Places to Chat
OK, HAVE ANY
Chatterbox: Blab About Books
Twilight
OK, HAVE ANY...
OK, HAVE ANY CRICKET READERS READ THIS SERIES?? I ABSOLUTELY LUV IT AND I AM OBSESSED. I'M AN OOTF (OFFICIAL OBSESSIVE TWILIGHT FREAK) AND I HAVE OCD (OBSESSIVE CULLEN DISORDER). OMG I LUV THEM ALL SOOOO MUCH THAT I CAN'T PICK A FAVE. NO LIE, THESE ARE ACTUAL STATISTICS: I HAVE READ TWILIGHT 11 TIMES, NEW MOON 3 TIMES (IT MAKES ME DEPRESSED), ECLIPSE 5 TIMES, AND BREAKING DAWN 4 TIMES. (I DON'T OWN ECLIPSE OR BREAKING DAWN....YET.) I READ TWILIGHT IN 3 HOURS THE FIRST TIME. STEPHENIE MEYER IS MY IDOL. 
I AM ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED AND LOOKING FOR OTHER PEOPLE IN THE REALM OF AWESOMENESS (PEOPLE WHO READ CRICKET) TO TALK TO. TWILIGHT ROX!!!
submitted by Lauren C., age 12, WI
(January 29, 2009 - 6:22 pm)
(January 29, 2009 - 6:22 pm)
THANK YOU
(March 8, 2009 - 1:16 pm)
*deep breath*
Check out the books morals for me sometime (I've ranted enough on plot and characters for now).
1. Stalking. Edward follows Bella, sneaks into her room to watch her sleep. Glorified as being romantic.
2. Abuse. Edward manhandles Bella, has his "sister" kidnap her at one point, threatens her ("I could kill you, love."), tries to isolate her from her friends (Jacob), downplays what few strengths she has, manipulates her (notably the scene where he seduces her into letting him carry her), and ridicules her. Glorified as an ideal relationship.
3. Anti-feminism. None of the female characters are strong in any way. Alice's gift is sketchy; Rosalie's a shallow barbie doll, Jessica's a... complaint... *cough*, Esme's good for nothing but nursing/mothering, Renee's a flake, etc, etc. Most significantly, Bella never says a thing about Edward's abuse, she's portrayed as the weak, fainting damsel in distress. A Victorian girl in modern America, if you will. She cooks, she takes care of her father, she submits completely to her boyfriend at the cost of... Well, everything else. If that isn't anti-feminism, I don't know what is.
4. Anti-humanism. True story, Smeyer has said it herself. But notice all the characters who are portrayed as admirable are not human.
5. Anti-blonde. With the exception of Victoria, all the mean girls (Tanya, Lauren, Rosalie) are blondes.
Also... Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart... *snirk* Neither of them are fans, or even particularly like the books.
(February 20, 2009 - 1:28 am)
*applauds*
Without having read a sentence of Twilight, I will say that the Harry Potter books are much better.
(February 20, 2009 - 12:51 pm)
I completely agree that Harry Potter is much better. It's my opinion that they don't even deserve to be compared, because HP so outranks Twilight. I think the only reason they're compared is they're both the same length and they both are really popular. But the plots - totally different. Yes, Stephanie Meyer's a pretty good writer. But I think that the talent's wasted on Twilight's superficial characters.
(February 20, 2009 - 2:43 pm)
I agree, I think Harry Potter is a lot better than Twilight although I have not read it.
(February 21, 2009 - 1:38 pm)
Completely agree with Allison. At least Harry Potter's got morals, too, such as good always triumphs over evil, love over hate, friendship over emnity, etc. And yes, TNO, I believe that Twilight is college material. It is certainly not suitable for anyone under the age of fourteen or fifteen, if you ask me.
Hmmm, note that after Allison and I politely disagreed with Marisol, she disappeared. Coincidence? I think not.
(February 21, 2009 - 8:07 pm)
*scoff* Just because there are poorly written fade-to-black scenes involving smeyer's little fantasy does not make a book college material. Nor does it make it "inappropriate", just made of fail.
College material? That would be Dracula, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Canterbury Tales (now THAT is raunchy), Lord of the Flies, you know, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Chaucer, Faulkner, classic stuff. Well written, interesting stuff. Though I never could get into Jane Eyre. Would you call James Patterson college material? No. Risque or raunchy =/= college level. Just, you know, raunchy.
