This Isn’t Harry Potter

By jolie in asshattery with 6 comments
18
Nov
2009

Given that I’ve finished my testing and I’m five years too late to every pop culture phenomenon, it was about time I picked up a copy of Twilight.

Not a fan.  I will probably finish the rest of the series because I finish what I start but…no.

It’s also got the distinction of something I would probably not expose my hypothetical daughter to, because I’m seriously disturbed at what kind of behavior Meyer considers an acceptable marker of your One True Love.  He’s stalkery, obsessed, never listens to a word Bella says and he throws her around like a laundry sack.  Anything Bella says no to he cheerfully does anyway or forces her to do.  He regularly drags her around physically, often by the wrists.  He threatens to kill her, and while I see the point that he’s a monster so of course he can kill her, I don’t necessarily think he needs to be hanging it over her head the whole time.  Half of the book is him making the point that he will hurt or kill her if he wants to, but she’s okay with that, because she’s in love with him.

Oh, okay.

What really interests me is the fact that Edward and Bella are exceptionally chaste.  I hear that changes after they get married, but for the time being, they hold hands.  Except he blames her for his lack of control.  He gives her little peck kisses but when Bella kisses him back, he flies across the room and berates her for being too eager which will cause him to lose control.  Of course, that’s not his fault.  She’s not being “good.”  So, as per usual, a woman’s dangerous sexuality is at fault and will cause a man to lose his control and she will be responsible for whatever happens.  In this case, it’s being eaten, but if you don’t recognize that rape culture song and fucking dance by now, I feel for you.  As long as she’s a good girl…he won’t be forced to hurt her.  What the unholy fuck.

I never thought I would say this, but I much prefer Lestat.


  • Nerg

    I felt kind of the same way. Overall, the series is “Meh”, I’ve read better. That said, as the series progresses her writing becomes noticeably better. By the last book her characters have personality, the plot is, you know, a plot, and I found myself moderately interested to see what happened next. Her desire to be Jane Austen will never be realized, but I feel like she could sit down now and write something pretty decent with the right inspiration.

  • http://www.prosaicparadise.com/ Kim

    I would like Lestat to take a dump in Edwards mouth.

    I haven’t read the book but I heard enough of what all you just said to make me really worried and appalled.

  • http://blackglass.org yasmin

    Eclipse was given to me as a gift, and it’s still on my bookshelf collecting dust. Partly because it’s a sequel and I didn’t have Twilight, and also because I found out what the series was about.

    The movie is worse.

    Give me Lestat and The Vampire Chronicles any day.

  • Saylowr
  • http://hecatemahadevi.livejournal.com Cheli

    That’s one of the two big problems I hear everyone refer to when they talk about Twilight—the chick is too needy, and the writing is just a string of turds.

    One of my brothers found an awesome fanart online of Kain backstabbing Edward with the Soul Reaver. I want that on a T-shirt (or maybe I should make my own of Edward being ganked by Kain, Buffy, Raziel, and Spike). Hee hee, I need to draw that.

  • http://precizzion.wordpress.com Bidula

    Twilight is horrifying trash that is ruining vampires.

    The only positive thing about this is that if Stephanie Meyer can make it by throwing some poorly written emo garbage, I guess anyone can make it.

    Twilight needs to be buried far underground and forgotten. God, I hate that shit.



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