Why the eff is it so popular?
- According to more than one source, there's absolutely no chemistry between Bella (the girl) and Edward (the vamp). So why do they fall madly in love?
- Vampires can not only go into sunlight without being dusted, but they sparkle as well. There's also a particularly long-winded, scientific-sounding explanation by the author herself.
- Apparently, the writer not only didn't write the story with the intent to get it published, but also admits that she isn't the best writer. So why do people (mostly girls in the 9-16 year old demographic) tout it as a work of literary genius?
Apparently, the fans of Twilight (dubbed "Twilighters" by God knows who) will react quite violently to anyone who "disses" the series. This has inspired me to wear a "TWILIGHT BLOWS HARD WITH GLITTER" t-shirt around, but I digress.
Anyway, I don't understand why Twilight has become so popular. Is it because the characters are Mary Sues/Gary Stus, the plot is contrived and predictable, and most importantly, Edward is the hottest thing to hit the literary world since those trashy romance novels 40+ women who subsitute teach for elementary schools read during busywork time? Or could it be because a majority of the American public prefers uber-characters and contrived plots over literary works of actual merit? I don't understand it.
I have often heard the Twilight trend being compared to the Harry Potter trend, but I don't understand how people can make the comparison on the basis of anything but the amount of fanpeople. Aside from the thousands of people who enjoy either book series, there's no comparison. While there are people who don't like each of the series, Rowling's work is superior, even when you just look at how well-written each series is; however, I won't launch into a tirade about this comparison.
So, it looks like I'll never understand the Twilight phenomenon (or phenome-not, as I'd prefer it to be)and, until I do, it looks like I'm commander of the Anti-Twilight armies. -sigh-
how weird that no one answered this...
ReplyDeleteright now it's a phenomenon because it's popular.
the people who started the phenomenon were probably NOT popular, though...
imagine this.
there are loads of antisocial outcasts and bibliophiles (like bella, supposedly) who wanted to share their love for books. you are one of them.
but no one else your age was interested in books. like, ughh!
so you read twilight just as one book among others and surf the web just for the fun of it..
VOILA!
quite a lot of people (similar to you, outcasts, shy, blabla) are already going on and on about twilight.
At last, SOMEONE to discuss books with!
that's my theory of how it began. now it's so popular EVERYONE reads it for that. you read it because it's popular or because your friend reads it...
and now most first fans don't even like the book all that much anymore.
well, talking from personal experience. XDD
Yes, while I do realise that everyone has their own personal preferences and what not, that still doesn't stop my head from almost imploding when people say it's the best book they've ever read. I mean, based on the quality of writing alone, there should reasonably be a thousand other books that are better than Twilight. I mean, Jane Austen bores me to tears and I despise her work, but I'll begrudgingly admit that her work is superior to Meyer's.
ReplyDelete-shrugs- I guess that's why it's in this blog; becayuse I don't get it. :P