Trista Faux Hawke wrote...
Harle Cerulean wrote...
Trista Faux Hawke wrote...
CrustyBot wrote...
Why so much Twilight bashing?
Doesn't half the forum want Cullen to be an LI?
I've never understood Twilight bashing, myself. The books were written for preteens/teens. Kids, essentially. Why so much upset over entertainment meant for young adults? It's not for grownups, so of course the books are going to read a certain way. It's not Kafka, you know? lol.
1) The writing is atrocious. This is bad enough, but not the major issue.
2) The relationship protrayed in incredibly disturbing, but it's treated as though it's ideal, and not dangerous. Edward Cullen stalks Bella. He disables her vehicle so that she can't spend time with her friends. He watches her through her window. The first time they have sex, Edward injures her, he's so rough.
And this is all portrayed as romantic.
That is the real issue with Twilight. It takes a dangerous, abusive relationship, and portrays it as something ideal. I live almost in the center of Twilight-mania - my town is mentioned in the books, and is very close Forks - and the things you hear from the Twilight-tourists are terrifying. Mothers who want a boy ~just like Edward~ for their daughters, sort of thing.
I'm not saying portraying abusive, dangerous relationships shouldn't happen - but the narrative shouldn't glorify it and treat it like it's the romantic ideal. One of my favourite books as a teenager had a relationship in it much like Bella and Edward's, and I remember it fondly to this day. The difference?
The 'Edward' of the pair was the villain, not the hero. The relationship was treated as the dangerous, disturbing thing it was, and the stalkery, brutal, jealous **** was not treated as a good guy. He had sympathetic qualities, enough to understand why the heroine liked him, but he was, beyond a doubt, the villain.
That's why I bash Twilight.
Lol. Well, then that means you should bash nearly every vampire story there is, starting with Dracula. Those stories all romanticize monsters who prey on women. After reading your description of Twilight (because I've never read the books, myself) I can safely say that Meyer pretty much re-imagined the same storyline and character dynamic between Vlad Dracul and Mina Harker - a notorious human-female-to-male-vampire romance that was riddled with insanity, abuse, emotional manipulation, and more. Hell, Vlad seduced/attacked/murdered Mina's friend Lucy - that's a far cry from disabling a vehicle in order to put a stop to a sleepover.
Besides, what person A considers romantic won't always be what person B considers romantic. Some people are turned on by the things you described above. I can see the appeal in it. It's dangerous. Danger excites people. It's also just a fantasy - not real. You know? Plus, your interpretation of stalking/creepy behavior is subjective, you know? Some readers most likely don't see it that way. Anyone will walk away from any book with various interpretations.
I don't know. It all just seems kinda petty to me. (I don't mean to offend you by saying that, Harle...)
First, you clearly haven't paid much attention to your example. Dracula? Not a hero. I've read it, I'm quite aware of the contents of the book, and no, Twilight is not a re-imagining of it. Same with many other vampire novels. Trust, I've read quite a few!
The difference is that Edward Cullen, the stalker and abuser in question, is presented as a hero, and the things he does are presented as good. When you present abuse and controlling behavior as "normal" or "good," it is a problem. It's neither normal nor good, in fact, it's very, very wrong.
Moreover, as you said youself, the Twilight books are aimed at a younger audience. Do you have any idea how many teenage girls end up in abusive relationships? Presenting an abusive relationship as "good" in a book meants for them is irresponsible at best.
And no. Stalking is not subjective. Someone watching someone else through their window? Unless the watcher has explicit permission from the person they're watching to do so, that behavior is stalking (or, you know, if it's legal police survellance or whatnot). Abuse is not subjective. Controlling behavior is not subjective. There's a far cry between BDSM and "this is the wedding night, they are not being particularly kinky, and the woman spends the next week in pain, and this is treated like it's normal."
I would not take issue with Twilight's romance, if Edward were not presented as the hero of the story, and the things he does were portrayed in the narrative as being wrong. However, they are not, and that is a serious issue.
Modifié par Harle Cerulean, 29 octobre 2012 - 01:26 .
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