(no subject)

[dollsome]

I finished New Moon last night at around 12:30, and I am proud to report that my brain did not actually melt due to the fiery passion of my hatred and wind up oozing out of my ears. Jolly good show, self!

I did, however, get so angry toward the end that I . . . sort of started letting out incoherent shrieks of wrath and hitting the book. Yes, hitting the book. Repeatedly. Kinda hard. Sorry, thepodsquad!; I’m pretty certain I left no lasting damage. Also, Derrickson was trying to sleep at the time, and she probably didn’t really appreciate my minor psychotic outburst. But it was something that sorely needed to be done.

And now:

Firstly, no matter how much I may occasionally like to delude myself, I am not remotely a book snob when it comes to my reading material. I grew up on every Sweet Valley series that has ever existed, and I devoured them with a truly terrifying passion. I still enjoy a couple of the Princess Diaries books every bit as much as I did when I was in seventh grade. I know I will never enjoy another written work as much as Harry Potter in my whole life, and even though those are brilliantly plotted, they aren’t exactly James Joyce or whatever.

Point is, I would very much like to be the sort of person who derives genuine unhindered enjoyment from Melville, Henry James, the Bronte bitches (although, really, from what I’ve gleaned, they were more or less Stephenie Meyer a hundred and some years ago), etc., but what I love the most in fiction is compelling characters with compelling relationships (bonus points for humor and general likeability), so really, wherever I can find something that catches my interest in that department, I’m going to get hooked. And if it doesn’t have any English major street cred – if it should send a self-respecting English major running as fast as they can in the other direction while screaming – then so be it. This doesn’t stop me, even if it doubtlessly should. Relatively depthless young adult literature can be entirely enjoyable, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise. For example, I dare you to find anything that kicks as much ass as the Gemma Doyle books by Libba Bray. (Sidenote? Omg, everybody read them at once. They’re like everything that Twilight probably wants to be but will never manage. Plus a whole lot of rebellion against Victorian repression, and bonus femmeslashy undertones!)

So, really, what I have against Twilight and its oh-so-charming predecessors isn’t that it’s not literature of merit. I mean, I don’t think that they’re well-written – occasionally, they’re downright offensively bad – but it’s pretty easy to get used to once you’re immersed in it, and it’s not like I spend the whole time I’m reading going ‘Ughhh, I can’t even get into this because it’s such crap.’ It might not remotely resemble anything like literary mastery, but I still manage to get into it really quickly, so in that sense, Twilight and my brain have gotten along a whole lot better than me and, I dunno, Moby Dick – or, depressingly, anything by Jane Austen. (I do love Jane! I’m just not quite smart enough that I can read her for a really long time without getting a little exhausted and wanting to go find some fanfic or something. I'm dumb.)

There are certain aspects of these books that I completely enjoy. I like the bleak monotony of the Forks atmosphere in general; something about it is endearing to me. I like Charlie and the tentativeness of his relationship with his daughter. I love Jacob, who is adorable and engaging and so much more charismatic and three-dimensional than any of the other characters in this series. I even like Bella sometimes. I’m at least invested enough in her that I want Bella to like Bella, and find some sort of actual self-worth that isn’t dependent upon what one guy thinks of her.

(I also liked the really enthusiastic super-old vampire guy in Italy. He was fun!)

And the fact that there are aspects of these books that I genuinely am interested in just makes it all the more infuriating that their central message is so offensive. I’ve thought about it, and the only thing I can come up with is that Stephenie Meyer is so deeply, utterly attached to the idea of Edward/Bella that she’s just blinded herself to the story that she’s been telling. I’m assuming that the whole thing that prompted her to write the books in the first place was the idea of Edward and Bella’s relationship, and that she completely fell in love with the idea of creating this doomed love between two people who have all the odds against them but can’t live without each other. And, I mean, it’s a nice idea. A classic idea. I’m not going to hate on the notion of wanting to write doomed lovers, because on some level, who doesn’t at least feel a little tempted to tell that kind of story? It’s appealing.

