Not to be mean, but will some please explain the appeal of Twilight to me?

[SEVERUSMAX]

Because I just don't get it. Maybe I'm just not that into vampires. I don't know. Then again, I enjoyed Lost Boys a lot. So who knows? Maybe it's just too mushy for me.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Dude, there are at least three million words written on the subject--

but basically, a young girl lands an ancient and powerful sparkly man absolutely devoted unto her alone...

This is not a story meant for old codgers like us.

 

[sr71plt]

To have a chance of explaining it, I'd have to read it/watch it. I don't have any intention of doing that.

 

[D_K_Moon]

To have a chance of explaining it, I'd have to read it/watch it. I don't have any intention of doing that.

I'll second that!

 

[tolyk]

To have a chance of explaining it, I'd have to read it/watch it. I don't have any intention of doing that.

I concur

 

[Liar]

Because I just don't get it. Maybe I'm just not that into vampires. I don't know. Then again, I enjoyed Lost Boys a lot. So who knows? Maybe it's just too mushy for me.

It has nothing to do with vampires. It's an emo-romantic tween version of Harlequin novels.

The main character diffusely desribed as Every Girl. I.e the reader. Or actually a slightly more Awesome version of the reader, in which the reader can identífy and feel awesome too. Every Girl bags Emo Super Hunk early on, so that the reader feel that hey, they could bag a Emo Super Hunk too. And then Emo Super Hunk turns into Troubled Emo Super Hunk with Dark Secret, and only Every Girl's love and heroism can save the day.

In later installments, another Super Hunk, this time a Macho Super Hunk shows up and falls for Every Girl (i.e the reader), and the two Super Hunks duke it out over her.

Sounds like every teenage girl's wet dream, does it not?

 

[sr71plt]

It has nothing to do with vampires. It's an emo-romantic tween version of Harlequin novels.

The main character diffusely desribed as Every Girl. I.e the reader. Or actually a slightly more Awesome version of the reader, in which the reader can identífy and feel awesome too. Every Girl bags Emo Super Hunk early on, so that the reader feel that hey, they could bag a Emo Super Hunk too. And then Emo Super Hunk turns into Troubled Emo Super Hunk with Dark Secret, and only Every Girl's love and heroism can save the day.

In later installments, another Super Hunk, this time a Macho Super Hunk shows up and falls for Every Girl (i.e the reader), and the two Super Hunks duke it out over her.

Sounds like every teenage girl's wet dream, does it not?

Is the translation for that "every girl's looking for a bad boy"?

 

[Handley_Page]

Dude, there are at least three million words written on the subject--

but basically, a young girl lands an ancient and powerful sparkly man absolutely devoted unto her alone...

This is not a story meant for old codgers like us.

Bald, greying and aged I might be, but I'm no 'old codger' and I cannot see you as one either. (Hi, Stella ]

 

[Austin8]

It has nothing to do with vampires. It's an emo-romantic tween version of Harlequin novels.

The main character diffusely desribed as Every Girl. I.e the reader. Or actually a slightly more Awesome version of the reader, in which the reader can identífy and feel awesome too. Every Girl bags Emo Super Hunk early on, so that the reader feel that hey, they could bag a Emo Super Hunk too. And then Emo Super Hunk turns into Troubled Emo Super Hunk with Dark Secret, and only Every Girl's love and heroism can save the day.

In later installments, another Super Hunk, this time a Macho Super Hunk shows up and falls for Every Girl (i.e the reader), and the two Super Hunks duke it out over her.

Sounds like every teenage girl's wet dream, does it not?

Ive often wondered the same thing as the OP, Good job on clearing that up Liar. Ive never seen the movies, but knowing the characters. paired with your explanation, I now know.

 

[Boota]

My wife read the books, mainly to see what the fuss was about. She got past the HORRIBLE writing and kind of enjoyed the story, even as predictable as she said it was. I made it two pages. I cannot believe those two pages made it past ANY professional editor.

But what do I know, she's a gajillionaire and I'm getting ready to go to my day job.

 

[jomar]

Liar nailed it save to say the template simply takes advantage of the trendy vampire/werewolf thing.

And I've heard the writing is bad.

I watched the first two installments. The first wasn't abominable. The second made me laugh - it was brooding and angsty and nothing much happened, but! The werewolves were bro's and ran around shirtless!

Ahh, youth...

