What's so bad about being a Twilight Fanatic?

[AlbertaJenn]

Torie wrote: "AlbertaJenn wrote:"Oh, careful, sweetie. A couple of your comments were a tiny too close to getting personal. Now, I love Twilight, and I'm definitely more liberal than Mrs. Meyer (and maybe Lindis..."

Naw, I call a lot of people "sweetie" and "my dear" online. I think it may be due to being too lazy to scroll back and forth to get correct spelling of names. And some people have such friggin' long usernames, that it is just easier. 'sides, it's nicer than "hey, you!" ;-)

First, let me say that much of the two links you provided blow things way out of proportion. An argument can't really stand rationally if it is based on half a sentence of a 2,500 page series.

And some of the statements are just laughable. I did not realize that asking a girl to the prom was a form of abuse. Or that Edward being as tempted to have sex with her as she was with him was just his way of "using sex as a weapon." If my mother could have heard me reading these, she would have had words with me. Let's just say that WTF about sums it up.

Now, as I mentioned, I don't condone all his actions. Taking the engine out of the truck was too far. But, Edward does make a fair apology when he knows he's effed up. Page 190 of the North American hardcover of Eclipse, in case you were interested. ;-)

But finally, I notice most of these types of arguments tend to avoid the whole "Victoria trying to turn Bella into Vampire Chow" aspect of the story. In the "real world" with all things being equal and human, Edward shouldn't and wouldn't have acted as protective as he did. But Twilight does not take place in the real world. It is an imaginary world where vampires actually exist.

BTW, why is it that people always go to the "oh, Bella is a chick, so Edward must be sexist" routine? The fact that any vampire could snap her like a twig (much like anyone could do to Kristen Stewart) seems to be oddly missing from these articles. They don't even try to refute the idea that crossing paths with a blood-thirsty alone might be a good way to die.

But, if the argument isn't acknowledged, then it must not exist.

[AlbertaJenn]

Vixenne wrote: "I did like Victoria though. I can't see her allowing Edward to tell her what to do, LOL...."

I'm not so sure about that. Something tells me James didn't asked "pretty please" when he had her break into the high school and steal Bella's mom's address. And since James was doing this because he didn't get to have another woman (Alice), I'm not sure Victoria was necessarily willing to help him exact his revenge for not getting Alice. Things were cool when James was killing someone else, but if Victoria had made James mad, there is no saying she wouldn't have been his next body. I don't think James knew the meaning of love. Pity, since Victoria died for him.

[AlbertaJenn]

Lindis wrote: "AlbertaJenn wrote: "Torie wrote: "Oof. That post was riddled with sentences that made my head want to implode.

Lindis said: "First: Control - Edward does not control Bella. Sure he does alot o..."

Thanks. Can you tell I have had this discussion before (or a few times)? Lots of time to think on this in the last four years.

[The FountainPenDiva, Old school geek chick and lover of teddy bears]

Whoa, another article that discusses Twilight's epic racefail:

http://applesparkles.wikia.com/wiki/T...!!!

@AlbertaJenn: Edward watches Bella SLEEP! He sneaks into her bedroom--the one place should that should be off limits (unless she invites him in)--and watches her sleep! I didn't read Midnight Sun, but the fact that he oils the window so it doesn't make any noise? You cannot tell me this isn't somewhat creepy on its face.

[Trollworth McTrollin]

Vixenne wrote: "Whoa, another article that discusses Twilight's epic racefail:

http://applesparkles.wikia.com/wiki/T...!!!

@AlbertaJenn: Edward watches Bella SLEEP! He ..."

He's a professional stalker. He's been practising for a hundred years.

Why is everyone afraid of hurting each others feelings? Its the internet ffs! Twilight must be serious business. I best put my serious pants on today.

...

No wait, thats boring.

[Gerd]

Vixenne wrote: "I think with Edward, Bella sees everything her father should have been but wasn't--a provider, a protector and someone who would love her unconditionally..."