But the thing is, I think she put so much thought into what their relationship could potentially be that by the time she got around to writing it, it had sort of corrupted itself. I know that everyone’s got their own perception, but when I read the scenes between these two characters, there’s nothing organic or natural between them. There’s no inherent chemistry, no fire, no genuineness. There’s a very stilted, very cliché relationship that’s substantiated by melodramatic, unrealistic dialogue and a whole lot of Bella’s heart beating way too quickly or her being about to faint because kissing him is apparently just that overwhelming. Which is – well, no, it’s not all well and good, it’s pretty crappy to begin with. But more than that, we don’t for a second know why they click on an emotional level, why they’re drawn to each other. Okay, Bella’s blood smells extra-pretty to Edward, making him more filled with malevolent vampire thirst than ever, but is that the basis for a healthy relationship? Really? That’s like some horrible merging of “She’s so flippin’ hot; enough small boom, let’s boom the boom!” (God bless you, Flight of the Conchords) and “Mmmm, cake!” And Bella, meanwhile, thinks Edward is physically breathtakingly beautiful. I don’t think we get to hear a lot about his mind from her, or what he’s like as a person, but we are never, never spared a description of how overwhelmingly, unnaturally gorgeous he is, to the point where she can never be worthy of him because she looks like a normal human being. Which, needless to say, is an incredibly shallow reason to fall madly and desperately in love with someone. In terms of the foundation of this relationship, we have hunger on his side and superficial awe on hers.

It is not great.

And the thing is, on some level I don’t fault Stephenie Meyer for it. I completely get this as a writer. It’s happened to me before. My oft-mysteriously-alluded-to-EBB, a.k.a. the original I have been devising for the past three or so years, was originally based upon the notion that these two main characters would fall for each other and have this incredibly awe-inspiringly brilliant relationship. The first thing that ever popped into my head regarding this story – which has since become gigantic and elaborate and sprawling and owns a considerable portion of my brain and heart – was a conversation between these two characters that I scribbled down in math class, not even knowing what it was but immediately being just thrilled. Around a year ago, when I tried to finally write my first draft, I was so jazzed! I wanted their relationship to be brilliant! Incomparable! This was going to be my own personal Mulder/Scully – yep, that mighty. There probably would have been fanmixes devoted to their splendor.

And it sucked.

I just couldn’t get their interaction right. It was so artificial, so entirely defined by my anticipation for them to be wonderful together. It felt phony, and unoriginal, and my female character wound up having no personality beyond being The Woman Who Was Incredibly Perfect In All Ways For My Main Character, But In A Feisty Way So They Have Lots of Hawt Sexual Tension, Too! It was lame and empty and it just plain didn’t feel good to write them together; I always felt vaguely dissatisfied and gross after I’d written a scene between them, and it made me so sad, because I love writing relationships where people are falling for each other. Objectively, it’s a slightly disturbing experience, because you sort of feel yourself fall in love along with them, from both sides. And technically, they’re both creations from your head, so – you’re in love with yourself? I don’t know. It’s best not to give it any actual extensive consideration. The day that I wrote Fairish and the Slovenly Goatherd, I was floating happily around for the rest of the day just because the two characters had fallen for each other in a way that was quirky and unique and sweet and really unexpected to me. In that particular story, I hadn’t planned for them to. It just happened.

But anyway! Back to what I was saying! I was incredibly disappointed that my Epic Mighty Ship Of Glory did not want to sail, because this was the foundation of this story. All the rest that had come later (and while it’s not brilliant by any means, I’m sure, it sort of feels that way to me just because it amazes me that I’ve been able to craft plots and backstories at all)? It never would have come into existence if it weren’t for the relationship I had planned between these two characters.

And I finally just had to acknowledge that they weren’t right for each other, that putting them together wouldn’t work. The story had grown up too much around them, and their theoretical perfect relationship was still the same, and it just didn’t fit. It was incredibly hard to give that up; it’s kind of lame how disappointed I was over it for quite a long time. As we all should do in times of solace (hee), I turned to good ol’ Joss Whedon – on the commentary for the Angel episode “Waiting in the Wings”, he talked about how the episode was originally conceived of based upon the idea that Amy Acker would get to dance ballet on the show. They shot a wonderful dream sequence with Amy (and Alexis Denisof, HEE!) dancing, and it ultimately had to be cut from the episode. And I remember Joss saying something along the lines of that ultimately, to make the story work, you very often have to cut the thing that had originally seemed the most important to it.

I can personally attest to the fact that it’s hard as hell and initially a little bit completely devastating, but ultimately, you’ve gotta let the story take the reins. It knows itself; it knows what it’s doing so much more than you’re ever going to. When the writer finally steps aside and relinquishes control, that’s when the magic happens. And there is seriously no beating that feeling, which I know a lot of you guys (er, the brave ones among you who have made it this far in this post, anyway!) know.

But anyway! Back to Stephenie Meyer.

