I see Twilight as the final and, ultimately, welcome death of the vampire meme's legitimacy.
Yeah, she neuters her vampires. But face it, vampires have already been done to death. There is nothing more interesting to write, say, or film about the concept of sun-fearing undead bloodsuckers with sexual overtones.
Pretty strong statement Qingu- but then again, when do you NOT make those?
I would disagree; true the trope has been beaten into the ground, but that is not to say you cannot come up with anything new and interesting. Twilight just is not that thing (I would also argue that True Blood is not either, and is actually just as terrible, if not MORE terrible for being so horribly cliched. At least myers TRIES to innovate)
How exactly does she innovate? No stakes and sunshine makes them sparkle instead of burst into flame?
I feel the same way about elves and dwarves. If nobody ever wrote another fantasy novel about elven archers and dwarf miners, the world would be a better place. What else can you do with an elven archer? Make them black-skinned instead of pale? Have elves set in Brooklyn? Basically, someone already thought of this idea, and a bunch of imitators have already drained this trope of all interesting narrative possibility. I feel it's an author's job to explore new territory and invent new tropes instead of recycle old ones.
I feel you and I have had this argument before, and I disagree with you about elves and dwarves.
Again, get past the sparkly thing. I am not saying it is good but it IS something new to the genre. However, a mayonnaise and peanut butter sandwich is ALSO an 'innovation' but that does not necessarily mean it is a GOOD one.
Separate 'good' from 'innovative' and she HAS done something new. The problem is that what she did is akin to a mayo and peanut butter sandwich- New and different, but not necessarily something you should consume.
After thinking it over a bit I have came to the conclusion that throughout all its faults I could forgive the Twilight series if it wasn't for one thing.
The Sparkling Vampire.
If the entire plot was the same aside from that one thing. If the vampires died a horribly painful death by incineration by sunlight then I could have forgiven it and just written it off as bad vampire fiction.
Alas, that is not the case.
I can only hope that eventually they will decide to make some Harry Dresden movies. And actually follow the books rather than what Sci-Fi did.
Meh, men needed a new whipping boy as far as making fun of shit their wives enjoy, Rachael Ray was on her way out anyways.
I assume men realize we crave cheesy things every now and then, like a crazy, jacked up, chef lady. Or a good old fashion romance novel. It just seems to me that they turn a blind eye to it untill it reached mainstream. That's when shit hits the fan.
It is an argument that will never be won by any side, women have their estrogen enriched Twilight... overflowing with easy to read and over the top romance. Men have... oh lets just use Gears of war here, bleeding testosterone and just as over the top.
Both sides look at the other as if they were crazy.
Fact:
Crazy chef ladies, "destroying the image" of fine cooking have been around for a long time.
and as far as killing the "vampire image"... this guy is responsible for that.
Meh, men needed a new whipping boy as far as making fun of shit their wives enjoy, Rachael Ray was on her way out anyways.
I assume men realize we crave cheesy things every now and then, like a crazy, jacked up, chef lady. Or a good old fashion romance novel. It just seems to me that they turn a blind eye to it untill it reached mainstream. That's when shit hits the fan.
It is an argument that will never be won by any side, women have their estrogen enriched Twilight... overflowing with easy to read and over the top romance. Men have... oh lets just use Gears of war here, bleeding testosterone and just as over the top.
Both sides look at the other as if they were crazy.
Fact:
Crazy chef ladies, "destroying the image" of fine cooking have been around for a long time.
and as far as killing the "vampire image"... this guy is responsible for that.
as you can see, here is a post that ostensibly defends twilight, and it doesn't even make any sense
there are words, and they are in english, but the sentences do not link up in any comprehensible way
a little bit of your brain dies every time you try to defend twilight
and there are so many myriad ways in which it sucks, whether in terms of strict technical writing, its content or its fans, that it's not like bashers will ever find themselves at a disadvantage anyway
I think my girlfriend encapsulated what I generally dislike about specifically female-targeted media.
Dumb common-denominator stuff marketed towards men at least involves the protagonist doing something. Usually, something physically impossible and awesome. Probably involving more killing than is strictly necessary.
The same shit marketed towards women generally involves the main character waiting for someone else to do something. See: Twilight mostly being the female protagonist hoping against hope that her male paramour will save her.
Obviously this is an over-generalization, but I think it's at least somewhat accurate.
Also, don't you dare compare Julia Child to Rachel Ray.