That sounds so wrong to me.
It's such a very Freud to say that's always sounding like "All girls want to marry their father"


Lindis wrote: "Oh you're spot on with the way that Bella grew up!
And I actually did forget about Edward disabling her engine. I would have gone off on him for that too. But like you said, he learned from his mistake...."

In a sort of defense for Edward: He's died according to Meyer before ever having been in love, and he didn't fall for anybody in the next hundred+ years, he simply has no base for what he's feeling. So he acts as it comes to his mind, he want's to protect accident prone Bella from possibly killing or the very least majorily hurting herself by going head first into a werewolf nest-, camp-, refuge-, werewolf whatever.

It's a quite natural reaction for first love, if you think about it. The first time your in love the feeling to need to protect the other at all costs can be overwhelming, even more so because when you are in love the other's pain becomes so much your own and you feel that whatever is prone to hurt them is going to hurt you just the same.

Though, that fact that he chooses to gut her car (when he claims to like cars, just as it happenes not used and battered ugly ones; and there's probably a symbolism in that) has to make you wonder. Not to talk about the fact that he takes out his need to "protect" on virtually the only item Bella owns at that point.


Torie wrote: " Lindis wrote: "But you can't deny, in this story, their love for each other. "

LOL. I actually do deny it. To me, what they have is merely infatuation. They lust after one another and don't h..."

True, but isn't that the case with the majority of romance novels?
At least in the few I read that weren't Paranormals it usually went down the way that once the author let them have sex they magically stopped to talk each other in any meaningful way (often enough they neither had any meaningful conversation before hand either) and instead seemed to have gained a kind of magic connection.
Radar Love, tee-hee.


Edit:

RE Edward being a stalker, the intro to the German vampire movie "Wir sind die Nacht" (We are the night) puts down more eloquently why this is intrinsically intertwined with the idea of vampire love and why we are so completly fascinated with it

If you knew that there's only one person on this world that can make you happy, who is destined for you, what would you sacrifice to find him? How many centuries would you keep looking for him? And if you had found him, would you ever let him go again? Wouldn't you hold him as tight as you could with both your arms? And never, never never let him go?

The whole "Soulmate" concept a lot of modern vampire lore is based on, is just one step away from a stalker's ideal.

[Gerd]

Vixenne wrote: "Whoa, another article that discusses Twilight's epic racefail:

http://applesparkles.wikia.com/wiki/T...!!!"

I refuse to read any article that can't even properly spell a headline...


AlbertaJenn wrote: "Naw, I call a lot of people "sweetie" and "my dear" online. I think it may be due to being too lazy to scroll back and forth to get correct spelling of names. And some people have such friggin' long usernames, that it is just easier. 'sides, it's nicer than "hey, you!" ;-)..."

But it makes you sound a bit grandmotherly, like an older Lady that feels the need to take a younger under her wing.

[Lindis]

AlbertaJenn wrote: "Torie wrote: "AlbertaJenn wrote:"Oh, careful, sweetie. A couple of your comments were a tiny too close to getting personal. Now, I love Twilight, and I'm definitely more liberal than Mrs. Meyer (an..."

Awesome comments AlbertaJenn!

[Torie]

@AlbertaJenn: While I agree some of the arguments on the sites are ludicrous, there are some that I feel actually have merit. E.G.:

"You're so pushy!" I grumbled.
[snip for boring, unrelated dialogue where Bella does not berate Edward for his abusive treatment.]
He lowered the automatic window and leaned toward me across the seat. "Get in, Bella."
I didn't answer. I was mentally calculating my chances of reaching the truck before he could catch me. I had to admit, they weren't good.
"I'll just drag you back," he threatened, guessing my plan. "

Like, ugh. Really? and then this:

On page 116 of the Midnight Sun PDF, Edward begins to mentally stalk Bella, following her through the simple, human mind of her friends. Over the next few pages of his mental stalking, Edward constantly laughs at Bella, finding amusement in her clumsiness.
On page 153 of the Midnight Sun PDF, Edward again sneaks into Bella's room.
Bella was sleeping peacefully when I climbed into her bedroom window early Monday morning. I'd remembered oil this time, and the window now moved silently out of my way.


