Sunday, February 21, 2010

What's the Deal with Twilight?!


Awhile ago, my friend Ali and I started discussing the whole Twilight phenomenon. I attempted to read the book to see what it was all about (and Ali subsequently made fun of me), and Ali saw the movie to see what it was all about (and I subsequently made fun of her). We both agree--we just don't get it. We see why it's popular among middle schoolers and high schoolers, and rightly so--they are the series' target audiences--but we can't wrap our heads around why people our age (mid twenties) and older love it. We threw around a few theories:

Theory #1-They have a severe case of arrested development. These people's tastes have never matured beyond the age of eighteen and they're in denial about being adults. This is also the same group that watches the High School Musical movies non-ironically.

Theory #2-They've never really been in love. Anybody who's been in an adult relationship will tell you--that Bella and Edward bullshit doesn't exist. Real relationships, real love is hard work and compromise and not all sexy, sparkly vampire lust. But the people who fall into this category refuse to believe that and hold onto the hope of one day banging a vampire.

Theory #3-They actually like the plot, characters and overall story. This one I really don't get. First of all, Edward is creepy (and NOT because he's a vampire; he's just a creepy, I'm-watching-you-undress-and-you-don't-know-it type of guy) and Bella is dull and awkward, thus rendering the pair the least charismatic in literature. The ants in Thoreau's Walden had more personality. Secondly, the issues presented in the story are so...high school. I'm sorry, but until you've worried about whether or not you're going to make rent one month or have gotten laid off and are stressing over whether or not you will find a job, living in a crappy town in Washington and dealing with a brood of sexy werewolves is a friggin' picnic and I'm not sympathetic to your cause.

Seriously--what is the deal with this series? Why does it have almost everyone in its angsty, mediocre grip? Are people trying to fill the void left over from Harry Potter? (Which is another thing I don't get, but we'll stick to questioning one phenomenon at a time.)

And by the way--I never finished the book. It was too awful, and I just didn't care anymore.

Edit: Look, I know it boils down really to just peoples' tastes. Some people like it because it's an easy escape from reality, an easy read. I get that. And I myself am a fan of some books (hel-lo, Flowers in the Attic!), TV shows, whatever, that really aren't any better than Twilight. I just like having a bit of fun at Twilight's expense because it amuses me. :-) It's all in good fun.

6 comments:

  1. I could not agree more!

    And I saw High School Musical 3 in theaters, because of Zac Efron (I have no shame). The friend I went with worked with elementary school children at the time, and we ran into some of them them while we looked for seats. Em-barr-ass-ing!

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  2. LOL! Ali and I have actually seen the first and second High School Musical movies, but we rented them for the sole purpose of making fun of them. Seriously.

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  3. BUT when we rented the first one, the girl behind the counter looked to be our age and started going on about how it was such a good movie, etc. She LOVED it. It was a little awkward.

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  4. It's funny you should mention this because I just read something awhile back that went something like:

    "Dear Twilight Fans,

    Vampires are dead with no blood running through their veins which makes it impossible to have an erection. Have fun fantasizing about that."

    Sincerely,
    Logic

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