It’s funny, because you can see in New Moon precisely where the story tries to grab the reins from Ms. Meyer. To save itself, dear God please. (Hee.) And it’s when Jacob Black shows up. When Jacob and Bella interact, all of a sudden the book becomes so warm and engaging and weirdly free; all of a sudden Bella is laughing and practically vibrant, all of a sudden this girl’s got a distinct personality. It might not be confirmed in the text, but in the tone, under the words, Bella and Jacob fall for each other like that. These are two characters that quite simply want to be interacting with each other. This is even confirmed by the author herself on her website: “Ah, and then there is my favorite gift that New Moon gave to me: Jacob Black . . . Something happened then that I didn't expect. Jacob was my first experience with a character taking over—a minor character developing such roundness and life that I couldn't keep him locked inside a tiny role.”

It’s kinda obvious that Jacob and Jacob/Bella were the story taking over, with lots of flashing lights and bright shiny colors, all ‘hey, look at me! Look at me! I am salvation! I am the way this story is meant to go! I am the road to NonSucksville!’ (Vampires. Sucksville. I kill myself. But not in a ‘I’d-rather-than-live-without-you’ way, Edward/Bella :P) But by this time, it has become quite firmly established that Edward/Bella is The Ultimate Love Story To End All Love Stories. Stand aside, Romeo and Juliet! Forget y’all, Rhett and Scarlett! Cathy and Heathcliff say what now? Anne and Gilbert, get gone. (Poor Anne/Gilbert, with its sense of equality and its general adorability, doesn’t even stand a chance.)

It’s clear that Edward/Bella ain’t going anywhere, no matter how badly it’s coming off, or how much it’s compromised the whole book. It seems like Stephenie Meyer just keeps fighting, just keeps clinging to this “perfect” love, and as a result the whole thing just gets more and more corrupted and distorted.

I can't believe that any woman in this day and age would genuinely want to communicate the message that it is right for a young girl to eagerly give up her family, her friends, and her future in order to utterly change herself for a guy who makes her feel plain and unworthy. (Every single one of these is an indisputable in-the-text 200% canon fact, by the way, and I am not distorting anything at all to make it sound worse than it is. If you really want me to, I'll bust out textual evidence. But this is already very, very long.)

If I didn’t know anything about Stephenie Meyer’s intention with writing the book, and was judging on the text alone, I would be completely, doubtlessly sure that the books would ultimately end with Bella having grown enough as a person to realize that while she loves Edward, she deserves better – she deserves to live a full life, to find herself and get to have a family and a career and a future that’s based on herself and her own desires rather than her utter attachment to another human being. To be able to go out in the damn sunlight, for heaven’s sake! To be able to enjoy a hamburger, or have a bad hair day, or sleep. (I genuinely think that’s the most terrifying concept ever presented in these books: the notion that vampires can never sleep. The idea of never having that repose, of having eternity stretched out in front of you without a single break or divide, entirely without the sense of ever getting to start fresh in the morning is so disturbing to me. I wish that a defter writer than Meyer had come up with it, because it is fascinating and horrible.)

The idea that she wants to abandon her humanity – her whole life; everyone that she loves, everything that she could have, every chance at variety and devastation and joy and life, at finding herself and loving herself just as she is – to be with a boy makes me sick. The fact that not for a single second, Bella doesn’t think it’s worth it. That she wants to stop right here, freeze herself in this form forever. She will always be eighteen. She will never get to find out what she’ll look like at age thirty, or what it would be like to have a child with her eyes; she’ll never go to college, figure out what it’s like to live on her own. It just feels like she’s so impossibly young and so blinded by love, and it’s sick that any of the Cullens would genuinely think it was a good idea to steal all of this from her. They’re supposed to be hundreds of years old, for God’s sake! Haven’t they seen enough of the world to understand youthful folly, and the way that everything seems like the most important thing in the world when you're a teenage girl?

I have a friend right now who has very, very similar feelings for a guy that Bella does for Edward, and it makes me sick that “true love” can make people feel so small and desperate and unworthy, so willing to take whatever the hell they can get. You know what true love is supposed to do? It’s supposed to make you feel great about yourself, not unworthy. Not ‘Oh, I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but you’d better not get me a birthday present because then the scales will be tipped forever, and by the way, God, do I look ugly standing next to you!’ You should feel like a damn goddess! You shouldn’t doubt for a second that that person thinks you’re brilliant and funny and utterly beautiful. You should be able to laugh with them and have screaming matches with them and tell them anything, no matter how silly or pathetic or strange, and never for a second stop to wonder why they’re with you. And when you’re not with them anymore (because everything ends sooner or later, and it’s certainly not eternity that defines real love – come on, people! Quality, not quantity, duh), that feeling should still linger, and you should be all the stronger for it, even if it ultimately didn’t work out. It’s not the outcome that matters anyway, it’s the journey. This person shouldn’t define your whole life; they should help you reaffirm who you are, and make you happy to be that.