C'maaaaaan. So creepy, man.

@Trollworth: Lulz. I'm too mean a girl for most, I suppose. The internet is srs biznezz.

@Gerd: Yeah, a lot of romances have unsubstantial relationships, but those are usually the trashy ones (at least from the ones I've read. HA!). But I feel if you're a good writer and you have a good story and great characters, you can easily form a romantic novel with characters one can actually believe are in love--that talk about real things, that share interests, that talk about each other in different adjectives other than "freesia," "adonis," and "marble." Just because a whole slew of romance novels have "loving" relationships built off of nothing substantial, doesn't mean authors shouldn't try to rise above that and conjure something more meaningful.

[Tiffany]

Trollworth wrote: "Gerd wrote: "Trollworth wrote: "Vampires are creatures of the night. Why the hell would they sparkle? ..."

But you realize that one hasn't much to do with the other. There's no rule stating that t..."

agreed! but don't get me wrong i am a fan of twilight but i can def. understand how many people despise it i loved the story but hated the movies catherine ruined the first film for me as well as the acting ruined it for me as well. the twilight zombies who follow blindly and who cry at the mention of twilight are what makes everyone hate twilight you say one bad thing about kstew or rpatz or the book series and they go berserk im not ashamed to say i enjoyed the series but the books have major flaws i can contest to that however please don't assume that people who have read twilight have not read other vampire books before twilight. i've read plenty of vampire books before twilight but i can appreciate what stephaine has put out there and making her own spin on it. but my major gripe with twilight zombies is that they compare twilight to harry potter now those are some fighting words to me lol don't dare even compare twilight to the great harry potter, especially when the stories are completely different.

[The FountainPenDiva, Old school geek chick and lover of teddy bears]

Gerd wrote: "I refuse to read any article that..."

It's satire, LOL. It's poking fun at the twi-tards' tendancy for chat-speak. The article itself is pretty substantial.

[[deleted user]]

There is nothing wrong with being a Twilight fanatic, its all about your personal opinion. I for one didn't really like the books at all, but that doesn't give me the right to judge others because of their personal preference.

[Gerd]

Tiffany wrote: "agreed! but don't get me wrong i am a fan of twilight but i can def. understand how many people despise it i loved the story but hated the movies catherine ruined the first film for me as well as the acting ruined it for me as well...."

Didn't like the movie much either, although I did like some of the cast, most of all the actress playing Victoria. I though both her and the costume they gave her to be spot on in that case.

However, my main point is, if Edward happened to be a dark fairy, for example, he would still be a night creature in a sort of way but the sparkling would have made (more) sense then.

[SarahO]

Wow, I feel like I'm coming in really late to the conversation but this is a subject that I have been wondering about as well.
I'm a Creative Writing Major and I had to read Twilight for a YA Lit class and I admit I'm a twi-hater for a few reasons:

1. Edward seems to be a control freak stalker.
2. Bella tunes out anything that doesn't involve Ed and begins using and lying to everyone just to be near him. (like Jake who I though was the only good part of the book).
3. The real action/plot did start til the very end and was extremely short (I'm more of a plot driven reader)
4. I though the writing was poor and that the characters (especially Ed) weren't very evolved and had a short range of emotions.
5. it's kinda ruining the vamp genre. Angel from Buffy had a conscious but he was an anomaly. Vamps are evil. end of story. (when my classmates tell me to take vamps out of my story because they are over used I get a bit peeved)

ok, maybe that came out harsher then I intended but thats my opinion of the book. I know many Twi-haters and lovers but no one had been able to tell me exactly why they liked the books. Thanks for making this thread.

[Lindis]

Ugh! I want to say more, but I'd just be saying the same things over and over. Yes, Edward was a little creepy at first. I'm sorry, who cares!? It's fiction! It's is first love, he really didn't know how to act, he learned. He got better. Yeah, their love started on the physical, scents and looks. But don't all relationships start that way. First you are attracted to the physical, then you learn more about the person and love them more, or deeper.

