I hate Twilight. I love hating Twilight. Hating Twilight has become a passion of mine. I can't let it die. I read the first three books. I couldn't put them down. I hated myself for that. By the end of the third book, I hated all of the characters (though Rosalie was starting to grow on me, mostly because she was the only one that recognized just how mentally deficient Bella was). I wanted the fourth book to be two pages long: Edward bites Bella. He loses control. Bella dies. Edward, the psychopath that he is, laughs and finds another personality-less teenager to manipulate. That's a whole lot of hate and uncharitable feelings to be coming from one average-sized girl. I refused to read the fourth book, out of principle, but still wanted to know what happens. I looked it up online. I swear I vomited at least three times just reading the synopsis. Really? REALLY?
I could attack Twilight for its writing style. I'm not a very good writer, but I'm convinced I could write better dialogue than Stephenie Meyer. I'll leave that alone for now, though.
Those who defend Twilight say it's just harmless fantasy lit. Escapist fluff. This terrifies me. What are these women escaping to? An abusive (yes, abusive. I'll say it again, ABUSIVE) relationship with a vampire?! Really? REALLY? A vampire who is infinitely stronger, smarter, faster, richer, and more powerful than you? And the only way you'll ever become anything close to his equal is by sacrificing your own life and future to attach yourself to him for eternity? This is what we want?? What a message to be sending to the media, who can't help but fixate on Meyer's Mormonism. To those who would tell me to stop thinking about it so hard, it's just a fun story, I would strike a deal. I'll stop thinking about it so hard as soon as you start thinking about it a little. I know, I'm a snob and a jerk about it. Here is a great article to get you started thinking. :-)
I'm not a fan of censorship or dictating what others should or shouldn't read. But I wish I had sat down and had a frank discussion about this with the teenage girls I used to work with who called Twilight their Bible, instead of just rolling my eyes whenever they started read it for the umpteenth time. I think (/hope/pray) that this is just a fad. Once all the movies have been made and people start coming to their senses, Twilight will die an ignominious death. If however, my teenage daughters one day in the distant future stumble across it (or any other such "escapist" chick-lit) and want to read it, that's fine. I only hope I will have taught them well enough that they'll laugh at all the wrong parts, feel sorry for Bella, and walk away emotionally unharmed. If not, well, we'll have a good long chat.