Sure they share some surface similarities, but Julia Child is on a whole different plane. First of all, she could actually cook real things that were actually tasty, second of all she was bringing cooking back to a country that had basically decided canned foods were what they liked instead of adding cutesy names to existing dishes and third she could choke-slam Rachel Ray.
Also, don't you dare compare Julia Child to Rachel Ray.
Sure they share some surface similarities, but Julia Child is on a whole different plane. First of all, she could actually cook real things that were actually tasty, second of all she was bringing cooking back to a country that had basically decided canned foods were what they liked instead of adding cutesy names to existing dishes and third she could choke-slam Rachel Ray.
Yeah yeah I figured I would get some heat over this. No I agree with you, Julia is one of my idols. But the way men viewed her at the time is the same way men view Rachael. "Oh my God what the fuck is this woman doing to cooking? Why does she have her own show?"
(Sorry to change the topic of discussion. Lets get back to the topic at hand. )
We tried to watch Twilight when it came out on DVD.
Made a whole event out of it with a bunch of our friends coming over. Both male and female just to see for ourselves if it was living up to all the negative hype from certain crowds. The majority of our participants were general movie buffs and pop-culture geeks. We went in to it with an open mind.
The part that stands out most in our mind was when Edward brings Bella up to his room and she happens to hit "play" on his CD player and immediately some wispy song starts playing. One of our friends actually stands up and says, "Bullshit. There is no way someone would just be chillin' in their room listening to that. Fuck this, I'm going downstairs." and he left to go play on the PS3 downstairs.
As the movie went on more and more people slowly started going downstairs. My breaking point was the baseball game. I was already not too thrilled with the movie, but when Muse started playing I had to leave because I like Muse and didn't want to associate a good song with that.
okay i just read a few pages on this thread, first of all ROFLROFLROFLROFL. lol i cant wait for the fourth book!
So this is what the vampires are right:
-Glitter in the sun
-the sun itches
-they have superspeed, strength, and defined cheekbones.
-You can suck blood. With two extra sharp teeth
-You are turned into one when someone sucks your blood
-Depending on how awsome you were as a person, you get extra cool powers!
So basically this is like xmen where being a mutant is infectious, everyone has cool powers and the sun itches and hurts. Kinda like how people get skin cancer when they tan too much. Sounds cool to me.
-edit-
is this like the new blue lagoon?
rofrofrollonfloor on
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KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
okay i just read a few pages on this thread, first of all ROFLROFLROFLROFL. lol i cant wait for the fourth book!
So this is what the vampires are right:
-Glitter in the sun
-the sun itches
-they have superspeed, strength, and defined cheekbones.
-You can suck blood. With two extra sharp teeth
-You are turned into one when someone sucks your blood
-Depending on how awsome you were as a person, you get extra cool powers!
So basically this is like xmen where being a mutant is infectious, everyone has cool powers and the sun itches and hurts. Kinda like how people get skin cancer when they tan too much. Sounds cool to me.
I would like to read a first person narrative by brett easton ellis on the whole FUCK YOU SO HARD YOU FAINT BITCH BUT ITS OK IM A VAMPIRE. That shit is so american psycho style.
It is an argument that will never be won by any side, women have their estrogen enriched Twilight... overflowing with easy to read and over the top romance. Men have... oh lets just use Gears of war here, bleeding testosterone and just as over the top.
Both sides look at the other as if they were crazy.
I've discussed this with my female friends before. I am not aware of anything so widely and incredibly adored by men alone as Twilight. Men and women certainly do have their general things that are stereotypically snickered at, but Twilight is a much more concentrated case.
Prior to that, I made the same comment about the Sex and the City movie. Every woman I know went and saw it soon after its release, and extremely few men went. I'm not aware of an equivalent man-only movie.
Further examples: The things that I associate most closely with men and women going "oh, you guys and your ____" would be sports, ridiculous action movies, and videogames. I'm pretty sure a much larger percentage of women enjoy those things, and are included in the activities, than the percentage of men in relation to Twilight.
I've heard it described by adult women as basically what a 13 year old girl wants out of a relationship. A physically perfect guy who is obsessed with everything about you. About a dozen times now I've picked up the book when it's on display at a store and flipped through a few pages. Every single time I start reading it's a description of how achingly beautiful and perfect Edward is. From this brief experience with the writing and what other people have said, it just seems like an immature romance novel for people who don't know what a real relationship is and/or don't understand the difference between love and deranged obsession.