[Tiffany]

Gerd wrote: "Tiffany wrote: "agreed! but don't get me wrong i am a fan of twilight but i can def. understand how many people despise it i loved the story but hated the movies catherine ruined the first film for..."

agreed the actresses who played victoria did a great job especially byrce didn't think she had it in her but i loved them both. my main problem was that the movie lost the heart of the books for me, and we were so swamped up in the cast's personal life, who had better abs, ad lib dialogue, shoddy camera work and that's putting it nicely. summit never should've took on this project this movie series could've had so much more potential than what it delivered. sorry but rosalie, bella, jacob were all miscast that's my opinion im sticking to it ;) and I too think the fairy would've worked as well because it seems everyone had problems with a sparkling vampire-i didn't, i thought it was cute but to each their own.

[Tiffany]

SarahO wrote: "Wow, I feel like I'm coming in really late to the conversation but this is a subject that I have been wondering about as well.
I'm a Creative Writing Major and I had to read Twilight for a YA Lit c..."

well i for one like this book because to me of course it shows how falling in love can transform a person, and sorry but not everyone is meant to go to college and be independent. not saying that's a good or bad thing but for some people its not, so i can understand if bella decided she wanted to just disappear off with Ed and live their lives. and to be quite frank, at that age after having a baby who wants to go to school or work? im sure since the cullens were able to blend in at forks high at some point in the future bella could've went to college with ed after the baby grew up.
not only did bella and eds love transform them it transformed those around them, a good example would be charlie in my opinion. he finally made some effort in my eyes to be more involved with bella and try to work on their relationship.
i liked the books because it shows that when you are in love there are sacrifices to be be made in order to have that happy ever after ending by no means am i saying twilight is a masterpiece but to each their own just figured i'd explain why i loved twilight. only the first one though and eclipse. new moon and breaking dawn were the worst in the series.

[SarahO]

Tiffany wrote: "SarahO wrote: "Wow, I feel like I'm coming in really late to the conversation but this is a subject that I have been wondering about as well.
I'm a Creative Writing Major and I had to read Twilight..."

Hmm, I guess I can see that. Although I don't see much of that in the first book (which is the only one I've read) I guess I can see how people would view the series that way... people have told me they get better as they go on. Thanks!

[Torie]

Hey! I actually have a genuine question for all the Twihards out there. Can someone please explain Meyer's logic concerning not only the birth, but the vampire baby itself? Not only the process of conceiving the baby (howwwwwwww), but if the baby will forever look like....a baby? Don't vampires look the same when they're turned? This baby was always a vampire, so when it's like 18 (when Jacob can date her), is she still going to look like a baby, but talk and act like a teenager? I really can't imagine this teenage baby talking about boys, clothes, and how high school is so difficult.

Or does the baby grow older? Like to a hot age and then just stop aging? I don't get it.

[Caroline C.]

Torie wrote: "Hey! I actually have a genuine question for all the Twihards out there. Can someone please explain Meyer's logic concerning not only the birth, but the vampire baby itself? Not only the process o..."

it says in the book that she grows (the baby) extremely fast and she does not look like a baby she grows like a human just really fast it said that carlisle said sh would only live around 15yrs or somthin around thewre but at the end they showed another person that was like renesmee (half human half vampire)and he lives to be at the moment 174 years or around there how it happened i have no idea but stephenie was the creator of the book so she had complete power so i dont think it really had to make sence

[Tiffany]

well the baby was conceived because bella is human so her body can carry a pregnancy unlike a vampire woman because their bodies are pretty much corpses so they can't give life like bella can, the baby will not look like a baby because she is half human she will grow at a fast rate by the age she is seven she will be an adult i think and that means that she and jacob can be together as she grows rapidly im sure her intelligence and maturity rate will grow as well due to hormones once she hits puberty and will be an adult so when she is seven she will really be like 18 and then she'll stop growing and will be immortal i haven't read the books in a while but i think this is what happens oh and though ed is dead his sperm is still preserved somehow and well we all know the facts of life need to have a period and sperm to create baby lol

[Tiffany]

SarahO wrote: "Tiffany wrote: "SarahO wrote: "Wow, I feel like I'm coming in really late to the conversation but this is a subject that I have been wondering about as well.
I'm a Creative Writing Major and I had ..."

yeah i was talking more as a whole but yeah no problem each to their own i have had my own love hate relationship with the twilight series mostly the movies but i understand both sides completely...i hope you will continue on with the series its not the worst thing to have ever read lol

[The FountainPenDiva, Old school geek chick and lover of teddy bears]

Lindis wrote: "Ugh! I want to say more, but I'd just be saying the same things over and over. Yes, Edward was a little creepy at first. I'm sorry, who cares!? It's fiction! It's is first love, he really didn't kn..."