(And, er, wow, could this be any cornier? No? Well, I don’t care, because IT’S TRUE.)

Edward/Bella is an incredibly juvenile, thoughtless portrayal of alleged true love. Sure, on the surface, it hits every mark on the check list – challenged but not stopped by adversity; the sentiment of “I would die without you” being exercised again and again, with each of them to some degree actually attempting suicide at least once; ultimately bound together by the promise of ‘forever.’ Because Edward’s going to make Bella a vampire, and then they’re going to spend eternity together. Until. The end. Of time.

The idea of this relationship lasting until the end of time kind of makes me want to slam my head against the wall. I pity both of them. But mostly Edward. (“Happy fifty-sixth anniversary, my dear shining beloved effervescent darling.” “What – Edward, no, what are these??” “Just – some flowers, you know, because it’s our – anniversary.” “No, Edward, you can’t! You’re not supposed to get me flowers; I don’t deserve flowers! Not when I get to gaze upon your glorious godlike visage day after day! And besides, it’s not our anniversary! It’s my anniversary of my love for you!” “Bitch, I’m so over this. Maybe I’ll hook up with Drusilla.”)

The Romeo & Juliet parallels are far from subtle (it’s quoted at the beginning of the book! They watch Romeo & Juliet! And intently discuss what they would do if they were Romeo & Juliet! Oh, Meyer, you slay me with your nuanced writing skillz, woman), but guess what? If Romeo and Juliet had lived, Romeo would have been on to the next lady in like a month, and Juliet would have been left to deal with the unfortunate but universal truth that most men are bastards and she should’ve married Paris. (Especially when he takes the form of a) Jacob, or b) Paul Rudd. There is no wrong to be found in either of these options!) I think the true power of that story, the sickening genius irony of it, is that they die for something that wouldn’t have been worth living for. They never would have lasted, no question. They were young and stupid and impulsive, the end. Also, it’s a tragedy. Not the smartest model to base your life off of, Bella Swan.

And so, if I thought this series had a brain, I would be entirely sure – no question in the whole wide world – that it would end with Bella choosing Jacob. It’s so inherent in the poor, ignored, ‘hey! Let me do my own thing, will you, Stephenie? Please? Please? Pleeease?’ subtext that every time Bella feels cold cozying up to Edward (“like cuddling against a sculpture” – oh, yeah, because that’s so pleasant), as opposed to being so comfortable and warm every time she has any physical contact with Jacob, I just want to hit something. It’s so there and so right and so obvious and it shouldn’t even be doubted for a second.

But instead? Instead, I just really really fear for the relationship-related mentality that a generation of middle school-aged girls is going to have after devouring this series.

It’s gross.

I want better for Bella. I want Stephenie Meyer to want better for Bella, I want Bella to want better for Bella.

And I don’t even like the damn book.

(And, yes, it's sort of lame that this inspired me to ramble this much, as it's not exactly a great literary masterpiece for all the ages. But people do get into these books in an extreme, Harry Potter-type way, and I figure that makes it valid enough to really analyze the message that's being sent.)


The worst part of all this is that I suspect I am going to wind up buying Eclipse, just so I can finish off this whole damned mess and lament its inevitable conclusion. I’m ensnared now. Grr.

Comments

[dreamstrifer.livejournal.com]

I'd consider my mom something of an expert on "true love" considering she's been married to my dad for almost 33 years and only knew him a few months before deciding to marry him. She says you got the definition (or as close to a definition as you can get) of true love spot on.

I am just so disgusted that someone can think this is the greatest relationship ever. Argh. Bitch, please.

Let's write amazing books about HEALTHY relationships that are amazing! OR even unhealthy relationships that the characters come to understand are unhealthy and then they hook up with the adorable character that is so much better for them, and show Stephenie Meyer a thing or two!

[moonkoneko.livejournal.com]

This was the most incredible rant i have ever read about the Twilight series because i totally agree with you.

AMEN.

[sundancekid.livejournal.com]

I haven't even read the books, and I really enjoyed that rant. :)

[amazingly-me.livejournal.com]

Me too! *virtual high fivez*

:P

[undefinedwishes.livejournal.com]

holy cow. I agree 100% with every word you wrote (including the paul rudd love & the reference to joss wheadon AKA tv god).