I do feel kind of like a hypocrite for hating the book so terribly without reading it. Especially since, like someone else said at the beginning of this thread, I hated Harry Potter on principle when I was younger then actually read and loved it. I feel like I should give Twilight a chance by actually making an effort to read through at least the first book.
I've heard it described by adult women as basically what a 13 year old girl wants out of a relationship. A physically perfect guy who is obsessed with everything about you. About a dozen times now I've picked up the book when it's on display at a store and flipped through a few pages. Every single time I start reading it's a description of how achingly beautiful and perfect Edward is. From this brief experience with the writing and what other people have said, it just seems like an immature romance novel for people who don't know what a real relationship is and/or don't understand the difference between love and deranged obsession.
I do feel kind of like a hypocrite for hating the book so terribly without reading it. Especially since, like someone else said at the beginning of this thread, I hated Harry Potter on principle when I was younger then actually read and loved it. I feel like I should give Twilight a chance by actually making an effort to read through at least the first book.
Read my post- It is at the very least worth reading the first three, or at least skimming through and getting the general idea so that you can revel in the tragedy and horror that is Breaking Dawn
I just started reading Twilight to see what all the fuss was about (and so i can successfully knock it) and I honestly can't get past the first 70 pages. I'm on page 65 and I'm forcing my self to read on. It reads like a 14 year old's diary.
This, and only this, is the way vampires should sparkle when they're in daylight.
surrealitychecklonely, but not unloveddreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered Userregular
edited December 2009
That film was fantastic.
The weirdest part of this whole thing is that I friends at school with Robert Pattinson, and having not seen him for a few years saw the twilight trailer without clocking who it was. And the friend I was with said "notice anything about the trailer?" and I still didn't get it.
The weirdest part of this whole thing is that I friends at school with Robert Pattinson, and having not seen him for a few years saw the twilight trailer without clocking who it was. And the friend I was with said "notice anything about the trailer?" and I still didn't get it.
| Zinnar on most things | Avatar by Blameless Cleric
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PasserbyeI am much older than you.in Beach CityRegistered Userregular
edited December 2009
Just to satisfy my own curiosity, how many of the people currently reading/contributing to this thread have actually read the series? Not read a review, or a plot summary, or heard a snippet/complaint, or a commentary, but actually read at least the first book?
Just to satisfy my own curiosity, how many of the people currently reading/contributing to this thread have actually read the series? Not read a review, or a plot summary, or heard a snippet/complaint, or a commentary, but actually read at least the first book?
I did what I recommend everyone else do- Read as much as you can handle, starting at the beginning, then when you can't read anymore either watch the movies, or read a summary of what you didn't read.
Just to satisfy my own curiosity, how many of the people currently reading/contributing to this thread have actually read the series? Not read a review, or a plot summary, or heard a snippet/complaint, or a commentary, but actually read at least the first book?
I saw the first movie with my wife and I tried to read the first book. I didn't get very far in to it because it is terribad.
I haven't seen the second movie and I'm not planning on it either.
The rest of what I know about the series comes from 1.) my wife or 2.) the internets.
I've heard it described by adult women as basically what a 13 year old girl wants out of a relationship. A physically perfect guy who is obsessed with everything about you. About a dozen times now I've picked up the book when it's on display at a store and flipped through a few pages. Every single time I start reading it's a description of how achingly beautiful and perfect Edward is. From this brief experience with the writing and what other people have said, it just seems like an immature romance novel for people who don't know what a real relationship is and/or don't understand the difference between love and deranged obsession.
Pretty much this. I read the first book because my 14 year old cousin told me how it was TEH BEST BOOK EVAH and I figured why not.
It's about 300 pages of the following
Bella thinks to her herself about how Edward is perfect/flawless/handsome.
Bella says something about her devoted and undying love for edward, and he frowns, OR Bella says something about anything other than her love, and he flashes a crooked grin (with perfect teeth of course)
This is every page, multiple times per page. Oh on occasion they'll change setting from the lunchroom to the classroom (or god forbid the sparkly meadow) but basically nothing really happens except oggling. Until the very end when oh-shit-we-need-conflict-uh-another-vampire-wants-to-eat-you-oh-noes-super-rushed-conclusion.