Lindis, Edward had 100 years to figure out what love is, even if he never experienced it for himself. He was a perpetual high school student who could read minds; there's no way possible for him to not have been exposed to all the drama teenagers go through when it comes to relationhips. The guy lived with two couples--Carlisle and Esme and Rosalie and Jasper. It would stand to reason he'd see firsthand how they interacted with each other. I just don't see Rosalie allowing Jasper to treat her the way Edward does Bella. I'm sorry but 100 years is a lot of Dear Abby columns and Dr. Phil, LOL.

The problem isn't just the characters--it's the horribly cliched writing that fails to deliver. Edward should have been the brooding hero in search of redemption and finding it with Bella. But Meyer gets it all wrong (not to mention her religious beliefs as part of the context).

And PLEASE, stop falling back on that tired old canard that it's just FICTION. That doesn't give it a free pass from criticism. Even great literature (which Twilight IS NOT) has been subject to criticism over the years. Hell, people are claiming that Shakespeare wasn't even Shakespeare.

[Ryann]

I used to like the books, but it is a little overpopularized. Mainly with because every other supernatural book after Twilight seems to use the same ingredients, making the story less unique. I'm tired of seeing all the merchandise too, all the ugly t-shirts with Edward's face, and the tee's with the pack on them, it's a little gross. But hey, that's my opinion.

[Lindis]

Vixenne wrote: "Lindis wrote: "Ugh! I want to say more, but I'd just be saying the same things over and over. Yes, Edward was a little creepy at first. I'm sorry, who cares!? It's fiction! It's is first love, he r..."

Okay, okay, I give up! Your right, Edward is a pig. He's not my favorite anyway. : ) I still love the books.
I couldn't care less about Meyer's religious beliefs.
And, I have never said that Twilight is great literature. I just like the story, what's wrong with that!?

Those who have commented on the birth pretty much have it right. This has all been discussed in DEPTH in the feed titled "Vampires don't sparkle" (I think) If you'd like to check it out.
Meyer explains it in the Twilight Guide that came out not too long ago. I'd be happy to put any answers in here, from that book if you'd like.

[Lele]

EVERYTHING!

[Gerd]

Vixenne wrote: "Lindis, Edward had 100 years to figure out what love is, even if he never experienced it for himself. He was a perpetual high school student who could read minds; there's no way possible for him to not have been exposed to all the drama teenagers go through when it comes to relationhips...."

Well, he also believes that he would go to hell for having sex before marriage, so I'd hazard to say he wasn't the fastest to pick up things ... you know, there always are those few that you could stick in High School for a hundred years and still would come out none the wiser. :D

[Sheri]

Rakisha wrote: "I am a 38-year-old young adult librarian, and I don't see anything wrong with being a Twi-hard fanatic. I applaud anything that makes kids want to read more. I read the first book, and I thought it..."

totakky agree or where they try to inter;ace a vampire theme into a classic just to jump on the twilight bandwagon ughhhhhhhhhh!

[Trollworth McTrollin]

This thread has gotten boring now. Thanks for the few days entertainment watching passionate twihards and twihaters unleash their "respectful" (on the internet?!) opinions... bleh.

As for Twilight, I've never read any of the books or seen any of the films. Just trollin'.

[Marina]

So...Someone who has never read the books or seen the movies comes in, insults everyone on the thread then complains about being bored. Get a life please.

[Marsha]

Not sure why anyone would comment if they were bored. There are lots of conversations going on on this site to enjoy and you can obviously pick a subject more interesting.

