"Hey, is that the dude from Beverly Hills 90210?" asked Daniel with a gleam in his eye.
I feel like I'm going out on a limb here, but having grown accustomed to critical theory, this should be viewed as fun and engaging, even if you love Meyer's Twilight series...so here we go!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there's one thing one must NOT do if one does not want to alienate and enrage teens, tweens, those who still yearn for the days of dating the "bad boy" and those who relish the underdeveloped sensibilities of adolescent romantic love, it's to badmouth the latest vampire chronicle, Twilight. Now, I don't pretend to be a book critic--and I take no umbrage whatsoever if someone enjoys the Twilight series, art is subjective--but to me those novels are, how shall I say, "shallow" and simplistic and devoid of the kind of universal themes that make great literature, well, great! Now, that's my OPINION and I am a thirty year-old man who enjoys Hemingway and London, so my OPINION should be taken with a large grain of sea salt. With that said, I'm not the only one who feels this way. Many critics have already expressed similar views about the film, and I venture to say most critics will agree as the reviews come streaming in, and not all of them will be hairy chested knuckle draggers like myself.
Oh, did I mention that I'm just bitter I didn't write these books and make millions of dollars in the process? Ha! I wouldn't want to sell my soul for money actually! Ha! Also, I didn't even read the series, so I'm not officially qualified to critique them although I did check out the plot line and I believe that the main problem is that Edward is a highly unrealistic character that is so totally fantastical and "perfect" that it might lead girls to think that men have to be like him to be worth of their affections. It's like what we say to boys about pornography: don't look at it because it's an addictive lie; women don't look like that or behave like that and if you think they do, you'll fall in love with a lie and never be content and become addicted and act out and... etc. Well, Meyer's, intentionally or not, has created a sort of emotional pornography. Sure, this is fiction, but adolescents don't distinguish so well between reality and fantasy, even adults don't! Perhaps that seems a bit over the top, but I'll stand by that analogy.
Furthermore, her choice at the very end of the story arch, to stay with Edward and sacrifice what makes her human, seems to me equivalent to selling out one's core principles and eternal goals for the love of a fallen beast blood sucker dude. That's exactly the kind of subtle theme I DON'T want my teenage daughter reading. Oh yeah, and the books, while not necessarily evil, have spawned dozens of much less reputable and darker novels related to vampires and the like (so what kind of fruits did her writing produce?).
If you want more of my criticism of the books as well as read an article by an LDS woman who feels the same as I, please CLICK HERE.
So, whether you agree or disagree, I'd love to hear your take on this issue and PLEASE know that I do not think any less of someone if they enjoy this kind of art...ummm, I mean entertainment. (:
Here is an early review of the sappy and sanguine screen version of the novel:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fangst
Vampire romance Twilight makes an awkward leap from page to screen
Thu, Nov 20, 2008 (midnight)
Stephenie Meyer’s freakishly popular novel Twilight (the first in a series of four) is all about a perverse kind of wish-fulfillment: Average teenager Bella Swan falls madly in love with perfect, ageless vampire Edward Cullen, who sweeps her off her feet (often quite literally), protects her from harm and loves her unconditionally. Meyer’s... pro-abstinence courtship story (vampire elements notwithstanding) has struck a chord with a large, mostly female, mostly young audience, people who long to play a damsel-in-distress role opposite a flawless, masculine rescuer rather than deal with the complications of real modern romance.
Studying the pathology of Twilight fans is key to understanding the appeal of Meyer’s overwrought, superficial novel, and in adapting it to the screen, director Catherine Hardwicke and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg have greatly improved the sluggish pacing of the book while making sure to retain its cardboard characterizations and gooey, romantic tone. What’s meant to come off as swooning and grandiose in print often sounds silly and uncomfortable when spoken out loud by actual people, and Twilight’s central romance thus has an even greater sense of falsehood onscreen than it did in print.
Compounding the inertness of the book’s Edward/Bella romance is Stewart and Pattinson’s complete lack of chemistry; they both give such wooden performances that it’s hard to buy their passion for anything, whether it’s love or blood or the lush greenery that envelops Forks. The creepy power imbalance that defines the story’s central relationship is that much clearer when we can see Edward spying on Bella as she sleeps or ordering her around with the excuse that he’s protecting her. Rather than a sweet teen romance or a love story for the ages, Twilight is a parable of codependency, and the movie version lays bare just how disconcerting that is.
Not that it does any better when it tries to modernize some of Meyer’s throwback style. Hardwicke has now directed four movies about teens, each equally clueless in its own way; here Bella’s non-vampire friends all speak in awkward, outdated slang, and the world of the high school is relevant only as a tool to bring Bella and Edward together (or to provide the magical romance of the prom that ends the movie). Twilight is devoid of intentional humor, although fans at the screening I attended tittered throughout, perhaps finding the story’s overwhelming cheesiness harder to take when seeing it enacted before their eyes.
READ MORE REVIEWS HERE.