Jacob is better, healthier, more realistic, and much more believable than Edward could ever hope to be and SM knows it but refuses to shelf E/B. Arghness. This topic has caused me insane frustration ever since I read New Moon a few months ago.

And just so you know, Eclipse is not the end- Breaking Dawn will be released sometime next year, and then we get Twilight from Edward's pov with Midnight Sun.

I'm really actually starting to resent Edward. Because COME ON. What irks me beyond belief is how so many of the girls in the fandom are E/B shippers- J/B was a very small minority. Are these girls totally ridiculously blind/naive/etc?

I'm going to stop myself now before I comment with a post as long as yours :P Anyways what I'm sayin is hear hear, I agree.

[undefinedwishes.livejournal.com]

(and I found your post thru the J/B comm)

[mouthsopen.livejournal.com]

This post is gold. First, you have a Flight of the Conchords reference. Second, you pretty much hit the nail on the head on why I find Edward/Bella completely appalling and wrong. And third, I find the books terrible too, but Jacob and Jacob/Bella was really the only thing that saved the whole series.

Additionally, I know it's a book and I'm supposed to indulge in the fantasy that Meyer presents, but I honestly don't buy it. (I mean, I did buy it in the first book, even though they were still full of cheese.) She's all, "Well, because Bella is choosing Edward over everything else she could have with Jacob, it means it's true love and validates it!" Uh, whatever. (the faq is here (http://stepheniemeyer.com/ecl_faq.html), but beware, it contains spoilers for Eclipse.)

I also love this: To be able to go out in the damn sunlight, for heaven’s sake! To be able to enjoy a hamburger, or have a bad hair day, or sleep. I feel like part of the reason why Bella wants to change is so she can feel pretty like the other vampires, because she doesn't feel that now in her life, nor does she feel like she's worth it for Edward (which I honestly cannot understand. She claims that she loves him and would die for him, yet she is constantly putting herself down. CHOOSE ONE, CHRIST.)

You haven't read Eclipse yet? I think you've already summed most of it up. Anyway, Eclipse has some great Jacob/Bella moments and you should read it! Minus a few pages at the end, maybe.

[pourtant.livejournal.com]

YES YES YES. Oh my God. I don't even know you and I love you and I don't care if that makes me sound like a lovestruck Bella but that post was brilliant. I don't even know what to add because well, it's very late and I'm not entirely coherent, but also, you said it all so perfectly. If Stephenie Meyer had let the story evolve naturally, it would have been Bella/Jacob. Bella and Edward's relationship only "makes sense" because it's the whole premise of the book.

[vega-ofthe-lyre.livejournal.com]

Um. Thank you. There isn't enough word in the universe to express what I feel about this post- there's something so inherently ugly about the message of the series, and the really, really sad part is, most people I know haven't picked up on that fact. All my girlfriends adore the books. And I know people can say "oh, at least it gets kids reading," but no. God. Pick up some damn HP. We do not want the minds of very fragile teen girls to become even sicker- I say this as a wooby teenage girl, myself. Ugh. Go for the person who doesn't make you feel like utter crap, you hor.

[vega-ofthe-lyre.livejournal.com]

And... my icon wasn't intended to send out parallels with Lost, but it's there. *Stamps foot* GET OVER JACK, KATE.

[tju-tju-tju-tju.livejournal.com]

Word. Just...fucking word. Everything you've said here. The main reason I like this series is because of the awesome secondary characters, not this stupid, self-destructive, cliche-ridden, horrible train-wreck that is Edward/Bella. You have said absolutely EVERYTHING.

Here. Have an internet.

[amazingly-me.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty much with you on the 'true love' definition. I think that when you're just in that crush-y, "oh gosh I like him" phase you can throw yourself into that role if you want. You know, "oh goodness, I'm not good enough for him, and he's so amazing."

But once you KNOW each other and date and have TRU LUV you really shouldn't think that any more. You should know that person, and know that they're, you know, human, and flawed, and know that they think you're amazing, and know that they know YOU think THEY'RE amazing.

This comment, it depresses me. ;]

So. You're cool! I read the whole post and I've never read the book.

I may (may) print this off for a couple of my friends who enjoyed the books, just a couple paragraphs. Just to see what they think. I'm sure they're not, you know, modeling their lives after the books or anything, but it would be interesting. Hmmm...

[nova25.livejournal.com]

Damn, Nita, you give such great rant.

