Quote from: Emily on April 17, 2010, 10:28:56 AM
Oh I know that there are people who dislike Twilight for valid reasons, I just am not convinced that they're in the majority.
I've seen many Twilight haters openly admit that they had never seen or read any Twilight at all.
Trust me, there are people who will completely disregard things due to their popularity. In fact it's quite common. Besides when somebody "cool" starts hating on Twilight, people who are with them will automatically assume that it is bad and start hating on it as well, even if they've never watched or read it at all.
I know we like to think otherwise, but it is a reality that these things happen. I've done it before, it's easy to take somebody's word for it, and then start saying the things that they did like you are an expert at the subject even though you've never watched or read it. I know this happens. And I do believe that Twilight is a victim of it. It may be badly written, I don't know, I don't care. I just have a hard time believing that the 'haters' have much to back up their opinion. Because opinions as radical as those of the 'haters' could so rarely be held by somebody who has actually watched or read such series. And Twilight has A LOT of haters.
The people who I've heard and seen rant about Twilight the most are the ones who have actually read or seen the movies. The people who just think it's silly or stupid but haven't read the books, in my experience at least, have been the ones who don't genuinely hate it and don't feel the need to criticize it at every turn. People who tend to be obsessed with hating things have this weird train wreck syndrome where they actually follow what they hate. I, myself, don't feel the need to bash Twilight at every turn or am obsessed with hating it, but I do know what it stands for and I really don't like what it's promoting. But we don't exactly have any hard proof that haters are mostly this or that other than our personal experiences.
And I'm not denying that there are people out there who hate on things just because they're popular, but then again, if there were so many of these pretentious twats then the things they were hating on wouldn't be popular, therefore they are in the minority. Even the actor who plays Edward thinks that Stephanie Meyer is a bit wrong in the head after reading the book. The same guy who has fan girls who worship him thinks that there is something wrong with the book, obviously his influence has done nothing to the popularity of the series but he does know what's going on. It takes more than just being a 'cool' or 'hot' guy to influence the masses with an opinion. Believe it or not, but some people love something so much they don't care what other people think.
Again, some people dislike it because it's badly written or has sparkle vampires, but that's none of my concern with the book. Honestly, I think hating on it because vampires sparkle is a weak point, but if you don't like something then you don't like it. The bigger issue as I've said is the sexism, anti-feminism, chauvinism and unhealthy relationships that it promotes.
There are girls and women of all ages who suddenly want boyfriends like Edward Cullen and Jacob Black despite the fact that these relationships are unhealthy and abusive. People
should be taking issue with that. Stephanie Meyer could have written the story differently in a way to empower women and say, "hey if this stuff goes down then get the hell out of the relationship!" instead of bringing us back to, "women should stay in the kitchen, have babies, do whatever their husband says, yadadadada" mixed in with some really messed up psychotic ways of thinking and pass it off as OK.
I'm fairly certain psychologists and psychiatrists have had a field day with this book before.
And I honestly do get tired of people who can't shut up about how much they hate Twilight, but you know, sometimes when they do rant about it they are very justified.
Quote from: Wolf Man on April 17, 2010, 10:39:04 AM
First: I read the books, they were good in a way. The movies tore what I liked apart.
Second: Those things that Lachlann mentioned that people hate (sexism etc.) are to blame on the auther IMHO. She was mormon. If you know anything about the LDS faith, then you know what I'm talking about. End of story.
Third: I found out about the author after I finished the saga and I feel dirty. Horribly dirty. Though I'd share that.
To be fair, not all Mormons are insane nor believe in everything that's spoon fed to them. I grew up in a Mormon family and honestly we were just like any other family and I was always taught to always question what I was being told at church, not just by my family, but by the actual church itself. I do take issues with quite a few of the teachings, but again, not everyone takes them super seriously either.
But Stephanie Meyer took some of the very iffy parts of the religion and made them even creepier in her books imo.