The only part I enjoyed was when old man vampire started talking about how he became a vampire that didn't eat humans, and his history, because it dealt with vampires as more than just a plot excuse to have perfect/flawless/handsome Edward be perfect/flawless/handsome. This enjoyment was short lived.
My cousin told me to keep reading because it gets better, but I gave up early in book 2, when Bella is so upset over losing perfect/flawless/handsome Edward that she considers hanging out with skeezy dudes at the bar who tried to mug/rape her in an alley in book 1.
Haven't seen either movie, I'll probably see it sometime down the road when it's on tv on a Tuesday morning and I am home sick or whatever, I'm sure I've sat through worse.
My fiancée has read all the books and is eagerly awaiting the cinema adaptation of the one where the werewolf wants to make love to the fetus that claws its way out of Bella's vagina or whatever.
Edit:
also, I wish girls thought pale skinny dudes were hot when I was in middle school.
I've heard it described by adult women as basically what a 13 year old girl wants out of a relationship. A physically perfect guy who is obsessed with everything about you. About a dozen times now I've picked up the book when it's on display at a store and flipped through a few pages. Every single time I start reading it's a description of how achingly beautiful and perfect Edward is. From this brief experience with the writing and what other people have said, it just seems like an immature romance novel for people who don't know what a real relationship is and/or don't understand the difference between love and deranged obsession.
Pretty much this. I read the first book because my 14 year old cousin told me how it was TEH BEST BOOK EVAH and I figured why not.
It's about 300 pages of the following
Bella thinks to her herself about how Edward is perfect/flawless/handsome.
Bella says something about her devoted and undying love for edward, and he frowns, OR Bella says something about anything other than her love, and he flashes a crooked grin (with perfect teeth of course)
This is every page, multiple times per page. Oh on occasion they'll change setting from the lunchroom to the classroom (or god forbid the sparkly meadow) but basically nothing really happens except oggling. Until the very end when oh-shit-we-need-conflict-uh-another-vampire-wants-to-eat-you-oh-noes-super-rushed-conclusion.
The only part I enjoyed was when old man vampire started talking about how he became a vampire that didn't eat humans, and his history, because it dealt with vampires as more than just a plot excuse to have perfect/flawless/handsome Edward be perfect/flawless/handsome. This enjoyment was short lived.
My cousin told me to keep reading because it gets better, but I gave up early in book 2, when Bella is so upset over losing perfect/flawless/handsome Edward that she considers hanging out with skeezy dudes at the bar who tried to mug/rape her in an alley in book 1.
Haven't seen either movie, I'll probably see it sometime down the road when it's on tv on a Tuesday morning and I am home sick or whatever, I'm sure I've sat through worse.
Like I said, there is a little bit of good, buried under a pile of shit
Read the last book, and simultaneously laugh and weep and then just have fun with all the memes
My fiancée has read all the books and is eagerly awaiting the cinema adaptation of the one where the werewolf wants to make love to the fetus that claws its way out of Bella's vagina or whatever.
Edit:
also, I wish girls thought pale skinny dudes were hot when I was in middle school.
Man Qingu this is like the first thing I said!
Not the pale skinny dudes thing
I was a tan skinny dude with a ripped six pack in high school
Remember that time Harry Dresden launched a Werewolf through two buildings with a white-hot lance of fire.
That was a good day.
Guh, see here's the thing. I enjoy the Dresden Files, I really do.
But honestly? It is written just as poorly, and is just as bad as Twilight, it just appeals to our demographic and the plot is more interesting (to me) than "Love Story".
Dresden is a pretty terrible dude, and as a character is really not that interesting.
"I am going to disagree with anything anyone says ever! Oh look! Turns out EVERYONE EVER is lying and out to get me!"
Yea maybe if you weren't such an acerbic fuck people wouldn't scheme to off you at every meeting you have with them ever.
Remember that time Harry Dresden launched a Werewolf through two buildings with a white-hot lance of fire.
That was a good day.
Guh, see here's the thing. I enjoy the Dresden Files, I really do.
But honestly? It is written just as poorly, and is just as bad as Twilight, it just appeals to our demographic and the plot is more interesting (to me) than "Love Story".
Dresden is a pretty terrible dude, and as a character is really not that interesting.
"I am going to disagree with anything anyone says ever! Oh look! Turns out EVERYONE EVER is lying and out to get me!"
Yea maybe if you weren't such an acerbic fuck people wouldn't scheme to off you at every meeting you have with them ever.
