After reading Entertainment Magazine's -"20 Greatest Vampires of All Time" (click to read) I had some notes written in this magazine of some thoughts I had on the subject and Kenneth threw it away. So this won’t be as witty as I had planned and this is just a quick rant...
Twilight is THE most ridiculous story I have ever read. It is even worse than many of the LDS novels Covenant put out for all those years. Each book the story became more and more ridiculous. The 'Vampire Lore' did not seem planned out well enough. Didn’t anyone close to her proof read and give her suggestions? These books lacked action and character development and I cannot believe how quickly the world was possessed by them. Kenneth refused to even finish reading after book 2, but I followed the train wreck to the end all the while shouting out to him how absurdly insane books 3 and 4 were.
In the article it mentions that Stephanie Meyers did not read or research any other vampire books, TV or movies before writing her story. Well, that’s obvious. There is really no character development. What does Edward see in Bella anyway? She has nothing to offer… just drooling over some guy… like he is the only thing in the world that would complete her? Hello Jerry Maguire! MEN don’t COMPLETE us! We have to be a complete person on our own in order to offer anything to a relationship. Sure the are soft and cuddly and nice to have around... Oh, sorry Bella, your man isn't! But they DO NOT complete us.
When referring to Twilight, Author Laurell K. Hamilton said, "The fact that women are so attracted to that idea – that they want to wait for Prince Charming rather than taking control of their own life – I find that frightening.” I get that young girls love the simple story of Twilight that left out sex and violence...(Until books 3 and 4!!!! Don' t even get me started on the violent sex) but I feel they were cheated as there was not anything to be gleaned from the Twilight saga.
Bella could be compared to Marianne in Jane Austin's Sense and Sensibility. Marianne is just as silly and boy crazy. But she learns a lesson and in the ends picks a very different man that the silly girl she once was ever would. In the end she becomes a complete person, ready to stand alone and be a full pillar in a relationship that will last a lifetime.
But the #1 problem is the whole vampire tie is that the entire concept of becoming a vampire is supposed to be gravely damning to the soul. I much prefer the way the Buffy series by Joss Whedon dealt with this issue. Buffy is a young high school girl who was chosen to be a vampire slayer. The story is about how she deals with this huge responsiblity while living as a 'normal' teenager. The stories of vampires like Angel and Spike (two main vampire characters who are Buffy's enemies, friends and love interests at one time or another), who struggle to live as a vampires with a soul is an amazing story of redemption.
While the concept of vegan vampires could have played into that sort of story, in the end Twilight was more like the episode on Buffy where the goth kids pretend and wish they were vampires only to be eaten alive. Where is the story Stephanie? What is their purpose? What do they learn about themselves and the world around them. This is not a book I would recommend to teens simply because the main character is silly and her journey is pointless.
The entire part about a vampires fight with being once being human is totally left out. What is their place in the world? Do they have a soul? are they damned,?etc. Oh and how did Bella know if she was changed she would be able to resist human blood and be "vegan" anyway?! There was no discussion about the danger SHE might end up being to her father etc. A book about vampires without all this is empty.
If you haven’t seen the complete Buffy The Vampire Slayer TV Series I highly recommend it. We followed the weekly series from the beginning, but I stopped watching when in season 4 because I couldn't get over the introduction of "the initiative." Then the year before last Kenneth convinced me to watch them again and we tore through them in a couple of months. This time instead of the monster of the week I really fell in love the whole arc of the saga. More about Angel and Spike (Kenneth wants me to add, who are REAL vampires) and the vampire with a soul idea later...
If you haven’t seen the complete Buffy The Vampire Slayer TV Series I highly recommend it. We followed the weekly series from the beginning, but I stopped watching when in season 4 because I couldn't get over the introduction of "the initiative." Then the year before last Kenneth convinced me to watch them again and we tore through them in a couple of months. This time instead of the monster of the week I really fell in love the whole arc of the saga. More about Angel and Spike (Kenneth wants me to add, who are REAL vampires) and the vampire with a soul idea later...
