Twighlight readers I have a question (Flamers stay away)

[Haydyn]

Write softcore porn, then try to clean it up a bit. I say this as a serious commentar and not a flamer. Twilight pulls at young girls heart strings and appeals to their sexual interests. I can't judge them for that. Suckerpunch comes out this month, and it feature a hot girl in a mini skirt blowing stuff up. It's the male equivilent, and I really want to see it.

 

[wammnebu]

I hate that Twilight stole my idea for the vampire mythos. I was writing my own fantasy story when I heard about Twilight from my love who asked whether I'd plagiarized from the book. Needless to say, I read the series and got pissed about once again not being as original as I thought I was being.

isnt that the truth though, that sucks

 

[Xigageshi]

Wow.
Ok I'm just going to throw this out there.
I am a twenty-five year old male (though twenty four when I read the books, technically) and I actually really enjoyed them, some of my favorites truth be told.

one thing that hasn't been touched on here is the sense of world building, I love world building, as an example, my two other favorite series are Harry Potter and the Dresden Files, and I can assure you my knowledge of their respective universes is expansive and exhaustive. for me the most engrossing stories are the ones I can just absorb little details from, and twilight is positively full of them, the special abilities of some vampires, the way food choice has physical (eyes, strength) and mental (more trusting, rational) effects on them. their histories.

I enjoyed the plot to be certain, and I do think the series in general has gotten a really bad wrap because of the truly atrocious movies, but the real draw for me was just the world building and the fantasy romance take on the romeo and juliet story.

I should mention that I was never really fond of romeo and juliet, for reasons that I'll only go into if asked.

I notice a lot of talk of manipulation and abuse, and if that was your take, ok, but I approached it the same way I approach any fiction involving vampires or magic (or vampires and magic) it's fantasy. it is fantastic by design. if you go into a fantasy romance about two teenagers (one of whom happens to be a vampire) and don't expect it to be creepy if examined outside that context in the real world, then well you're kind of missing the whole point.

I'm a huge romantic. just a big hulking girly-man about this kind of thing, and I'll tell you that though the story is told from Bella's perspective, I identified with Edward. his thoroughly explored feelings for Bella are what kept me reading into the wee hours of the night.

when I came across Twilight, I had wanted for years to find a girl for whom I could feel as strongly as he does for her, and the series just latched onto that part of me and I couldn't put it down.

I've actually been wanting to go back and read them (which writing this post has inspired me to do) and see how I feel about them, now that I have found my Bella. Maybe I won't enjoy Twilight as much this time, or maybe, I'll simply appreciate Jen even more.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

the ability to imagine that you are Bella that makes it appeal to a demographic which is as broad as they come; females, making half the population of the earth eligable to love Twilight.

I dislike the implications of that statement. Gender aside, I and the vast majority of my fellow females have nothing in common with the unhealthiness of Bella's mindset and relationship.

You're right, there is a difference between the target demographic and those who actually like the product, for example, an aftershave can is targeted to all men, but that does not mean every single man will buy or like it. When I said it appealed to women I meant that even though not all women would like Twilight, if just a small percentage of women buy it, it will still mean massive numbers sold, due to females being such a large demographic, (of course some men will buy and enjoy it too)

"Boy meets girl" is a horrendous oversimplification which rather fails to take into account many of the social issues present. Lord of the Rings is boy meets girl, for several different boys and girls. The same with Harry Potter, with Tess of the D'Urbervilles.

Are there any other social implications in Twilight? I didn't detect any underlying themes or greater message, but I'll admit I only read half of the first book before I gave up on it, so are there any later on?

I always considered the difference between the plot of Twilight and Harry Potter to be that Twilight is primarily a romance, the main characters are Edward and Bella, and all other plot lines and characters revolve around their relationship with each other. Harry Potter on the other hand is about a boy who is destined to stop an evil wizard threatening to take over the world, the plotlines and characters all revolve around this central plot line. This can be seen in the way Harry only gets interested in girls in the forth book, Twilight would not have worked if Edward did not appear until over halfway though the series. You could not call the Philosophers/Sorcerers Stone a romance novel.
In this respect The Lord of the Rings is an a whole other kettle of fish, I always considered the main plotline of the LOTR to be Middle Earth, its history, races, lore etc. and the whole Frodo/ring/Sauruman plot was just one of many things happening in Middle Earth, that is why they constantly met people or get into situations that have nothing to do with their journey (Tom Bombadill being the first offender) and why Tolkien always goes off on all these tangents.