13 comments:
Amen! You know I'm enlisted on your crusade.
"There are two influences ever present in the world. One is constructive and elevating and comes from our Heavenly Father; the other is destructive and debasing and comes from Lucifer. We have our agency and make our own choice in life subject to these unseen powers. There is a division line well defined that separates the Lord's territory from Lucifer's. If we live on the Lord's side of the line Lucifer cannot come there to influence us, but if we cross the line into his territory we are in his power." Heber J. Grant, 1935.
p.s. I think your opinion is worth a little more than a grain of sea salt...I'd say at least a teaspoon worth of it.
Embarrassed to say, I haven't even read it yet but your review actually made me more interested to pick it up and read what everyone seems to love!
Oh great, backfire! Just joking...you see, I actually worried that people might get upright about my views on this subject, so your response makes me happy since it caused you to consider the novel and to make you OWN judgment which is what criticism is all about. Who's to say I'm right? Me? No way, everyone has their own perspective, you know?
I stumbled upon your blog through another ward member's blog, and was intrigued by the entry that met me! As a fellow enthusiast of all things "literary," I find it hard not to agree with you, except for the simple fact that I've actually read the books. I'd love to discuss further, but I think I'd have to understand more where your arguments come from before accepting them as plausible. (Please don't think of me as evil; I'm not.) Would you prefer your students to make a critique before reading a piece of literature? Just a thought. -Liz Slade
Yeah the girls in my Ward will hate you...HA HA HA..kidding!
Welcome to the house of pain! Liz, first of all I don't think your evil, I had a smile on my face (not for malicious reasons) both when I wrote the post and when I read your comment. I truly don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, and I hope I didn't hurt yours. I didn't have to mention that I hadn't read the books, but I did and the reason I am critiquing these books spcifically is that I think they represent a whole genre of literature that I personally don't read.
At UCR where I studied Lit we had a very similar argument with one of our profoessors, a man of truly illustrious stature in terms of his understanding of world literature. I found myself in a similar position BUT I was the one arguing for the "pop lit" and he was the one attacking it and HE HADN'T EVEN READ IT. He critiqued John Grisham and basically said that it is not "true literature" or something along those lines. Is it enjoyable? Yes, like a TV sitcom is enjoyable, but a TV sitcom is not on par with, say, one of the best films by Hitchcock. Now, perhaps I was a little too harsh on poor Twilight, indeed I am happy that it has people, especially young people reading, BUT I thing it is sort of tragic that people read this and think it's top notch, soul searching literature when they haven't read the classics.
Anyway, these are just my thoughts and I knew I was putting myself out there a bit.
And no, there's no chance I'm going to read them, I honestly don't think I could stomach them! (:
Alright, I have to say in her defense. She has never claimed to be a great writer. She calls her self a storyteller.
Also, if teens are looking to this as a guide to life or romance. There are some other issues there.
But I am one who loves a cheesey love story.
.... all I can say is Party Pooper! (and I write this with a smile) OK, I guess I have more to say (still smiling). I went to the movie tonight with my girl friends and have never been surrounded by sooooo many giggly girls in my life! That said, I read the books and wasn't disappointed in the movie. Do you think less of me now :) Some of us women still have a little "teenage girl" left in us and can't resist a good "Cinderella" fairy tale ....
I am a party pooper sometimes. Anyhow, I hope you aren't serious when you ask if I think any less of you! Of course not. We all choose what we think of as entertainment and I readily admit I have vices that most would deem much worse than a liking for Twilight! I think I even lost a "follower" over this post...sad, but that won't stop me from self-expression. I have actually enjoyed the responses that have challenged my stance, specifically Liz's.
BTW Liz is "Satisfied."
As a person who has read them and would never call it literature, I enjoyed them. On the other hand, I would never call Edward perfect either. That one drives me crazy. Why people don't see that he is controlling I don't understand. Meyer herself says Edward is not perfect. And she said her characters are teenagers, they are supposed to be melodramatic. I was not fond of the decision for her to become a vampire, I think she should've chosen Jacob.
Anyway, on the proliferation of vampire lit, that is not Meyer's fault. Those are not her "fruits." Someone saw a trend a went with it. How is she accountable for another adults actions?
I will go see the movie.
Don't worry Dan, I wasn't serious about the "think less of me" comment. Although I read the books and enjoyed them I would never say these books are great literature. And I am in no way part of the obsessive following of Twilight - that I do not get. I just enjoy a mindless romance every once in a while :) I am still a faithful follower of your blog!
I agree with you, but I also like the books and really liked the movie! It is troubling however, to see some of my married friends caught up in a complete fantasy world. It's too bad that some people have taken to these books in such a way and this is the exact reason that I would not want my teenage daughter or actually unmarried daughter, to read something so unrealistic but at the same time so appealing. The fact that it's idealized fantasy isn't the problem--the problem is that these books appeal to women in a way that I am not sure I can say even Jane Austen does. And that's saying something if you ask me!
Post a Comment