Think I'll tune in to The Gates on TV - looks to be a mash of otherworldly beings living in a gated community, might be fun.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

BOOTA its like this: Life makes shitwits rich; the rest of us get a $100 bill laid on the dresser as life walks out the door.

 

[bronzeage]

Is the translation for that "every girl's looking for a bad boy"?

In every bad boy is a man who just needs the love of a good woman. There is nothing wrong when this is an adolescent girl's fantasy, but too many buy into it, or just use it to keep a woman around until she discovers her man is just a boy and always will be.

The basic theme of the Twilight series is "Why are boys so mean?" The novels offer alternatives to the obvious explanations.

 

[mynameisben]

It's twaddle wrapped in Emo black and Hollywood glitter. If you're not a hormonal gushing teenage girl who's just outgrown My Little Pony or a brain dead bandwagoneer with money to flush, your time is better spent taking pot shots at a film you will never, ever see. Just like me.

 

[sweetnsassy1]

Because I just don't get it. Maybe I'm just not that into vampires. I don't know. Then again, I enjoyed Lost Boys a lot. So who knows? Maybe it's just too mushy for me.

The books were originally set out to be for a teenage female audience. In my opinion the phenomenon began with mothers wanting to know just what their teenage daughters were reading. Which resulted in the rollercoasting of praise from both teens and adults.

I've read all 4 books, and yes I found myself drawn into the world that the author created. Stephanie Meyer paired Bella and Edward as soulmates, which is something every young girl (and some adults) can only dream of. Jacob enters the picture as the first real friend Bella acquires in a new town. The fact that Edward is a vampire and Jacob a werewolf, just brings an age old feud into the modern day dilema that every teenage girl wishes, two sexy boys fighting over her.

An alliance between the two occurs in the third book/movie and continues throughout the rest of the story. I won't divulge any little secrets to those who are interested in the movies and haven't read the books.

I have also seen the first two movies, haven't made it to see the third yet, but I plan on it. I also think that the books are far better than the movies.

 

[ShyChiWriter]

The bottom line is - Stephanie Meyer has a gift. That gift is a way of retelling the timeless Romeo/Juliet tale of forbidden love in a way that appeals to an amazingly narrow demographic (but a demographic that has money to spend). Whether that gift means good writing doesn't seem to make much difference.

I saw the first two movies and was pleasantly surprised (especially with the first one). I think part of that is I went in with expectations at about a 5 out of 100. Since it delivered at around a 25, my expectations were exceeded.

The wild thing is the way the money is spent on these movies. Box office records the day that they open, and by two weeks in they've fallen off the map.

It reminds me of the discovery they had with Star Trek. After the first movie, they realized that the Star Trek fan base was amazingly loyal. They would show up, regardless of the reviews or early word-of-mouth. That's why so many Star Trek movies have been made. They already know they are covering their nut with the base fans, if the movie is really good as well, it's gravy.

 

[driphoney]

Dude, there are at least three million words written on the subject--

but basically, a young girl lands an ancient and powerful sparkly man absolutely devoted unto her alone...

This is not a story meant for old codgers like us.

Okay, so I went to a viewing party for the first movie the day it hit the stores. I was in desperate need of a girl's night out. Most of the others were a neighborhood book club group. Three of us had not read the book and spent the movie looking at each other in confusion as we watched the others swoon, stop and rewind the "good" parts and explain the subtle nuances we were missing. It was amazing. I felt like I'd been zapped back to junior high.

Only my full wine glass kept me grounded. Junior high girls don't sip chard yet, do they?

As for the original question, I'll explain it to you just as soon as I figure it out!

 

[3113]

Pretty simple actually

Because I just don't get it. Maybe I'm just not that into vampires. I don't know. Then again, I enjoyed Lost Boys a lot. So who knows? Maybe it's just too mushy for me.

Think of it like Porn and you'll understand.

In porn terms this is the fantasy where the two sexiest, bustiest, sluttiest girls in town go after the not-so-handsome main character (the reader's alter-ego), telling him that no other man can compare to him, he's special, he's unique, and only he can satisfy them. They get into a nice naked mud/hot oil fights over him, and they beg him to be theirs and theirs alone.

What that scenario is to men, Twilight is to teen girls. The fantasy is the same--and among the most popular fantasy out there for men or women of any age. It's the quintessential fairy tale: unbeknownst to your family and friends, you are the most special person in the universe, and the sexiest, most desirable people and uniquely special people out there will recognize this. They will make you the center of attention, their king/queen/god/goddess. They will worship you. You will be the center of their universe because you are so incredibly special.

