Twilight Sucks

I watched Eclipse today. There will be spoilers in this entire post.

I don't know why I keep watching the Twilight movies. I guess it's like watching a train wreck. You can't look away, and yet you're mortified by what you see. This is probably one of the worst series for the teen girl to be into. It presents entirely the wrong message. I keep hearing people defending it saying that it promotes waiting till marriage for, you know, that. I just saw proof that they're stretching that a bit far. Bella only grudgingly accepts it as an "ancient" idea that she only goes through with because, well, what else is she going to do, rape him? So even that isn't presented in the best interest of the right message. It gives girls the idea that love and obsession are the same thing. That being "abnormal" is a reason to go and destroy your life. Everyone feels abnormal, it's a normal part of being a teenager. You don't know who you are or what you want. Being 23, nearly 24, I'm young enough to remember the awkward transition from child to adult. I'm still not entirely certain how to put it into words. But it is a gradual transition that requires at least a few years away from home. I left home for good at 17. But it wasn't until in the last year or two that I've really felt like an adult. I sort of feel as though I passed a barrier, sometimes I see clothes I would have loved to wear (even if they wouldn't have looked good on me) a few years ago and think that they're too young for me, or I see myself in the mirror and I don't look quite as much like a kid as before. It's the rounding out and settling into your body look. And Bella is still just a kid, she's, what, 18? She needs a few years away from home, preferably away from Edward as well.

Edward. There is a negative for girls if there ever was one. He is condescending. Smirking at everything Bella does, she's just a play toy that amuses him. He's forceful, he's abusing, and he is the big strong man in all the wrong ways. He wants to protect her soul, he wants the best for her, he wants her to be his little angel, but he repeatedly tries to force her to marry him? And what's with that line? "In a few decades everyone you know will be dead." So cold. Some might say that he was trying to make her say no. For trying to make her get away from him he's not trying very hard.

This whole story of course takes place in a magical fantasy land where werewolves don't need the full moon to turn, where sunlight does not kill vampires, where vampires also have other magical abilities, which I hear some variations of Dracula has, such as slight mind reading abilities. And, speaking of Dracula, I'll be the first to admit that vampires are sexy. They just are. I'm only half joking when I say they made Castlevania: Lords of Shadow to be aimed at the female gamer crowd, in fact I've occasionally been trying to figure out a way to rig up a costume for Victor some day. Course I'd have to be Maria or whatever and that would be kinda creepy. Eh. Back to the point of this post.

I tried to read the book once. I made it about 100 pages before I just couldn't do it anymore. There was no research done of any sort. Remember the fire on the beach scene in book 1? If there was so much salt in the air that the flames were blue they would all be dead from breathing that air. Remember when Jacob needed a part for his car? That part does not exist. Edward in the books is so much more condescending than he is in the movies, smiling at everything because he's some godly figure above all the mere mortals, especially the silly little girl who has fallen into obsession with him. They have nothing in common, being separated by about a hundred years. Sure his body hasn't aged but I'm sure his mind has. He's like a creepy old man dressed up as a young guy to get the pretty little girl, smirking in amusement at everything she says and does because he knows so much better than she.

For someone who is supposed to be so clumsy Bella isn't clumsy at all. In the 100 pages I struggled through she banged he elbow into a doorway because she was nervous or something. As someone who actually is clumsy I have tripped walking over completely flat terrain. Banging your elbow into a doorway is an everyday occurrence, hardly worth note unless you happen to bruise yourself. Walking into the wall next to the door, now that is worthy of note and something I have done before.

Really, she should choose Jacob for all the reasons everyone's trying to push on her. I know she'll choose Edward, I know enough spoilers for that. But even he isn't exactly the best idea of the perfect man. He has anger issues. And he has a permanent "ew, I just smelt something nasty" expression. But she wouldn't have to die, she could still be with her friends and family. Everything in this movie was pointing towards Jacob as the better choice, and I guess that was their intent to make such a big point of her choosing Edward instead and how rebellious she is and how her "love" is so much stronger than everyone's warnings and "love" will conquer all. And then she goes and says that it's not just because of him, that it's where she belongs.

I can understand wanting to find a story to hang onto, something to identify with. Something to make you feel like you belong. But this isn't the fandom to get into, it's really not. Bella is basically a Mary Sue. Click here for a definition of Mary Sue. The whole story is set in the style of a fanfiction. It's basically a really bad fanfiction of itself. Like the real story is out there and this is a 13-year-old's AU version. Find a story with better morals, with better characters, if you want angst, fine, I love a good angst story, but don't look to the characters as role models or images of perfection that you should adhere to, because they're not what a young girl should look to as an example of how their lives should be. No one deserves to be stuck with an Edward, and leading yourself to believe that because someone you can identify with (awkward, bottom of the social ladder, the outcast, abnormal) is obsessed with someone like him you should be too is just wrong, and might lead you away from someone you would have otherwise been perfectly happy with. When I was a kid I was into Boba Fett, I still am. But when I was a kid he was my idea of a perfect man. Tragic past, someone who needs comforting and healing, strong, tall, dark hair, persistent, intelligent, an excellent fighter who could protect any woman he was with, rarely loses. I basically ended up with the more social, light-hearted version. Which suits me just fine because Boba hasn't got much in the way of a sense of humor and I don't see him as someone who's very cuddly. Ignore the Karen Traviss version of Boba, I could post a rant about her and what she's done to Mandalorians and Boba but that isn't the focus of this particular post. And I guess if Bella ignores everyone's warnings I shouldn't be surprised if her followers do too. It's just really not a series to let kids read, not one I would let my daughters near if I had any. Like I said before, I don't know why I insist on watching these. It's probably one of the worst stories I've come across, and I'm a Harry Potter fan, I have read a lot of bad fanfiction.