The Twilight Saga

[bay girl]

Here's the official promotional image of the Wolf Pack minus Jacob.

[Barbara]

A French website is organizing a contest. You can win a trip to Volterra where they are filming New Moon.

I looked at one of mum's photo albums the other day. I saw pictures from Volterra and Montepulciano. I remember going there but I couldn't remember what those cities looked like. We went there about ten years ago. I still remember Siena, Florence and San Gimignano but we went to Tuscany a few times and we visited those cities every time. Tuscany is such a beautiful area.

I tried imagining the Twilight cast in the pictures but it didn't work.

[Barbara]

My copy arrived yesterday. I also got 4 beautiful artcards. I'm watching it tonight.

I already watched some special features this morning. Rob can't stop touching his hair. Seriously! It's like an obsession.

[stephyrose4]

Haha, yeah it's true. But it's sexy!

I got mine the other day too, from the video shop. I'm lucky they still had them! So many people were there!

There's some crazy fans out there .

[freakybuffy]

Wow Billy Black (Gil Birmingham) has signed up for the convention. I getting so excited, even tho it's months away. I've already started planning my t shirts designs for during the day.

I'm getting fed up of the all rumours going about. Has anyone else heard the latest that there's a copy of New Moon some where on line. Even tho I've heard it's still getting filmed, my friends still believe it's true and has spend hours trying to find it. After about a hour of trying to tell her it would be true I just let her get on with it.

[jack+martha=trooluvv]

I love the Twilight series but not because of Edward. I don't like him heaps, he's so perfect and sparkly and wonderful and blah.

But Jacob It is the first time I have fallen in love with a fictional character.

[Pengzilla]

Here's the official promotional image of the Wolf Pack minus Jacob.

Oof. That's all I have to say.

EDIT: Okay.. I have more to say. The one on the left is a double oof. The one at the back is an oof. The others.. maybe not so much of an oof.

[Natalia]

Every generation has a fad, but it says a lot about the dumbing down of society when this is it for today’s tweens and teens.

There is so much wrong with the series it’s difficult to know where to begin. From the absence of the hero – and thus the romance – in the second book; to the gruesome and inappropriate birth scene in the final book; to the hundreds of pages of preparation for a battle to end the series but the battle never eventuates; to the deeply anti-feminist strain.

And I won’t even start on the rampant paedophilia of werewolves falling in love with babies. There is talk of continuing the books with one such werewolf-baby love story. If America’s Bible-belt hasn’t yet got up in arms about this series (I’m guessing because the author is American herself – unlike British JK Rowling – oh the hypocrisy), then surely this will tip them over the edge.

Stephenie Meyer sure knows how to pad out a book with tedious and erroneous filler. Her abnormally drawn out phonebook-sized monsters must have been left unedited because – as is widely reported – the writer is the prima donna of the publishing world.

It’s not the writing that has won the series so much fan adoration, but the blatant wish fulfilment for the dull, the ugly and the just plain average.

Having such a boring – and feeble – protagonist unconditionally adored by all other characters is not only unbelievable, but also insulting to intelligent readers. The author’s self-insert wish fulfilment continues when – hey – the ‘perfect’ hero chooses the whiny brunette wallflower over a string of beautiful blondes. And don’t worry; our brunette and extremely Bella-like writer has made sure all the blondes are mean and stupid.

Bella is a ‘good girl’. We are apparently supposed to think she’s really smart because she reads Jane Austen instead of having friends, but she truly is the biggest dunce I have ever encountered in fiction. She is also the ultimate role model for an anti-feminist movement, running the household on her teenaged own while her father goes on endless fishing trips. When her father is angry at her she worries that she serves him leftovers too often. When she’s out actually having fun for once she has to race home to cook for him. She does more housework than a Victorian chamber maid.

But worst of all is the way her life is defined by men. Lose your high school boyfriend and your life is over. Whenever anything’s wrong, cling to the nearest male. Hell, when there isn’t a male around she spends her time literally clinging to, and sitting on the lap of, her boyfriend’s adopted sister. Bella is always so tired she has to be carried everywhere; she spends so much time being carted around by Big Strong Guys that one has to wonder if the girl has a serious problem.