The very fact that his books are not filled with repetition(as everyone describes Twilight, and the fawning) seems like it would put him on an entirely different level. I have also been informed that literally 300-350(I forget but I saw the exact page number) pages of Twilight go by before any hint of plot outside of Bella+Edward Forever emerges. The Dresden books start building up the main conflict at the very beginning, and continue to build on it at a good pace throughout.
The first two Dresden books that I have read(and have been told are the least good) are probably roughly as good as the Harry Potter series beyond books 1 and 2, and every account I hear or detailed quoted synopsis tells me that Twilight is much worse. But I have not read it.
Remember that time Harry Dresden launched a Werewolf through two buildings with a white-hot lance of fire.
That was a good day.
Guh, see here's the thing. I enjoy the Dresden Files, I really do.
But honestly? It is written just as poorly, and is just as bad as Twilight, it just appeals to our demographic and the plot is more interesting (to me) than "Love Story".
Dresden is a pretty terrible dude, and as a character is really not that interesting.
"I am going to disagree with anything anyone says ever! Oh look! Turns out EVERYONE EVER is lying and out to get me!"
Yea maybe if you weren't such an acerbic fuck people wouldn't scheme to off you at every meeting you have with them ever.
The very fact that his books are not filled with repetition(as everyone describes Twilight, and the fawning) seems like it would put him on an entirely different level. I have also been informed that literally 300-350(I forget but I saw the exact page number) pages of Twilight go by before any hint of plot outside of Bella+Edward Forever emerges. The Dresden books start building up the main conflict at the very beginning, and continue to build on it at a good pace throughout.
The first two Dresden books that I have read(and have been told are the least good) are probably roughly as good as the Harry Potter series beyond books 1 and 2, and every account I hear or detailed quoted synopsis tells me that Twilight is much worse. But I have not read it.
Nah, I would NOT rate them that high. Dresden is just as much of a Marty Stu as bella is, and it is painfully obvious.
Also his writing is extremely dry. AND THEN HE DID THIS. AND THEN HE DID THIS AND IT WAS AWESOME.
Its like reading problem sleuth, but he tries to actually act like a hard-boiled detective.
I don't rate Harry Potter very high at all. And certainly I did get bothered by all the single ladies fawning over Harry(this seems less awful and exaggerated as in Twilight's case). Oh, also his seemingly never-ending situation of being almost out of power, but wait, he finds that extra bit of reserve(Goku-syndrome).
I'd succinctly state the two main advantages being the quick pace of plot development, and the better world(NO SPARKLY VAMPIRES).
I should also re-state that I enjoy the Dresden Files, but I also acknowledge that Butcher is really not a spectacular writer, it just happens to be better than all the other books about modern-day wizards (the list is really short).
There are so many things that bug me about that series, for the same reasons (but the inverse) of things that bug me in twilight. And most of them center on the titular characters being both horribly written and horrible people who are elevated to be these heroes.
Dresden files are ridiculous misogynistic machismo escapist fests, much like Twilight is anti-feminist mormon midlife-escapist fests.
Posts
I feel you and I have had this argument before, and I disagree with you about elves and dwarves.
Again, get past the sparkly thing. I am not saying it is good but it IS something new to the genre. However, a mayonnaise and peanut butter sandwich is ALSO an 'innovation' but that does not necessarily mean it is a GOOD one.
Separate 'good' from 'innovative' and she HAS done something new. The problem is that what she did is akin to a mayo and peanut butter sandwich- New and different, but not necessarily something you should consume.
I imagine it'd also be a great way to get female attention. At least, from one female demographic.
good way to pick up 14 year old girls.
-edit- how come were all bagging on twilight on the twilight thread?
The Sparkling Vampire.
If the entire plot was the same aside from that one thing. If the vampires died a horribly painful death by incineration by sunlight then I could have forgiven it and just written it off as bad vampire fiction.
Alas, that is not the case.
I can only hope that eventually they will decide to make some Harry Dresden movies. And actually follow the books rather than what Sci-Fi did.
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
any honest discussion of twilight will center around how shit it is
I assume men realize we crave cheesy things every now and then, like a crazy, jacked up, chef lady. Or a good old fashion romance novel. It just seems to me that they turn a blind eye to it untill it reached mainstream. That's when shit hits the fan.