And you don't have to do a thing to get all this. Pretty simple actually.

 

[MagicaPractica]

As a former high school librarian who has read a LOT of young adult literature, including these books, I think they are good writing for what they are. They were intended to appeal to a teen audience, they are not great literature. As I've always said, and will continue to say, anything that gets a teen reading again after the drop off of the middle grade years, is a great thing. Book tends to lead on to book if interesting stories are made available for kids. The elements that make it interesting to teen girls have already been addressed here. There's a reason she's making money. I just wish I could do the same. I'd be ecstatic to make a living writing for middle graders and teens.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Bald, greying and aged I might be, but I'm no 'old codger' and I cannot see you as one either. (Hi, Stella ]

"Old Codger" in this sense means any adult, at least from the Twilight fans' perspective.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Women (and girls especially) like their sex disguised and padded. Vampires and vampirism have been socially acceptable stand-ins for sex and fucking ever since Bram Stoker, and women who would never entertain the thought of being sexually conquered and subjugated by a powerful male have no trouble swooning over a vampire fantasy.

Because its not about sex, is it? It's about penetrating people and making them bleed, sucking up their life fluids and making them fall ecstatically under your spell. And furthermore, these men are evil and force women to submit by supernatural powers, thereby absolving their victims of any guilt or taint of impurity. It's all a perfect sexual fantasy, safely wrapped up and padded in the same pubertic fear and morbidity that gives rise to adolescent Goth angst. It's D/s for people who would never admit any interest in D/s.

Vampires are the sexual symbols par excellance for our culture.

They had a harder time sexuallizing werewolves, but werewolves have conveniently morphed into the perfect symbolic expression of male sexuality and the way men turn into beasts when even a whiff of pussy is nigh.

For girls crossing the border from innocence to sexuality, both legends provide a wonderful way of exploring and experimenting with weird and bewildering feelings. Vampires have been number 1 on the female erotic hit parade for at least 10 years now, and it was only a matter of time before someone applied the genre to the world of adolescent sexuality. It's a perfect fit.

 

[mynameisben]

Having never once been an adolescent girl, the genre does nothing for me. It's like a yak in a prom dress.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Dude, there are at least three million words written on the subject--

but basically, a young girl lands an ancient and powerful sparkly man absolutely devoted unto her alone...

This is not a story meant for old codgers like us.

So it's a 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' remake?!?!

...and this is how it should end.

 

[Pure]

sev, to me the appeal of the first part is its pure romance; the only thing a little unusual in this instance is that edward is more fatherly than most male protagonists; he watches and protects his love, and the girl's dad is impotent and out of the loop. her mom more the latter. at the end of the first book, there has been barely a kiss, i.e. it's pure idealized romance for the early teen reader.

my niece told me of the later parts, e.g. pregnancy and birth, and i'd say it's the dangerous fascination of a young woman. the birth is traumatic and bloody, and i think it must tune in with some primal fears that a baby, in emerging or being delivered, is going to tear you apart.

 

[CharleyH]

It has nothing to do with vampires. It's an emo-romantic tween version of Harlequin novels.

The main character diffusely desribed as Every Girl. I.e the reader. Or actually a slightly more Awesome version of the reader, in which the reader can identífy and feel awesome too. Every Girl bags Emo Super Hunk early on, so that the reader feel that hey, they could bag a Emo Super Hunk too. And then Emo Super Hunk turns into Troubled Emo Super Hunk with Dark Secret, and only Every Girl's love and heroism can save the day.

In later installments, another Super Hunk, this time a Macho Super Hunk shows up and falls for Every Girl (i.e the reader), and the two Super Hunks duke it out over her.

Sounds like every teenage girl's wet dream, does it not?

I have watched these awful stories for two instalments, now. I've heard this third is better than the rest, but I'm not convinced. Watching Nicholas Cage in the totally useless 'Bad Lieutenant - Port of call New Orleans' today, I did lean over to Lauren and articulate, "are you sure you don't want to sneak into Twilight, honey?" That movie was painful, believe me.

I think you have it down pat, Liar, but for one thing in the new instalment of Twilight. I've read somewhere that "You get the sense that Jacob and Edward would have preferred enacting their fave moments from "Brokeback Mountain" if only Bella had been shacked up elsewhere. But she isn't..."