a movie. She may not WRITE well, but she's doing something right. I think she deserves her money.
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