Twilight - Love it, or Hate it?

[Moonshadow]

Personally, I hate this literary travesty. I think it is one of the most over hyped pieces of garbage ever to be taken from those million monkeys on their typewriters. I don't think it is good by any literary means used to evaluate it. Yes, it is popular, but that popularity is, IMHO, due to the ever expanding mass of mindless fan-sheep who wouldn't know good literature from the writing on the back of a cereal box.

I mean, seriously. Sparkly vampires? With poisonous bites? And telepathy? Pedophiliac werewolves? Undead babies, who quickly gain the body of an 18 year old, and stay that way.

Caesarian Section performed by mouth, because the baby has SUPAH HUMAN STREEEENGTH?

Oh, and ladies, in order to enjoy sex, you have to be taken by a guy whose wang probably feels comparable in temperature to an icicle, while he grip you so tightly you're lucky to escape with just bruises.


To me, the books/movie feel like being beaten with a 2 by 4 with the engraving STOOPID running along its length.

And this is why I hate Twilight. Don't hate me because I'm a hater, hate me because I know what real literature is.

(I am open to your opinions on why Twilight is/isn't a good series of books, but they will most likely be laughed at from the comfort of my computer chair)

[SurlySeraph]

The Twilight series idealizes an abusive and creepy relationship, has little stylistic merit, and has sparkly vampires in it.

So no, I definitely do not love it. I don't find it compelling enough to truly hate it, but I can see why many people do.

[Faulty]

The movie version is one of my favorite movies ever, and I'm going to see the second movie as soon as it comes out with my friend Laura, who will be visiting me at college to go see it. I thought it was awful.

[Xuincherguixe]

Right from the start, I thought, "This is going to be a bad movie." And I decided I just wouldn't watch it. And it turns out that basically everyone I know hated it.

Now, there are some movies that everyone hates that I enjoyed. My sense of taste is a bit different than most peoples. But... I have no reason to believe this could possibly be worth watching.

I dislike Ann Rice, and this seems to be an even worse an extension of that take on Vampires.

And awhile back I found it was also pretty anti feminist too.


I don't understand it's popularity, but the occasional strange dream otherwise I am not a 14 year old girl.

[Haruki-kun]

I find Twilight to be a good story but with not very good execution. it would have been better if it wasn't for the following things:
(bear in mind, I only read the first one)

1) The main male character is a Marty Stu. He was designed so that every woman who read him wanted to be with him right away, and while this does appeal to the key demographic, which sells more, it subtracts from the story's literary value.

2) The main female character is a Mary Sue, but insists she isn't. In a way, this may be an Informed Ability: "I'm not very pretty or very smart or good at anything." Yeah, except every male in the story wants to be with you, teachers love you, and you're good at cooking, cleaning, and generally taking care of yourself.

3) Another issue I found annoying is that males, like myself, are very likely to enjoy romance stories. But if we do, we'd appreciate it if the main female character doesn't spend every waking hour describing to me how oh-so-perfect the main male is, both physically and........ what the heck? Just physically. She kept describing every feature like she was analyzing a work of art.

4) Vampires who don't die in the sunlight: Fine. Vampires who are attractive: fair enough. Vampires who have feelings for humans: No problem at all. Vampires who SPARKLE in the sunlight: Are you kidding me?

[Kane]

Sir Stephen King, Ultimate Troll (Thanks, 1d4chan!)

Spoiler

Show

Yah. I'm holding this on the level of the Inheritance Trilogy Cycle.

And that's nothing compared to my English teacher. She read it so she could 'know what the kids are reading these days'. The. Whole. Series.

She despises it. She makes fun of anyone who admits to liking it in class. She HATES it.

[Trizap]

vampires don't sparkle.

HATE.

(and I've never even read it, but still....no vampires sparkle)

[Haruki-kun]

*snip*

Well, I don't really care much about what Stephen King says... but the other day, I walked into this bookstore here, and it was advertising Stephenie Meyers's new book with the following line:

"The new book by Stephenie Meyers, the MOST SUCCESSFUL AUTHOR OF ALL TIMES!"

......the most WHAT now?