But, you know, agreed. On each and every bit of it, but especially on the being a writer thing. And that is probably one of the hardest things you'll ever have to do in writing. And I still kind of struggle with it-- I have this short story, which is probably my favorite thing I've ever written, and likely the best. And I first came up with an ending for it, before anything else. I built the story around this ending. It was, needless to say, important.

And then I workshopped it for the second time and was told that the ending didn't work. And I hated it-- but it didn't quite fit anymore. It needed something else. And, just as you say, the story had outgrown it. So. Not to novel on you. But it got me commiserating. xD

But I'm really kind of disturbed at the inequality thing more than anything else. That is made of yuck, because it's not even unequal power in the relationship. I'm okay with somebody being the one who's in charge as long as there's mutual love and respect, but if you can't even love yourself? That is not okay. And that is why I am bemoaning the fates for ever having published these damn books!

Er.

-steps off soapbox-

[whirligigged.livejournal.com]

Can you please send this to Stephanie Meyer as a plea to, if not break up Bella/Edward and make Bella/Jacob canon, at least let Bella develop some self-respect in the final book? Because this was beautiful and well-argued and just absolutely true.

I ended up asking my younger cousin and her friend about this series when I was over her house and I heard them discussing how much they loved the series. "So, uh. I heard there's this Jacob guy who's cool. Who do you think Bella is better with?" They spoke at the same time with equal enthusiasm - her friend said, "Edward, obviously," but my lovely cousin immediately responded with "JACOB OHMYGOD." And then argued for the merits of Jacob over Edward. Good girl. <3

[anythingbutgrey.livejournal.com]

I don’t think we get to hear a lot about his mind from her, or what he’s like as a person, but we are never, never spared a description of how overwhelmingly, unnaturally gorgeous he is, to the point where she can never be worthy of him because she looks like a normal human being. Which, needless to say, is an incredibly shallow reason to fall madly and desperately in love with someone. In terms of the foundation of this relationship, we have hunger on his side and superficial awe on hers.

yes. perfect perfect. we've been saying it for forever, but you said it so marvelously and.

i pretty much love you. this is one of the most eloquent, correct, amazing rants on why e/b is the biggest pile of crap ever and why jacob black pwns the entire universe.

and i love you for it.

(plus, this is freaking hys-terical.)

welcome to the team. :D

[glass-rain.livejournal.com]

I haven't read these books or anything, but I have to say, over the past week or so, it's been very jarring to see such truly awful writing posted on your journal. Haha.

...So I probably shouldn't have read this, but discussions of writing are always fun! :D And...I agree? As much as I can?

EXCEPT FOR. the Bronte bitches (although, really, from what I’ve gleaned, they were more or less Stephenie Meyer a hundred and some years ago)
NO NO SO MUCH NO. Well, Wuthering Heights kind of was, but Jane Eyre is made of seven hundred kinds of amazing. Jane's all, man, this guy is kind of ugly, but I sure do love him. And she's all independent and AWESOME.

Also, I can be a slight literary snob from time to time, but I love Libba Bray's books. :D

[gatito-urbano.livejournal.com]

Oh my, and you haven't read Eclipse yet?! :O That was the book that made me fall in love for Jacob even more. I don't want to give you spoilers, but seriously, that book proves that Jacob is the one. I'm glad you wrote this! It's beautifully written, and in a very smart way. There should be more pople like you in the fandom, AND IN THE WORLD. (I wish you were a gremnlin so I could water you and expect you to reproduce, hahahaha.)

'Bitch, I’m so over this. Maybe I’ll hook up with Drusilla.”)

Amen. That part made my frickin' day.

I agree with you 120%, but my B/J "essay" is here: http://community.livejournal.com/sortofbeautiful/77024.html (I don't want to spam you by copying and pasting those words in here, just saying. :)


This entry this goes straight to memories! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WRITING IT. :D ♥

[alba-holly.livejournal.com]

First: OMG! I LOVE you. Flight of the Concords AND a Paul Rudd mention, you are my hero.

Second: You pointed out all the reasons why I get mad about Twilight. In my opinion, Bella is a horrible role model for young women. I wouldn't go as far as saying she is anti-feminist, but I wont being mentioning these books to my future daughter till she is at a mature age. Especially since most of the readers of Twilight are teens. The books are showing the wrong idea of what love is. And you showed that perfectly. I applaud you.

[otahyoni.livejournal.com]

If Romeo and Juliet had lived, Romeo would have been on to the next lady in like a month, and Juliet would have been left to deal with the unfortunate but universal truth that most men are bastards and she should’ve married Paris. I think the true power of that story, the sickening genius irony of it, is that they die for something that wouldn’t have been worth living for. They never would have lasted, no question. They were young and stupid and impulsive, the end.