Oh yes, naturally she disappeared. Twihards tend to do that.
Still... While I hate the series.... I have to say... Victoria/James FTW! *grin* /random unrelated comments
(February 23, 2009 - 12:36 am)
Lauren C. did, too!
(February 23, 2009 - 6:09 pm)
Oh yes, and Bellatrix/Voldy FTW too, more than Victoria/James. Just saying.
(February 23, 2009 - 12:39 am)
OK I don't want anyone to take offense by this, but I love the twilight books!I also ike harry potter and have every movie and read every book, but i hoestly like twilight better .I think they are sweet love stories that are amazingly written . I also think these books aren't for kids under...9 , buts that just my opinion.
(February 26, 2009 - 5:03 pm)
Thank you, Anna. I set up this area for people to talk about Twilight, not hate on it. If you don't like Twilight, you don't have to go and make us who do love it feel bad.
I also have a problem with all of the generalizations that have come up. "Twihards tend to do that"?? Seriously, people, no offense, but GET A LIFE!!! Don't spend your time hating on a couple of kids who enjoy reading a book series. Also, some ageist comments have come up. Making that sort of generalizations about people because of how old they are is prejudiced, a.k.a. ageist. Your maturity level is determined by your mental capacity, not by how many times you've rotated around the sun. Some 7 year olds are more mature than some 30 year olds, yet everyone is going to think that the 30 year old is more mature, simply because they are older. I understand that younger kids probably should talk to their parents before reading it, so that they will understand, but if you can maturely handle it, I don't think that any generalizations should be made about someone's maturity level based on their age.
The themes in Twilight, especially Breaking Dawn, may be a little mature, but when you read the books, do you find Stephenie Meyer creating graphic images in your mind? No! Of course not. I think that Stephenie Meyer is a very capable and wonderful author.
To all you people that apparently think that I am "waiting for a vampire to come and sweep me off my feet", here's a reality check: I'm not! I'm simply a kid who likes a book series. And if you've got a problem with that, then somethings wrong. So you guys can say whatever you want about me - because this conversation has seemed to go to a new level of beating down on people who likes Twilight - and I won't even care! I'm just going to keep on loving Twilight, and there's nothing you can do about it.
(March 8, 2009 - 1:35 pm)
Rebuttals, round three. Let's see if it gets posted this time 'round, eh?
Anyways.
1. Generalizations: I'm sorry you were insulted by the "Twihards tend to do that" comment. My apologies. But. It does happen all the time - on the TS boards, they vanish. On the Twilight Lexicon, they vanish mysteriously for days on end (my theory is reading so they can rebut our comments). Oh well. It was rude of me, and I apologize.
2. Ageism: Some of the themes in BD are quite simply not appropriate for people 12 and under.
3. Graphic images: violent
4. I am sure you are a very nice, mature 12-year-old who would never be influenced by Twilight. Good for you.
(March 19, 2009 - 10:30 pm)
That got shortened. Number 3 is pretty much incomprehensible, heh. Oh well.
(March 22, 2009 - 3:51 pm)
Well I don't like Harry Potter or Twilight. I think they have poor plots...I mean witches sorcerers and vampires ...please! anyway just saying my oppinion. I hope i didn't offend anyone.
(February 23, 2009 - 4:30 pm)
People who get offended over other people saying they dislike such-and-such a book are very sad people indeed. *hands over virtual choklit for WoO reference*
Anyway. I 'gree with you about Twilight not having a plot. However, I disagree with you on the point of Harry Potter. There is, in fact, a plot in the series:
Beginning: Harry goes to wizard school! Harry is famous!
Middle: Harry learns some things about his past, gets lucky, and defeats the Dark Lord several times, unwillingly helps the Dark Lord return to power, hears a prophecy about his past explaining why the Dark Lord hates him.
Climax: Kill some people. Kill some more! MOAR!!! Harry goes on a QUEST to try to make the Dark Lord mortal again.
End: Snape dies. Bellatrix dies. Voldy dies. Harry is happily ever after. Or, "all was well," at least.
Admittedly it's a fairly average fantasy plot. Writers tend towards three strengths: characters, plot, or setting. JKR's strength lies in characters, and also in getting her readers to laugh at the strangest moments, for example when George's ear gets chopped (cursed?) off.
S. Meyer's strength lies in brainwashing her readers.
But perhaps we should segue this conversation into the Harry Potter thread?
(February 23, 2009 - 11:13 pm)