In just the last five years she gets beaten by Stephen King, Danielle Steel and J.K. Rowling, let alone "all time".

[raitalin]

I haven't read it but everything I've heard, even from fans, makes me want to read it even less.

Like someone else said, I wasn't particularly keen on Rice's brooding whiny bloodsuckers, though those books managed to hold my interest for 4-5 volumes because of an interesting and well-developed back story. I couldn't handle another The Vampire Lestat, though.

Its just so far from the traditional mythos. These aren't vampires so much as super-human pretty boys that drink blood. And freaking sparkle.

[Starscream]

Hate 'em. Hate 'em so much. And not just because it's fashionable. I've actually read three of the bloody stupid things. Had to. Was writing a report on popular fiction for an English class, and there were already too many people doing the Harry Potter series.

Professor suggested it to me. Jackass. Hate him too. I've seen the movie as well. Didn't want to, I was trapped at work while others were watching it in the same room. Wanted to chew through the desk to escape.

They are the worst books I've ever read. They are drivel unfit for a lightbulb commercial. They are so much concentrated suck that they threaten to become a black hole and consume all light and matter in the solar system. They are actually inferior to their own fanfic (which I also had to read for the report), something I had hitherto not considered possible.

If I had three wishes the first would be that the books don't exist.

The second would be a million dollars to each of the fanfic writers if they promise to never touch a keyboard again.

The third would be five minutes alone with Edward Cullen and a red hot waffle iron.

There's probably already fanfic for that.

[Trizap]

Hate 'em. Hate 'em so much. And not just because it's fashionable. I've actually read three of the bloody stupid things. Had to. Was writing a report on popular fiction for an English class, and there were already too many people doing the Harry Potter series.

Professor suggested it to me. Jackass. Hate him too. I've seen the movie as well. Didn't want to, I was trapped at work while others were watching it in the same room. Wanted to chew through the desk to escape.

They are the worst books I've ever read. They are drivel unfit for a lightbulb commercial. They are so much concentrated suck that they threaten to become a black hole and consume all light and matter in the solar system. They are actually inferior to their own fanfic (which I also had to read for the report), something I had hitherto not considered possible.

If I had three wishes the first would be that the books don't exist.

The second would be a million dollars to each of the fanfic writers if they promise to never touch a keyboard again.

The third would be five minutes alone with Edward Cullen and a red hot waffle iron.

There's probably already fanfic for that.

go on, keep ranting.......let all your anger out......Rant Therapy will calm you down soon........right after a long rant you will realize that the Twilight series, like the Eragon novels, are a 15-minutes of fame kind of thing and will never become a classic and soon fade into obscurity and all will be right with the world.

[The Extinguisher]

Can I park somewhere in the middle, with my apathy banner on the ground, reading books I like. Does anyone else want to join me? We have shade and we don't judge you based on what you read.

Anyone?

[Haruki-kun]

@^: Oh, come on. We're expressing opinions here.

go on, keep ranting.......let all your anger out......Rant Therapy will calm you down soon........right after a long rant you will realize that the Twilight series, like the Eragon novels, are a 15-minutes of fame kind of thing and will never become a classic and soon fade into obscurity and all will be right with the world.

I agree on pretty much all the negative stuff about Eragon... But I seriously prefer it to Twilight. It might only be because I am a male, but still....

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

Well, I've only really watched the movie, and read a bit of that MSTing thread on these forums.

I dunno, maybe I just love crappy movies, I guess, but I.... kinda liked the movie. Plus, I got all sorts of sarcastic comments after the Sparkly Reveal. Which was a lot more subtle than I had thought/hoped.

But then again, I sat through Silk. There is no accounting for taste.

[Raistlin1040]

Literary Merit=Zero. None to speak of. The intellectual equivelent of a Pop-Tart. A BURNT, SPARKLY Pop-Tart.

Compared to classics that some 15 year olds (myself included) read, like A Clockwork Orange, 1984, Wuthering Heights, The Phantom of the Opera, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the Twilight Series is akin to very, VERY poorly written fanfiction. Even when compared to other novels marketed for that demographic, the series does not stand up. The two main characters are awful at worse and tolerable at best, where the side characters have occasional moments of brilliance, when Meyer isn't shoving them off to the side because they're getting in the way of her...I'm sorry, Bella's perfect lovestory.

