Fun article about Twilight

I've been bored for at least a year with all the animosity directed at Twilight. It's so repetitive and it pops up in the weirdest places. I could be reading an article about a serial killer in Botswana and someone in the comments will say "I'd rather be killed by him than have to read Twilight." Seriously, I once went a week where I couldn't read a single blog post or article anywhere that didn't bash Twilight either in the story or in the comments. The subject matter had nothing to do with it. I find it extremely interesting that the Harry Potter books, which I've never liked and was unable to finish, garnered tremendous respect despite their lack of decent female characters because they "Got kids reading again" why Twilight, which is selling just as well or better, gets so much contempt. Better not to read than to read something written by a gasp Mormon? Also weirdly Ms. Meyer gets tons of shit for being "fat", despite personal appearance having nothing to do with writing.

Anyway, I was somewhat trepidatious about this article in WaPo called 'Twilight,' the love that dare not speak its shame but ended really enjoying the story. This part in particular really hits home:

this description is utterly, utterly useless because none of it gets at what the "Twilight" series is actually about, which is being 17.

It's a time capsule to the breathless period when the world could literally end depending on whether your lab partner touched your hand, when every conversation was so agonizing and so thrilling (and the border between the two emotions was so thin), and your heart was bigger and more delicate than it is now, and everything was just so much more.

She nails it right there and I think that explains one of the reasons why the books get so much crap; because they are so emotional. Some people don't want to be reminded that they were so passionate when they were younger, either because they miss those feelings and feel locked away from their emotions, or because looking back they're embarrassed at how strongly they felt.

As I've said in other venues I think one reason Bella is so popular is because her readers can feel superior to her when they're having a tough time. Maybe you flunked your algebra class, or got in trouble with your boss or caught your boyfriend with your supposed best friend but by God you're not lying in the forest in a catatonic state. Go you!

Most of all though, they're just a fun read, despite Renesmee's awful name.