WORD. Exactly.

Also, you're brilliant and this is brilliant and I haven't read these books, but oh, Bella, honey, honestly.

Libba Bray = fabulous. I can't wait for the third book.

[starfishofelves.livejournal.com]

This post = pretty much the most amazing thing in all of ever. Just...yeah. I feel like I should make a couple of my friends read bits of it, because they're all convinced that Edward + Bella = TRUEST LOVE EVER TO TRUE and they see nothing unhealthy about how ridiculously dependent Bella is, and just how much she'd be giving up in the name of her FIRST BOYFRIEND. afkdlajdfkl. The bit about how she will never get to find out what she’ll look like at age thirty, or what it would be like to have a child with her eyes; she’ll never go to college, figure out what it’s like to live on her own is absolutely perfect. As well as the bit about Romeo and Juliet. And...all of it, really.

*bookmarks*

[denrito.livejournal.com]

It's nearly 2am and I really should be writing my paper, but I've got to bow down to you. Spoken like a genius, you covered all the arguments us Jacob/Bella fans have been trying to convince others with, and you do it with such clarity and straightforwardness that you put us all to shame, lol. That was really brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

I'd tell you to read Eclipse, just for the sake of knowing what happens, but I can assure you that everything you said in your rant still applies after the third book, which is just remarkable, honestly.

[mojotastic.livejournal.com]

So I was linked over here from anythingbutgrey's lj. And I just have to say a big thank you. OMG thank you. I thought I was taking friggin CRAZY PILLS. Everyone was spurgling over these books so I read them all this summer.

And I'll admit, I kinda love them because they are just so, SO BAD. I mean....epically bad. All the character are 2-dimensional save maybe Jacob and Rosalie and Bella is the most annoying chick ever.

But it really, really disturbs me the message that is going out to teenaged girls through Bella's insanely low self-esteem. I mean the chick tries to kill herself at least once to twice per book for her boyfriend/some guy. Bella, please. I find you deeply annoying but try, just TRY, to have some self-respect mmkay? It's just the worst message ever. I had a whole, long rant eerily similar to yours back in the summer when I orginally read them.

The books are fun and trashy and so, so amusing. The trick is to not think about what you're reading at all because if you do the message starts to scare the crap outta you. Stephenie Meyer's view of true love is almost Grey's Anatomy bad.

And besides, it’s not our anniversary! It’s my anniversary of my love for you!” “Bitch, I’m so over this. Maybe I’ll hook up with Drusilla.”)

BWHAAHAHA! That's hilarious.

[nimoko.livejournal.com]

Wow, you weren't kidding when you said it was epic. But, damn, I just about jumped out of my chair and cheered while reading this. I have never read a more eloquent rant on the pitfalls of this series.

Now if only we could get Stephanie Meyer to read this and really think about it for a moment.

Thank you for perfectly articulating everything that has been rattling around my brain since starting this series but could never quite form into words.

[loveknot.livejournal.com]

Nita=love.

I am actually going to read the series now, no kidding. I kind of want to see if I can glean any "Mormon" habits out of this and see if that's where the problem lies... I am so so so damn curious now.

Expect serious problematic rants of my own sometime soon. xDD

[prettyparadox.livejournal.com]

Hi, Elyssa linked to your post in your journal. I hope my remarks don't offend you, and I apologize if I come off as a troll. I loathe ship wars; I respect other people's pairings so long as they respect mine.

So, I was wondering since you read the Princess Diaries, are you a fan of Michael/Mia? If you are, then I don't understand why could like M/M but not Edward/Bella, because the two couples are quite similar. Michael & Edward are these two smart, cool guys; Mia & Bella are these two awkward, low self-confidence girls. Both girls can't believe that their respective guys like them. Throughout the series, Mia is constantly plagued by doubt; Bella is much the same way.

But both Michael and Edward make it clear that they wouldn't change Mia and Bella. They find their girlfriends' flaws to be endearing, and attempt to reassure them in every possible way. So Mia and Bella's perceptions that Michael and Edward are better than they are, that somehow they don't deserve such wonderful guys that are smarter, more attractive, etc., is the faulty perception of Mia and Bella themselves. Unless, it's some warped-reverse-psychology where the more Michael and Edward try to reassure Mia and Bella, the more girls doubt themselves. But there is absolutely no indication that Michael and Edward are like that. I'm curious then, as to whether you find Michael/Mia's relationship to be endearing, while Edward/Bella's is just unhealthy and unrealistic.