At the core, that is the book's problem. I dislike the term Mary Sue, and the definition, because it implies that a character that is a stand-in for the author is inherantly bad. I disagree with that. In fact, in many cases, it's quite the opposite. A good author knows themselves so well that they can take their own successes and their own flaws and impart them into their characters, and create a personality that feels like a real person. Some of the best characters in literature are largely composed of a side of the author who created them.

The problem with so-called 'Mary Sues' is when the author has an inflated ego. A well-written stand-in has flaws. The author has looked at himself and seen the good and the bad and says 'Yes, I've made something good of myself, but I am not flawless. Even if my character is too blind to see it, he isn't perfect.' Authors like Stephanie Meyer do not see their own shortcomings, so when they project what they percieve as their personality onto their character, the result is often 1-dimensional. Meyer isn't a complete idiot, she understands that the 'perfect' character is unrealistic, so she makes Bella have self-esteem issues...and then makes sure every character think she's perfect.

The relationship between Bella and Edward, as many have noted, is abusive and frankly, disturbing. I've seen my friends have their facebook status as 'Is just a girl looking for her Edward' or some variation thereof many times. The idea of a perfect boyfriend is fine. Whatever. Associating perfection in a prospective mate with Edward Cullen is *not* fine. Every action he takes that would be seen as unacceptable were he a human boy is explained away either because he loves her, or because Bella sees nothing wrong with it. She's too busy commenting on his ethereal beauty to see anything wrong with his actions. If even a small percentage of teenage girls grow up thinking that is a perfect relationship, either A) They will never allow a flawed, human male to be with them because he's not Edward Cullen (See the Hank Green song on youtube for details) or B) Will find themselves in an abusive relationship.

The book has a nice idea, and is enjoyable to think about, in theory (read: with better execution). I read all four, and saw the film, and I agree, it's fun. It's fluff, but it's fun. If you read the book with any intellectual thought (including the thought of what a proper sentence should sound like) you will not enjoy it. If you read it on a sort of autopilot, it's enjoyable. People shouldn't base their lives upon it, or take it as anything more than it is: Trashy teen romance.

With regards to writing skill and intellectual maturity, the series gets an F. With regards to being a light, fun read, it gets an A. It's not the book's fault it was popular, don't blame the rabid fangirls on the series itself. There are a billion better books out there, but there are also a billion teen romances of exactly the same quality. One would have become popular for horny teenage girls, it just happened to be Twilight.

[raitalin]

go on, keep ranting.......let all your anger out......Rant Therapy will calm you down soon........right after a long rant you will realize that the Twilight series, like the Eragon novels, are a 15-minutes of fame kind of thing and will never become a classic and soon fade into obscurity and all will be right with the world.

Except Twilight's almost certainly going to be getting more movies, and if the repeat viewership of teenage girls tends the way it usually does, the whole series will hit the screen.

[The Extinguisher]

@^: Oh, come on. We're expressing opinions here.

No, your really not.

Expressing opinions is where you go, "I don't like it but you do so we will end our disagreement there". Not screaming bloody murder at anyone who happens to glance at it.

[Trizap]

@^: Oh, come on. We're expressing opinions here.



I agree on pretty much all the negative stuff about Eragon... But I seriously prefer it to Twilight. It might only be because I am a male, but still....

well since I've actually read the Eragon novels, yes Eragon is a little better than Twilight, in that through some serious alternate character interpretation you can see the rebels as evil, Eragon a designated protagonist and the king a good person who just wants to repopulate the dragons and make a better order of Dragon Riders without the previous ones flaws.

they are still pretty bad though.

[Haruki-kun]

Spoiler

Show

Literary Merit=Zero. None to speak of. The intellectual equivelent of a Pop-Tart. A BURNT, SPARKLY Pop-Tart.