 

[Rellik San]

Ok not a twilight fan here... I hate the infernal series however I also know why its popular... the fantasy, in essence it was Anne Rice lite. It focused on the sense of self imposed isolation and smug superiority a lot of teens feel these days (I suppose a good example would be when I was 18, my 17 year old girlfriend broke up with me for criticising her Zelda fan-fiction, apparently my comment on it being good but unnecessarily verbose was a little too much for her to take... then again she also accused me of making her give up art because hers wasn't anywhere near as good as mine.... damn, I also get the crazy ones). Its escapism in its purest form, appealing to their sense of ego.


I'm aware that sounds like an attack on Twilight fans and I really don't intend it too be, its more a truth about teenagers (and some adults) in general.

If you want to write popular pulp fiction, be on the pulse of what's seen as cool and edgy, for now vampires are cliché but find the current cool, make a Mary Sue romance out of it and soon you too will have a multi-million dollar franchise with optioned movie rights.

 

[Section Crow]

why not just read the book?

you can learn more from reading the book not for entertainment but just to see how it is structured rather then asking people what they thought about it

 

[Rellik San]

why not just read the book?

you can learn more from reading the book not for entertainment but just to see how it is structured rather then asking people what they thought about it

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

He'll pollute his brain doing that. :O

Then again if he does, may I advise immediately following it up with a Robet Rankin marathon to cleanse the mind and soul afterwards.

 

[Labyrinth]

Are there any other social implications in Twilight? I didn't detect any underlying themes or greater message, but I'll admit I only read half of the first book before I gave up on it, so are there any later on?

I always considered the difference between the plot of Twilight and Harry Potter to be that Twilight is primarily a romance, the main characters are Edward and Bella, and all other plot lines and characters revolve around their relationship with each other. Harry Potter on the other hand is about a boy who is destined to stop an evil wizard threatening to take over the world, the plotlines and characters all revolve around this central plot line. This can be seen in the way Harry only gets interested in girls in the forth book, Twilight would not have worked if Edward did not appear until over halfway though the series. You could not call the Philosophers/Sorcerers Stone a romance novel.
In this respect The Lord of the Rings is an a whole other kettle of fish, I always considered the main plotline of the LOTR to be Middle Earth, its history, races, lore etc. and the whole Frodo/ring/Sauruman plot was just one of many things happening in Middle Earth, that is why they constantly met people or get into situations that have nothing to do with their journey (Tom Bombadill being the first offender) and why Tolkien always goes off on all these tangents.

Oh [http://prenerk.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/why-twilight-is-terrible/] Boy [http://www.amplifyyourvoice.org/u/nikkigassley/2009/8/13/Feminism-Doesnt-Sparkle-What-Twilight-Teaches-Young-Girls], where [http://www.datingish.com/696137277/twilights-bella-is-the-ultimate-anti-feminist/] should [http://www.fanpop.com/spots/critical-analysis-of-twilight/articles/29723/title/anti-feminism-bella-swan-illusion-choice] I [http://screencrave.com/2009-11-11/twilights-bella-swan-is-a-feminists-nightmare/] even [http://www.gender-agenda.org.uk/discuss/120/macho-vampires-and-damsels-in-distress-twilight-is-bad-news-for-feminism/] start [http://bitchmagazine.org/post/what-would-buffy-do-notes-on-dusting-edward-cullen]? If you don't feel like reading all of those which I can understand, the fourth and the last are probably best. I could have filled this post with hyperlinks, but I figured that would just be off putting. Those links are far better deconstructions of the books and their effects than I could make with the time I have available.

If you're looking for pure 'romance' in a fantasy setting, Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series are far more interesting. Then again, they're cliterature after about the third novel, but the attitudes to sexuality and sex are infinitely more positive, the characters infinitely more capable and believable. And the writing is better. Otherwise, try Buffy!

 

[Feline Jaye]

I read the series and didn't like, but I'm going to respond anyway cause... well... I sorta DID like it.

I loved the CONCEPT. The basic ideas behind were actually really good. Unfortuantly, I felt they were really poorly executed, but I did like the idea behind the series.