[The FountainPenDiva, Old school geek chick and lover of teddy bears]

Gerd wrote: "Well, he also believes that he would go to hell for having sex before marriage, so I'd hazard to say he wasn't the fastest to pick up things ... you know, there always are those few that you could stick in High School for a hundred years and still would come out none the wiser. :D...

LOL. Too true.

[Marina]

It's not the same experiencing love on your own (for the first time ever, after 100 years of not finding a mate) vs. reading minds of teens with whom he has so little in common. How many of those teens have experience TRUE love at their age?

Edward is afraid of going to Hell because he is afraid he may not have a soul. So he wants to mitigate his judgement, as it were, by not committing any more sins. Being brought up at a different age, with Carlisle (son of a priest) as a surrogate father, he still thinks sex before marriage is a sin. That is not such a stretch and I don't think it's a reason to make fun of him as being dense.

[Marsha]

Masha wrote: "It's not the same experiencing love on your own (for the first time ever, after 100 years of not finding a mate) vs. reading minds of teens with whom he has so little in common. How many of those t..."

Really good point Masha! And I forgot about Carlise being the son of a priest. He is a very moral father-figure so it's no wonder Edward turned out like that. He also beat himself up about having killed people so he was for sure trying to make amends for that.

[Judy]

Ashlee - I also loved the Twilight series and I am an almost 50 year old woman! I agree with you about about those who dress up as the characters, etc. but that has been going on for some time (I imagine you are to young to remember the trekkies (Star Trek fanatics - they actually had (and very well may still have) conventions and the like. There are always some who take it to the extreme - lol - I guess no harm no foul!

Ashlee wrote: "I read the series in 09 and fell in love with it. I was also hyped up over Twilight the movie. I think it's a little overrated how some girls pretend to actually be Cullens or actually make trips t..."

[Marsha]

They still do have conventions Judy. I'm a total Trekky, never went to a convention though.

[Gerd]

Marsha wrote: "Really good point Masha! And I forgot about Carlise being the son of a priest. He is a very moral father-figure so it's no wonder Edward turned out like that. He also beat himself up about having killed people so he was for sure trying to make amends for that..."

But Carlisle is also a doctor, I wonder if you can be a Doc and still believe sex before marriage to be a sin, seems irrational. I'd expect him to know a little more about biology.

As for trying to make amends sure, enough, but I don't think there are any vampires in heaven either way. :D
Though, admittedly I thought Edward the chaste vampire to be one of Stephenie's more fun ideas.

[Marsha]

hahahahaha! there probably aren't very many vamps in heaven. But I don't think that being a Doc means you necessarily have to think that waiting until marriage is irrational, it's not a clinical issue just a choice. And now that I think of it, why would Edward even try to make amends for having killed people if he thinks he has no soul? If you have no soul, you just don't exist at the end of the world right? We're getting all philosophical about this subject and everything ;)

[Marina]

Edward thinks he lost his soul. However, Carlisle believes one can be redeemed and get it back by doing good deeds and renouncing the life of killing. So Edward is basically hedging his bets, just in case Carlisle is right. As for a doctor having beliefs about sin, I don't see how one contradicts another. It's not like he says you will DIE if you have sex before marriage, just that it's a sin. There are millions of doctors and scientists out there who are religious.

Vamps in heaven? Not sure about that one. On Buffy, Spike dies heroically saving the world, but when he comes back on Angel he says he was still in Hell in the afterlife. But Stephenie Meyer's vamp mythology is different- vamps aren't even scared of crosses in her world.

[Aisha]

Tiffany wrote: "SarahO wrote: "Wow, I feel like I'm coming in really late to the conversation but this is a subject that I have been wondering about as well.
I'm a Creative Writing Major and I had to read Twilight..."

Happy ever after endings are only for fiction. In reality there is no happy ever after ending, even when you sacrifice things for love. So twilight can't really teach you that after all.

[Marsha]

Why don't I remember Spike dying? I love Spike!

[Gloria]

r u talkin about buffy or somethin?