It is an argument that will never be won by any side, women have their estrogen enriched Twilight... overflowing with easy to read and over the top romance. Men have... oh lets just use Gears of war here, bleeding testosterone and just as over the top.
Both sides look at the other as if they were crazy.
Fact:
and as far as killing the "vampire image"... this guy is responsible for that.
as you can see, here is a post that ostensibly defends twilight, and it doesn't even make any sense
there are words, and they are in english, but the sentences do not link up in any comprehensible way
a little bit of your brain dies every time you try to defend twilight
and there are so many myriad ways in which it sucks, whether in terms of strict technical writing, its content or its fans, that it's not like bashers will ever find themselves at a disadvantage anyway
Dumb common-denominator stuff marketed towards men at least involves the protagonist doing something. Usually, something physically impossible and awesome. Probably involving more killing than is strictly necessary.
The same shit marketed towards women generally involves the main character waiting for someone else to do something. See: Twilight mostly being the female protagonist hoping against hope that her male paramour will save her.
Obviously this is an over-generalization, but I think it's at least somewhat accurate.
Also, don't you dare compare Julia Child to Rachel Ray.
Sure they share some surface similarities, but Julia Child is on a whole different plane. First of all, she could actually cook real things that were actually tasty, second of all she was bringing cooking back to a country that had basically decided canned foods were what they liked instead of adding cutesy names to existing dishes and third she could choke-slam Rachel Ray.
Until they dump you for not being exactly like Edward/Jacob.
Also, this may have already been posted, but Kevin Smith's take on the Twilight mania is something to think about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaTq95CYqCw
Yeah yeah I figured I would get some heat over this. No I agree with you, Julia is one of my idols. But the way men viewed her at the time is the same way men view Rachael. "Oh my God what the fuck is this woman doing to cooking? Why does she have her own show?"
(Sorry to change the topic of discussion. Lets get back to the topic at hand.
Made a whole event out of it with a bunch of our friends coming over. Both male and female just to see for ourselves if it was living up to all the negative hype from certain crowds. The majority of our participants were general movie buffs and pop-culture geeks. We went in to it with an open mind.
The part that stands out most in our mind was when Edward brings Bella up to his room and she happens to hit "play" on his CD player and immediately some wispy song starts playing. One of our friends actually stands up and says, "Bullshit. There is no way someone would just be chillin' in their room listening to that. Fuck this, I'm going downstairs." and he left to go play on the PS3 downstairs.
As the movie went on more and more people slowly started going downstairs. My breaking point was the baseball game. I was already not too thrilled with the movie, but when Muse started playing I had to leave because I like Muse and didn't want to associate a good song with that.
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
So this is what the vampires are right:
-Glitter in the sun
-the sun itches
-they have superspeed, strength, and defined cheekbones.
-You can suck blood. With two extra sharp teeth
-You are turned into one when someone sucks your blood
-Depending on how awsome you were as a person, you get extra cool powers!
So basically this is like xmen where being a mutant is infectious, everyone has cool powers and the sun itches and hurts. Kinda like how people get skin cancer when they tan too much. Sounds cool to me.
-edit-
is this like the new blue lagoon?
Well, that plus creepy abusive relationships.
I've discussed this with my female friends before. I am not aware of anything so widely and incredibly adored by men alone as Twilight. Men and women certainly do have their general things that are stereotypically snickered at, but Twilight is a much more concentrated case.
Prior to that, I made the same comment about the Sex and the City movie. Every woman I know went and saw it soon after its release, and extremely few men went. I'm not aware of an equivalent man-only movie.
Further examples: The things that I associate most closely with men and women going "oh, you guys and your ____" would be sports, ridiculous action movies, and videogames. I'm pretty sure a much larger percentage of women enjoy those things, and are included in the activities, than the percentage of men in relation to Twilight.
I do feel kind of like a hypocrite for hating the book so terribly without reading it. Especially since, like someone else said at the beginning of this thread, I hated Harry Potter on principle when I was younger then actually read and loved it. I feel like I should give Twilight a chance by actually making an effort to read through at least the first book.
Read my post- It is at the very least worth reading the first three, or at least skimming through and getting the general idea so that you can revel in the tragedy and horror that is Breaking Dawn
This, and only this, is the way vampires should sparkle when they're in daylight.
Check out my art! Buy some prints!
Check out my art! Buy some prints!
