If, for whatever reason, you’ve been under a rock for the past couple of years (or have just been downright lucky not to have been exposed to the worst novel ever written), the Twilight series is a story about a teenage girl, Isabella, who goes to live with her inattentive father in Washington state and her classmate, Edward, who also happens to be a vampire. The story chronicles the relationship of the two—which is very dysfunctional and will be discussed in more detail later—and the struggle Bella goes through as her life becomes increasingly endangered when she falls in love with Edward.
I have decided to provide you with a few key reasons why I absolutely cannot stand this series, and why it has become increasingly hard for me to stay remotely calm when hearing about it.
Stephanie Meyer is a bad writer. Like, really bad. There are so many examples I could include regarding the general lack of quality about this book (like, I don’t know… the flawless characters, overwhelming use of clichés, repetitive plot structure, etc.) but I don’t have enough space. As I humbly admitted earlier, I’m not a literary genius. I do, however, know the tenants of creative writing and the dos and don’ts that go along with it. For example, every English teacher I’ve ever had explained to me that good writing is simple. It is unnecessary to add adjectives unless they do something to enhance the text or explain something otherwise not obvious to the reader. Stephanie Meyer thinks she is exempt from this concept, or something, because it is insane how much she loads her dialogue with adjectives that have no effect. I give you: He lay perfectly still in the grass, his shirt open over his sculpted, incandescent chest, his scintillating arms bare. Aside from making me literally laugh out loud because, well, it’s hilarious… this sentence violates the aforementioned guidelines for writing. Idiot.
The book has no substance. When it comes to the plot, there isn’t one. It’s shallow and nothing happens. At least, that is, until three-fourths of the way through the book. Quite literally, the first three-fourths of the book are spent unnecessarily introducing the static, boring characters and their inexplicable love for each other. There is absolutely no balance between rising action and falling action, because the climax occurs at the very end of the book and the conflict is resolved with no difficulty whatsoever. It goes as follows: Bella moves to Forks. She falls in love with Edward, (insert 400 pages of mush), and then Oops, I forgot a plot! Oh, I know what I’ll do… I’ll introduce scary vampires! Yeah, that’ll do. Perfect.
The entire premise is just disturbing. Edward is a creepy, emotionally unstable, obsessive stalker—yet Bella is ‘unconditionally and irrevocably in love’ with him, as are millions of oblivious teenage girls who wouldn’t know good literature if it bit them. Edward’s behavior is manipulative, predator-like and borderline abusive. Why anyone would want to be wooed by this creep is beyond me. He watches her while she sleeps, encourages her to lie, holds her against her will, eavesdrops on her conversations, etc. And yet- he is the perfect boyfriend. Why? Because he’s physically ideal in every way with no imperfections or limitations… duh. Also, Bella smells like food to Edward. I’m pretty sure that engaging in a romantic relationship with someone who makes you salivate is considered mentally unstable and would likely be reported as a disorder in the DSM.
I think what upsets me the most about this whole thing is the fact that we’re encouraging young girls to look up to the worst role model ever. Throughout the book and series, Bella becomes increasingly dependent on Edward. She willingly gives up her entire life just so that she can be with him and forgoes any life plans or ambitions because she can't function in his absence. Not only is this unrealistic, but what is this teaching girls? You need a man in your life. You can’t function without one. In the event of heartbreak, jump off of a cliff. This is going to be the first message I teach my daughter—what about you?
I would have thought that in this day and age (it’s 2009, folks… nearly 50 years post women’s movement) that girls would be reading novels about independent, strong, assertive female characters. But rather, they are idolizing a weak, submissive girl who has no confidence or self-worth. This is so primitive it makes me want to bang my head against the wall.
Perhaps the most disturbing element about this series, though, is its overwhelming popularity. Not only overwhelming, but unmerited and infuriating popularity. I hate walking in to Barnes and Nobel and seeing the displays filled with this garbage. It makes me weep and weep for those talented, aspiring authors whose work is now pushed to the back of the store, unnoticed, to collect dust while readers enjoy what those of us in academia refer to as soft vampire porn. Although—in some ways, this should be inspiring for these authors, who understand that if this bimbo can make it to the top, so can they. I’ve never experience a fanbase that is so blinded by the series they worship and who are so demeaning and rude toward those who dare to disagree with them or say that Twilight isn’t very good.
Stephanie Meyer is a conservative Mormon who thinks she’s high and mighty for promoting abstinence and purity. She’s not. She also promotes the notion that all women should want to cook, clean and stay at home, all the while being dutifully submissive to their husbands and answering their every whim. Please don’t misconstrue this point. There is absolutely nothing wrong with stay-at-home Moms. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to care for your family (heck, I myself can’t wait to do this!), but it becomes unhealthy when girls are taught that this is their only route and they must forsake their independence, self-worth and ambitions in order to be loved.
Twilight is not a literary masterpiece. It irks me that people have the audacity to compare Twilight to JK Rowling's Harry Potter, a true classic of the time. People will not be reading Twilight in 200 years. It's going to fade away, just other cultish fads. I literally got teary eyed thinking about how the characters in Harry Potter are known for traits like courage, loyalty and love while characters in Twilight are caught up with appearance and lust.
In conclusion, I hope I haven't offended anyone with my evaluation. I just don't like the message young readers are left with. I think it's sad and unfortunate that the message ingrained into the brains of young readers is the image of a girl who gets everything she wants by throwing away everything that really matters in life. To me, this is more frightening than any vampire.
