So, as some of you may know the
Twilight movie is coming out tomorrow, 21 November. Now, it's probably not my place to talk about it, since I haven't bothered to read the books and I'm probably treading into flame war territory, but my sister said she wants to read them so I feel like ranting.
The hive-mind that I consult on such matters, aka
http://tvtropes.org shares my...discontent with the series. Again, I haven't read it so I shouldn't complain, but from reading the dust jacket of the book my brain cells start dying off. Also, referring to someone who actually read the book and gave a review, my suspicions are confirmed. (Review can be found here:
http://otahyoni.livejournal.com/130432.html)
Twilight falls into a category that I wish to define as "vampire boyfriend fiction" which follows a formula I've seen elsewhere, such as in the other books my sister has read, the
Vampire Kisses series. Formula follows thus: Meet the protaganist, who we shall call Mary. Mary lives in the town of Lamesville, and Mary feels like she doesn't fit in with the rest of the community, sometimes to the point of outright scorning the town or its inhabitants. Mary meets strange boy we shall call Marty. Marty is conveniently the "perfect boy" for Mary, but there is a catch, Marty is a vampire. Mary must chose between self-preservation (because as we all know Marty's vampire tendencies may get the better of him and he'll decide to feed on her) OR choosing that true love is worth the risk involved. Probability of true love conquering all: approximately 1.
Now, it's not the idea that has me up in arms, I think it could be an interesting premise and we could even go the opposite route of most the stories and have Mary keep her distance because she values self-preservation over a romantic fling. The real problem is the message that these books are sending. "Don't worry, girls. You may not fit in and be socially awkward now, but some strange boy will come along and solve all your problems. Hooray for true love." In addition there's the whole irritating "goth" mentality of, "Everyone in this town is ignorant. A pox upon this town." There's ignorant people in my hometown, but there's also intelligent people I can have rational discourse with, you just have to be willing to look.
So, I think I've said my piece. I ask you, denizens of CtS, what do you think?