[Marina]

Aisha wrote: "Tiffany wrote: "SarahO wrote: "Wow, I feel like I'm coming in really late to the conversation but this is a subject that I have been wondering about as well.
I'm a Creative Writing Major and I had ..."

"Happily ever after" just means lovers end up together and have a good life. Happy doesn't mean perfect or problem free, just satisfying. And it does too happen in real life. I've seen plenty of great marriages where people survived a lot together and were still in love and satisfied with their lives and choices even in old age.

[Marina]

Marsha wrote: "Why don't I remember Spike dying? I love Spike!"

LOL for some people Spike fans somehow block out that he dies to save the world in the Buffy finale. He comes back to life through magic in one of the later seasons of Angel, but if you only watched Buffy, you're left with Spike dying. Spike is actually closer to Twilight vamps than Angel because he *chooses* at some point to become good and get his soul back.

[Aisha]

Masha wrote: "Aisha wrote: "Tiffany wrote: "SarahO wrote: "Wow, I feel like I'm coming in really late to the conversation but this is a subject that I have been wondering about as well.
I'm a Creative Writing M..."

Hmm, I guess that makes sense.

[Tiffany]

Masha wrote: "Aisha wrote: "Tiffany wrote: "SarahO wrote: "Wow, I feel like I'm coming in really late to the conversation but this is a subject that I have been wondering about as well.
I'm a Creative Writing M..."

couldn't have said it better myself. thanks because that's exactly what i meant, but no means is any relationship perfect but people can have a happy ending i've seen it with my great aunt and uncle and i don't care if twilight harry potter or any book is fiction, there can be a lesson/moral etc that people can learn from at least i can say at least 98% of the book i've read i've learned something from whether it be on how not to act, etc.

[Anna]

What's so bad about being a Twilight Fanatic? has the answer behind the words. Because it ruins your life with it's trashy storyline. How are you going to use this in the real world? You can't always find a Edward in this world. Spend your time wisely because who knows when the world is going to end and when it does, we will be in front of God and he will be reading the book of life.

[Marina]

Really? Reading a fantasy novel ruins your life? Well duh you can't find a 100 YO sparkly vampire in the real world. But maybe you can find true love. Maybe you can learn about self-control and redemption and sacrifice for the ones you love. Maybe you can learn to take what fate hands you and make the best of it instead of giving in to evil urges because things didn't work out for you. How much clearer the "vegetarian vampire" metaphor would have to be for people to see relevance to our world? Don't be so quick to dismiss the message because you don't care for the presentation.

[Caroline C.]

Masha wrote: "Really? Reading a fantasy novel ruins your life? Well duh you can't find a 100 YO sparkly vampire in the real world. But maybe you can find true love. Maybe you can learn about self-control and red..."

totally agree thats exactly wat i told all my friends that said twilight is pointless

[S.J.]

Wow, you guys are getting pretty serious about this. I heard a really interesting interview on NPR yesterday (Yes, I'm old and boring....lol). It was a psychologist who has been researching the self-destructive tendencies in young women. He pointed out that Bella is pretty much a victim throughout the entire series.

I think his point was a good one. Is Bella's character too passive? It seems like she's always getting rescued by either Edward or Jake. Would you consider Bella a good role model? Up until she becomes a vampire, that is?

It's an age-old question. Shouldn't girls be gravitating towards stronger fictional characters? I think that with the Twilight series, the innocence of the love between Bella and Edward is a huge draw. The nature of the relationship is probably unlike anything any teenager had imagined. A guy who does NOT want to have sex? That's refreshing.

But is it too unrealistic? Maybe it doesn't matter. I think the greatest thing that Stephenie Meyer did was to break wide open the world of reading to a new generation. Teenage girls who used to find it a chore to read a book are now browsing their local bookstores, checking the bestseller lists on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Despite what others might say about realism or Bella's mentality, Meyer opened the eyes of millions of people around the world. She introduced new places and people that are memorable. She did it with mere words on a page. My sixty-year-old mother-in-law has read all the Twilight books, and she usually only reads Danielle Steele.

So, thank you to Stephenie Meyer.