Check out the side of my blog for a cool book on my nighstand that combines Zombies and Prejudice!>>>>>>>>>>
3 comments:
Wendy, have you posted your rant about Disney movies? I think you did with the "Future Princess" pictures a while back.
The big problem with Bella is the same as Disney's Little Mermaid. Ariel gets to have it all. That's not the way the original story ends.
The whole reason vampires are eternally interesting characters is because of the conflict: they were human, so they still look human and they still have human society but they are not human. Oh, by the way, THEY EAT HUMANS!
In all of the Twilight saga, not once did Bella realize that if she became a vamp, her father would BE FOOD! This never comes up even though they have all of the scary scenarios when vamps want to eat her.
That's why the comparison to Buffy is so interesting. (Or even to other vampire stories like I Am Legend.) She has a lot in common with Bella - they both love a vampire, they both realize that it may not be a bad idea, and they both "give in" to it. But the writing in Buffy is just better, and in a strange way, so is the message.
Some people may think that Buffy was more worldly than Twilight. I won't disagree -- or even recommend Buffy for teens. But I will say that I think that Buffy actually "teaches" better morals. There are always REAL consequences to actions in Buffy. Her vampire relationships were repeatedly fraught with peril, anguish, and suffering... not just teen crush angst. Even when she is together with a vampire, they can't be together in a normal way. The darkness just takes over her life and those around her. (Both times.)
Okay, now I'M ranting.
I should say that I can totally understand why so many teenage girls -- and even their moms or brothers -- would like the Twilight saga, I was intrigued by the whole human-vampire-werewolf triangle. But the little Mermaid couldn't have legs AND fins, and Bella can't have fangs AND be human.
One of many problems I see with Twilight (ok, what little I've read of it... so far I've only been able to make it through the first book, and that only because V begged and pleaded to be able to read it and I wanted to know if it would be suitable for her) is that it's straight-up teenage wish fulfillment fantasy--the kind of stuff I wrote in high school and then tore up. As a character, Bella has nothing whatsoever to recommend her--she's moody, self-absorbed and irritating from page 1, never seems to have hobbies or interests outside of Edward, and is generally difficult for readers to empathize with or even like. Even Meyer herself seemed to realize this, as she resorted to pinning Edward's primary (and primal) attraction to Bella on the enticing smell of her blood. Important rule: if you're going to have a magical or superhuman being fall in love with a mortal, you have to give your readers a more satisfying reason than "because it's my story and I want it that way."
Another problem: girls who read Twilight run the risk of picking up the idea that stalker behavior equals true love. Edward, who doesn't sleep, sneaks into Bella's house and holds her in his arms all night, presumably spending a lot of time looking at her neck. I'm not sure how many teen readers pick this up, but when he takes her out into the woods to show her what he is, Edward's plans are not in any way honorable. He keeps urging her to tell someone where she is going, because his original plans--I believe--were to show her what he was, wait for her to become frightened and try to run from him, then stalk, catch and devour her. It didn't turn out as planned--but that doesn't make Edward a good person (or indeed a person at all).
But that's just me.
Exactly. A man (and lets face it, Edward is really a man) who is educated and has seen the world is going to be attracted to someone who has a little bit more to offer than... whatever it is Bella is "Happy Meal on legs," as Spike (from Buffy) refers to people.
The first book set Bella up to have some potential... Being from divorced parents and a mother who couldn't seem to take care of herself, Bella had grown up fast and seemed pretty independant. That could have taken her pretty far... I really hoped she was going to turn out to be super smart or super anything... Ya know, the normal, even awkward girl who was pretty much a klutz but had SOMETHING special hidden inside of her. Instead the only thing that ends up hidden inside of her practically kills her (book 4).
So what was your verdict, did you let her read them. I so wish you had read the whole series...
Even later when a love triangle begin to be developed (book 2?) Stephanie doesn't really even go anywhere with it and goes right back to her origional story line... girl fixated on the only man in the world that could complete her... UGH!
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