Compared to classics that some 15 year olds (myself included) read, like A Clockwork Orange, 1984, Wuthering Heights, The Phantom of the Opera, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the Twilight Series is akin to very, VERY poorly written fanfiction. Even when compared to other novels marketed for that demographic, the series does not stand up. The two main characters are awful at worse and tolerable at best, where the side characters have occasional moments of brilliance, when Meyer isn't shoving them off to the side because they're getting in the way of her...I'm sorry, Bella's perfect lovestory.

At the core, that is the book's problem. I dislike the term Mary Sue, and the definition, because it implies that a character that is a stand-in for the author is inherantly bad. I disagree with that. In fact, in many cases, it's quite the opposite. A good author knows themselves so well that they can take their own successes and their own flaws and impart them into their characters, and create a personality that feels like a real person. Some of the best characters in literature are largely composed of a side of the author who created them.

The problem with so-called 'Mary Sues' is when the author has an inflated ego. A well-written stand-in has flaws. The author has looked at himself and seen the good and the bad and says 'Yes, I've made something good of myself, but I am not flawless. Even if my character is too blind to see it, he isn't perfect.' Authors like Stephanie Meyer do not see their own shortcomings, so when they project what they percieve as their personality onto their character, the result is often 1-dimensional. Meyer isn't a complete idiot, she understands that the 'perfect' character is unrealistic, so she makes Bella have self-esteem issues...and then makes sure every character think she's perfect.

The relationship between Bella and Edward, as many have noted, is abusive and frankly, disturbing. I've seen my friends have their facebook status as 'Is just a girl looking for her Edward' or some variation thereof many times. The idea of a perfect boyfriend is fine. Whatever. Associating perfection in a prospective mate with Edward Cullen is *not* fine. Every action he takes that would be seen as unacceptable were he a human boy is explained away either because he loves her, or because Bella sees nothing wrong with it. She's too busy commenting on his ethereal beauty to see anything wrong with his actions. If even a small percentage of teenage girls grow up thinking that is a perfect relationship, either A) They will never allow a flawed, human male to be with them because he's not Edward Cullen (See the Hank Green song on youtube for details) or B) Will find themselves in an abusive relationship.

The book has a nice idea, and is enjoyable to think about, in theory (read: with better execution). I read all four, and saw the film, and I agree, it's fun. It's fluff, but it's fun. If you read the book with any intellectual thought (including the thought of what a proper sentence should sound like) you will not enjoy it. If you read it on a sort of autopilot, it's enjoyable. People shouldn't base their lives upon it, or take it as anything more than it is: Trashy teen romance.

With regards to writing skill and intellectual maturity, the series gets an F. With regards to being a light, fun read, it gets an A. It's not the book's fault it was popular, don't blame the rabid fangirls on the series itself. There are a billion better books out there, but there are also a billion teen romances of exactly the same quality. One would have become popular for horny teenage girls, it just happened to be Twilight.

My, I didn't know you were such a critic.

Either way, I agree with pretty much everything you just said.

No, your really not.

Expressing opinions is where you go, "I don't like it but you do so we will end our disagreement there". Not screaming bloody murder at anyone who happens to glance at it.

Look, man, with all due respect, if you're gonna be offended by our opinions, don't read them. I, for one, I'm trying to analyze it from a critical point of view, but you don't have to take that as "anyone who reads it is this and that".

As Yahtzee once said "If you personally enjoy it, what everyone else says shouldn't get to you."

[The Tygre]

I feel Cracked.com has already summed up my feelings about Twilight and what it's done to vampires, but I'll say my piece anyway.

Now, when Twilight first started becoming a phenomenon, somewhere between the books and the movie, I found myself growing to hate this orgiastic celebration of pseudo-goth-emo subculture idealism. But I assumed it was only a passing hatred, grown out of frustration with society more than anything else. As I 'hated' Celia in Order of the Stick, 'hated' Ruby Tuesday's after I ate there too much, and 'hated' the Geico gecko, I assumed it would pass and I would much like the aforementioned subjects. (Indeed; I find I am now rather fond of said subjects.)

But then, a curious thing happened. The hype died down, and I found myself still hating Twilight, still gnashing my teeth at its very name. So I thought, 'Maybe I'm being too harsh, being to unjustified. I don't want to be an un-fanboy, I'll do some investigating. Maybe then I'll stop hating it."