I actually liked Jacob better than Edward in Twilight and New Moon. Edward was too perfect - not real, as you and many J/B people point out. What can you do with a "perfect" guy anyways - just gawk at him all day? However, then I realized maybe the problem was seeing Edward through Bella's POV. Edward doesn't think of himself as some Adonis; he's actually quite self-effacing (although Bella promptly protests). I was surprised that I enjoyed the excerpt out of Midnight Sun (http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/pdf/midnightsun_chapter1.pdf) (Twilight from Edward's POV, to be published sometime). That was my first indication that Edward's a pretty cool guy. It's not like he asks Bella to bow down and kiss his feet; quite the opposite in fact.

I'm not going to say much more, because I don't want to spoil Eclipse for you. I wonder if Eclipse will change your mind about E/B and Jacob, because it certainly did with me. I'm actually a Edward/Angela (wishful thinking on my part, but Angela >>> Bella), Jacob/Leah shipper. I'm not a Bella fan; she's my least favorite character in the series. Sounds weird, but I would enjoy Twilight more if it wasn't from Bella's POV (that's why I'm more excited for Midnight Sun than Breaking Dawn).

Meyer has said that Twilight is about finding true love, New Moon is about losing true love, and Eclipse is about choosing true love. And in Eclipse...Bella makes her decision. She knows what she's giving up - her family, her friends, her future. There's actually a specific scene where she sees what she could have had with Jacob. Yes, it makes her uneasy at first - she is sacrificing a lot to be with Edward. Given this, I don't see how people also say that Bella's "taking the easy way out" - that's contradictory logic to me. But anyways, Bella chooses to sacrifice FFF (family, friends, "future") - Edward does NOT make her. I can't emphasize this enough, because it baffles me how some people actually blame Edward, as if he is coercing Bella. When in fact, Edward is against turning her. Edward does not want Bella to make a rash decision. He wants her to think her options though. It's Bella who's not interested in going to college, etc. - Edward wants Bella to have all those "human" experiences, as much as he can give her.

[prettyparadox.livejournal.com]

Grr, I actually exceeded LJ's character count. :ZZZ To wrap things up:

Finally, Twilight is just a series of books. Betty Friedan is not rolling over in her grave because Bella wants to become a vampire (actually, since this is pro-choice, why would she?). Meyer was asked in a chat if she would choose to become a vampire - and Meyer said she didn't know, that she's not as brave as Bella. Bella's making her own decisions; her choosing to become a vampire might not be one that you or I would choose for ourselves. But I'm not going to say that I know better than Bella - because that's Jacob's attitude in Eclipse that really turned me off.

/RANT. I apologize if my comment!essay!spam is unwelcome, and I hope I wasn't rude or disrespectful in my "rebuttal" of sorts.

[nekare.livejournal.com]

WORD. What scares me the most is the hordes of little fangirls saying Edward Cullen has ruined them for men and aspiring to nothing that is not Edward and Bella's relationship. I started reading the books for the LOLs, to be honest (and boy, did I lol), but by the end, I was somewhat disturbed by it.

It's bad enough that Edward is posessive, manipulating and borderlining on stalker, but what's worse is that Bella takes it all in, no questions asked, and says 'it's because he loves me! Although I'm not really sure why because I'm so ugly compared to his magnificence!' ;___; If we could only get, damn, even one scene with Bella actually standing her ground and believing herself an equal with Edward. Or hell, even if she just got how unhealthy the situation is, but as it is, the books spell it out as pefection consumated.

I alternately want to hit Bella and am scared of her and her complete contempt for life. In any case, this was perfect and summed my thoughts exactly, much more eloquently than I did in the almost running commentary (http://nekare.livejournal.com/tag/twilight)* I did as I was marathoning through the series. If you scroll, that is.

[0-cherio-0.livejournal.com]

You don't know me, but I was linked here through the sortofbeautiful community. I think you made a good point here. I guess I just don't like Bella. I like Jacob and I like Edward (although I think he's too unrealistic and it bugs me), but I don't like Bella because she has zero self-esteem and no intelligence, patience, or foresight.
Bella ruins the whole thing for me. I feel like I might like Bella/Edward better if I actually liked Bella. Right now, I don't think she deserves Edward OR Jacob because she's too annoying. She makes me want to give up YA fiction altogether.

[maraudersaffair.livejournal.com]

You have stated exactly why I had such a strange feeling after reading the series. Though, I could never put my thumb on the reason. I'm setting this in my memories to quote whenever I get in another discussion on Twilight.

Thanks a lot!