Monday, January 10, 2011

This 'Twilight' Craze

I'm not completely blind to the vampire craze that has taken over lately. But then I couldn't tell you the name of any of the vampire-related tv shows, although I think True Blood may be one of them.

I've never been 'Team Edward' or 'Team Jacob', and I don't have a Twilight pillow case, bookmark, magnet, bag, blanket, curtain, or any other related items. 

I once owned the first three books in the series, but sold the first two after reading them, knowing I probably would never make it through them a second time. Like I said, I'm not blind to the craze, although it is a bit lost on me.


I bought the first book shortly after its release, after reading someone's rave about it in a personal online journal. Typical me, I didn't read it until I heard there was a movie coming out. I'd much rather read the book before seeing the movie. So I finally read Twilight, found it a good, quick read, then I saw the movie. It struck me as a low budget movie, or something you'd be more likely to see in the 90s, but it was enjoyable enough.

Book 2: New Moon? Boring. Bella going crazy and doing all sorts of weird stunts after Edward left her? I found it annoying. I found it annoying and a bit sad that young teen girls would be reading this romance novel all about Bella's obsessive, crazy, almost suicidal feelings for Edward.

Now I'm not heartless and I believe in love and all that funny stuff, but I wouldn't want my child reading about how a girl jumped off a cliff, rode a motorcycle dangerously and other unsafe things just to hear their lover's voice. I would not want my child to read about how a girl falls into a crazy depression after her boyfriend leaves her, to the point of basically putting her life on hold. But then it's all okay because he comes back. It's creepy.

I'm now halfway through book 3: Eclipse. It feels like I've been reading it forever and maybe it's because I'm a couple of years older than when I read the first two books, but I really feel that the writing is targeted for a young adult audience. It just seems so mindless and slow to get through. Or! Maybe it's just because I'm getting incredibly sick of poor, helpless Bella, always being chased by Victoria and every other vampire that ever exists. Queen Bella, we all must die to protect her! I'd just like to see the girl cross the road without help for once.


Now I've also just finished watching Eclipse, and I can admit that I enjoyed it enough. The story flows a little faster than the book is going, as I still haven't finished the book, but is still slow at times. I also plan on reading and watching Breaking Dawn when the time comes. I believe in finishing what you start. I'm not saying I hate the Twilight saga, even though there's a lot that annoys me about it. I'm interested in the end.

I won't get into how awkward I find "Bella" to be in the movies. As I haven't seen Kristen Stewart act in anything else, I won't blame her until I have more evidence. 

I just think this entire saga has a lot more popularity than it deserves, and maybe that's because everyone is so concerned with how attractive 'Jacob and Edward' are. Or maybe it's because people really are getting wrapped up in the human/vampire/werewolf love triangle. Who knows. Either way, I find it odd that a set of books written for a teenage audience is being obsessed about not only by teenagers, but by women in their 20s, 30s and even 40s. It's a little too much to wrap my head around.

See this story for a little more insanity.

I'm all for a good love story. Especially a good love triangle, but I just don't find this to be the best one. 


What are your thoughts? Love it, hate it, or never cared enough to bother with it? I'd like to hear other sides to the story. Ps, I'm not hating on anyone who likes the series, this is just what I think of it. To each their own. 

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've never read the books but I watched the first movie. I'm not a fan.

a. said...

I was so insistant on not getting wrapped into any of it, until a friend convinced me to go see the 1st movie on the last night of it showing at midnight before it was released on DVD. I went and loved it. Brought the first couple of books and the movie the next day. I got wrapped up in the love triangle and the whole things for me was the unattainable love thing. I hated the 2nd book though because of the same reasons, whiny poor Bella blah blah not making up her mind and being annoying. Her character drives me nuts and I don't think she is deserving of either guy.And I think her real life character Kristen Stewart just makes it worst because she is very inexperienced and awkaward.
btw I do not won any Edward, Jacob, Twilight bookmark or anything other than the books and movies.

Baby Sister said...

I'm not an extreme fan, but I do like the books. I think that Stephenie Meyer is a very talented author, based on the Twilight series and The Host, another book she wrote. The 2nd book is the hardest for me as well. They are books I probably won't let my children read until they're in their teens. The first movie was the worst because of the budget and a weird director, the second slightly better, and the third was the best so far. So I would assume Breaking Dawn will be even better. I don't understand the craze behind the books, but I do think they are well written and very creative and I do enjoy them. Boyfriend and I are actually listening to the books on CD right now. We're on Eclipse. :)

Shell said...

Oh, I totally agree with you. I read the books, but don't get the craze. I actually think that they need to be edited way down.

I thought the movies were better than the books b/c they cut out a lot of the unnecessary stuff.

magnolia said...

i have two problems with twilight:

1) i dislike immensely the whole emphasis on abstinence. if you're going to shill for an ideology, make it obvious.

2) i can't think of a worse role model for young women than that simpering little wuss of a 19th-century throwback that is bella. really, you hit the nail on the head when you said she can't cross the street without help. i remember back in the day when it was a good thing to encourage girls to be independent. now, apparently, not so much.

sigh...

Jennifer S. said...

Haha! Guilty! At age 30, these books had me hooked. I read all of them within a week. You are right about not wanting a teenage girl reading about how Bella spirals out of control over a guy, though. That is not a good message.

reagan said...

I liked the books fine--except for the final book. My problem--she pretty much just re-told classics and threw in some sparkly vampires. Breaking Dawn sucked--probably because it wasn't an Austen or Shakespear re-make.

I do like to go to the movies for girls night out but I'm disturbed by the 30+ year old women with the hots for 18 year old boys. Ewwwwwwww.

Anonymous said...

:hiding shamefully behind something large: Taylor Lautner, who is like 18, he plays Jacob, I find him to be mighty actractive. I am 23, I am 5 years older than him! Not so bad, but grosses me out!

I was never a Twilight fan, in fact for years I refused to even acknowledge them or read them. Then as I was telling someone to be "open minded" one day, I realized I was a hypocrite, because I never read them. Valentine's day of last year I bought Twilight on a Thursday night, and by Sunday I had bought and read the entire series. I was hooked after 4-5 chapters.

I'm not sure what it is I like about it, I've read each book at least 4 times in the past year. I find myself craving that type of unconditional love, the love that edward has for bella, but my heart breaks for Jacob, because he is perfect for bella :sigh: I guess it is a guilty pleasure for me.

BUT Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella, she is totally awkward as an actress in every film she is in. She stars in the Runaways, and she is awkward there too.

Sylvia Plathypus said...

Kristen SPEWART is putrid. She has that same stunted, "I forgot my lines" method in all her other movies, too, and it drives me INSANE!!!!! I love the books, even though I didn't start reading until I was 30. LOL I don't care for the movies at all, mostly because of the lead actress...but also because they do the books such a grave injustice in so many ways.

Holly said...

I couldn't get through the first chapter, let alone the first book. I am happy that people are reading--reading is awesome! But the book series and the movies are not for me. There are so many better novels out there that I want to tackle.

I know Kristen Stewart has been criticized for her acting, but she was also in Speak. I like to pretend that the girl playing Bella is not her, just some strange lookalike, and Stewart is still the uber-awesome Melinda.

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