The weirdest part of this whole thing is that I friends at school with Robert Pattinson, and having not seen him for a few years saw the twilight trailer without clocking who it was. And the friend I was with said "notice anything about the trailer?" and I still didn't get it.
Then he told me it was Rob and I went wut
Oh man
Face Twit Rav Gram
I did what I recommend everyone else do- Read as much as you can handle, starting at the beginning, then when you can't read anymore either watch the movies, or read a summary of what you didn't read.
Then read the last book.
I saw the first movie with my wife and I tried to read the first book. I didn't get very far in to it because it is terribad.
I haven't seen the second movie and I'm not planning on it either.
The rest of what I know about the series comes from 1.) my wife or 2.) the internets.
Pretty much this. I read the first book because my 14 year old cousin told me how it was TEH BEST BOOK EVAH and I figured why not.
It's about 300 pages of the following
Bella thinks to her herself about how Edward is perfect/flawless/handsome.
Bella says something about her devoted and undying love for edward, and he frowns, OR Bella says something about anything other than her love, and he flashes a crooked grin (with perfect teeth of course)
This is every page, multiple times per page. Oh on occasion they'll change setting from the lunchroom to the classroom (or god forbid the sparkly meadow) but basically nothing really happens except oggling. Until the very end when oh-shit-we-need-conflict-uh-another-vampire-wants-to-eat-you-oh-noes-super-rushed-conclusion.
The only part I enjoyed was when old man vampire started talking about how he became a vampire that didn't eat humans, and his history, because it dealt with vampires as more than just a plot excuse to have perfect/flawless/handsome Edward be perfect/flawless/handsome. This enjoyment was short lived.
My cousin told me to keep reading because it gets better, but I gave up early in book 2, when Bella is so upset over losing perfect/flawless/handsome Edward that she considers hanging out with skeezy dudes at the bar who tried to mug/rape her in an alley in book 1.
Haven't seen either movie, I'll probably see it sometime down the road when it's on tv on a Tuesday morning and I am home sick or whatever, I'm sure I've sat through worse.
Edit:
Like I said, there is a little bit of good, buried under a pile of shit
Read the last book, and simultaneously laugh and weep and then just have fun with all the memes
Man Qingu this is like the first thing I said!
Not the pale skinny dudes thing
I was a tan skinny dude with a ripped six pack in high school
fuck i need to get outside and exercise more
That was a good day.
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
Indeed.
Not to mention the Loup-Garou was more badass than anybody on Team Jacob.
~ Buckaroo Banzai
Guh, see here's the thing. I enjoy the Dresden Files, I really do.
But honestly? It is written just as poorly, and is just as bad as Twilight, it just appeals to our demographic and the plot is more interesting (to me) than "Love Story".
Dresden is a pretty terrible dude, and as a character is really not that interesting.
"I am going to disagree with anything anyone says ever! Oh look! Turns out EVERYONE EVER is lying and out to get me!"
Yea maybe if you weren't such an acerbic fuck people wouldn't scheme to off you at every meeting you have with them ever.
He's the kind of guy I'd want to DM for me.
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
Ok, I will give you that much.
The very fact that his books are not filled with repetition(as everyone describes Twilight, and the fawning) seems like it would put him on an entirely different level. I have also been informed that literally 300-350(I forget but I saw the exact page number) pages of Twilight go by before any hint of plot outside of Bella+Edward Forever emerges. The Dresden books start building up the main conflict at the very beginning, and continue to build on it at a good pace throughout.
The first two Dresden books that I have read(and have been told are the least good) are probably roughly as good as the Harry Potter series beyond books 1 and 2, and every account I hear or detailed quoted synopsis tells me that Twilight is much worse. But I have not read it.
Nah, I would NOT rate them that high. Dresden is just as much of a Marty Stu as bella is, and it is painfully obvious.
Also his writing is extremely dry. AND THEN HE DID THIS. AND THEN HE DID THIS AND IT WAS AWESOME.
Its like reading problem sleuth, but he tries to actually act like a hard-boiled detective.
I'd succinctly state the two main advantages being the quick pace of plot development, and the better world(NO SPARKLY VAMPIRES).
There are so many things that bug me about that series, for the same reasons (but the inverse) of things that bug me in twilight. And most of them center on the titular characters being both horribly written and horrible people who are elevated to be these heroes.
Dresden files are ridiculous misogynistic machismo escapist fests, much like Twilight is anti-feminist mormon midlife-escapist fests.