I was wrong.

In fact, upon reading this literary tripe which I can best compare to strangulation of the testicles with barbed wire, my hatred increased ten-fold. I don't know where to begin; sparkling vampires? A cesarean section with his teeth?! Pedophile werewolves?! SINGLE PAGES DESCRIBING A MONTH?! SWEET LORD ARIOCH, WHAT IS THIS PAIN YOU INFLICT UPON ME?!

I'm not even sure where to begin, I sure as hell don't know where to end, and I will be damned if I have to explain it bit by bit. Y'know, there was a time I thought Anne Rice was the nadir of vampire writing, the lowest possible, responsible for the destruction of the entire image. God help me, I miss LeStat. LeStat had style, LeStat was cool, and HE SURE AS HELL DIDN'T SPARKLE.

I'm not sure what to compare it to; part of me wants to say 'Manos: Hands of Fate', another part says the Bataan Death March. In one fell swoop, Twilight has successfully destroyed 10,000 of the vampiric storytelling tradition, ruined its image, shattered its dignity, and whored the remains out to whoever will take its battered form. What man would want you now, vampiric storytelling tradition? What man would want you now?!

But the only thing worse... is the FanFiction. Sweet Jesus the horror. THE HORROR. Pray that you never know a pain so exquisite and overwhelming as the things I have seen. Lord Arioch protect us from the things beyond our mortal ken...

Oh, and she should have gone with the werewolf in the second book. Yeah, that's right. I know. I know too much for my own good.

[Lord Seth]

well since I've actually read the Eragon novels, yes Eragon is a little better than Twilight, in that through some serious alternate character interpretation you can see the rebels as evil, Eragon a designated protagonist and the king a good person who just wants to repopulate the dragons and make a better order of Dragon Riders without the previous ones flaws.

they are still pretty bad though.

How does anything of what you just said make Eragon better? Everything you just said was reasons to dislike the series even more.

[HPsauce]

actually i prefer twilight because of all the vampires and the whole history of the rival between vampire and werewolf.
also most of us as humans don't except change but there is a small percentage that do.

eragon for me is alright but if it is supposed to be in the olden days then the language used should be more cockny, but the dragon fight at the end is cool.

[Lord Seth]

Oh, and right when this started, I predicted this would turn into a Twilight-bashing thread, and I was right. Hooray?

[Raistlin1040]

My, I didn't know you were such a critic.

Either way, I agree with pretty much everything you just said.

Heh. English (and by extension, writing, and by extension, analysis of writing) is my THING. Favorite subject.

[Haruki-kun]

@^: Mine too.

How does anything of what you just said make Eragon better? Everything you just said was reasons to dislike the series even more.

*cough*

[Innis Cabal]

No, your really not.

Expressing opinions is where you go, "I don't like it but you do so we will end our disagreement there". Not screaming bloody murder at anyone who happens to glance at it.

No thats called discussing an opinion....we're just saying how we feel.

As for my personal view....any Vampire novel that references diamonds and they are -not- stolen.....no thanks

[Trizap]

How does anything of what you just said make Eragon better? Everything you just said was reasons to dislike the series even more.

exactly what I'm talking about, despite being that horrible, its still better than twilight

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

Okay, I give up trying to type out an argument as to why it's not a big deal that the entire freaking series will be..... movie-ized. Everytime I start either it looks stupid or an argument-breaking thought pops into my head.

And then head-hurting things happened.

And I'mma go back to SMBG now, 'kay? Buh-bye fancy mans.

[Dumbledore lives]

I don't hate Twilight, that much, but only because I don't like despising a series I haven't actually read or seen. I plan to read them at some point, then my hatred can be justified. Unjustified hate is just not as proper.

Twilight did destroy vampires though, and that is unforgivable.

[HPsauce]

ok i have to agree the only reason twilight gets a bigger audience than eragon is becuase it attracks female teens becuase of edward, (he's fit)
and it does attrack males becuase of the fact well there all vampires
and they have a little half vampire half human baby