The sexual abuse (Jacob’s attack), physical abuse (Edward dragging her places she doesn’t want to go; Emmett physically restraining her when she tries to get away) and emotional abuse (Edward disabling her car; his family keeping her hostage) are ‘nicely’ romanticised. But then, what else would you expect from a Mormon housewife writer?

The Mormon elements of the story are painfully obvious: this is a town where there appears to be no alcohol, no smoking, no sex and definitely no teenagers acting like real teenagers.

One of the most sickening elements of the story is ‘hero’ Edward stalking Bella. For a very long time, he breaks into her house every night and watches her sleep. Without her knowing. But, hey, don’t worry, it’s romantic. Isn’t that what all Peeping Toms say? Afterwards he spends every night in her bed. But, like good Mormons, there’s never any danger of anything unholy happening.

But one of the biggest offences?

This is a vampire series without any vampires.

Meyer has turned those most extraordinary of supernatural creatures into perfect angels who aren’t killed by the sunlight.

Get this. The sun makes them sparkle like pretty diamonds.

Pathetic, huh?

Sparkling aside, these ‘perfect’ creatures do not have a single weakness (where’s the fun in that?!), don’t drink blood or have fangs, and they get good grades in high school.

It’s like Disney made a vampire story.

The whole point of the Twilight series seems to be that we wonder what is worth giving up for love. The problem is, there’s nothing to give up – seeing as Meyerpires are so perfect. In fact, why don’t we all become vampires?!

Anyway, Bella ends up a vampire – with her family okay with that; and married – with a pretty cottage, great (religiously acceptable) sex and a perfect baby.

How appropriately Mormon.

[jack+martha=trooluvv]

Hi Natalia

I've just read all of your post and I found it really interesting. I am reading the Twilight books obsesssively at the moment but there is a lot I don't like about them so I'm not one of those people who will defend it to the death. (I will defend Jacob though. HwaaaaaaYAAA!) Anyways. I agreed with a lot of what you wrote but there were a few posts I disagreed on I thought I'd put my views out here for people to read.

Meyer has turned those most extraordinary of supernatural creatures into perfect angels who aren’t killed by the sunlight.

Get this. The sun makes them sparkle like pretty diamonds.

Pathetic, huh?

Sparkling aside, these ‘perfect’ creatures do not have a single weakness (where’s the fun in that?!), don’t drink blood or have fangs, and they get good grades in high school.

It’s like Disney made a vampire story.

The whole point of the Twilight series seems to be that we wonder what is worth giving up for love. The problem is, there’s nothing to give up – seeing as Meyerpires are so perfect. In fact, why don’t we all become vampires?!

So, yeah, the vampires are more perfect and sparkly and boring than the traditional vampire. But hey, that's creative license. If Stephenie Meyers wants to make vampires non-scary and gorgeous, then she can do so. Who says that every vampire ever written about has to be a Dracula complex?

How appropriately Mormon.

This is the one thing about all the anti-Twilight raves that really p!sses me off. I can handle everyone's view on different aspects of the story itself- naturally people will have different views.

Why is everyone going on and on at Stephenie for being Mormon? Yes, her beliefs will come through in the book! That happens! When people write stories they often try and convey their ideas of what the world should be like. So why is everyone saying it like it's a bad thing?

Pride & Prejudice, one of the most famous and loved books of all time, reeks of the beliefs at that point. Lydia is shamed because she slept with a guy before marriage. You don't see so many people attacking Jane Austen about it. Being Mormon is just another way of living. I personally don't agree with the little that I do know of Mormon beliefs - I'm pretty uneducated about it.

But still!!!!!!!!

Ok, rant mode off.

[Barbara]

For Belgian fans who don't have exams at the end of the month:

Jim TV is organising a contest to go on the set of New Moon in Tuscany and you could even be an extra. For more information, click here. The contest ends tomorrow Thursday 7th May at 4 pm.

Can I just say how annoying it is to organize something like that when teenagers and students have exams to study for?