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Twilight (Sorry for cursing)
NeverQuiteGoth:
--- Quote from: scarred on 03 Dec 2009, 13:42 ---I guess if the books were written even half-competently I wouldn't have half the beef with them I do now. It's the combined frustration with poor storytelling and distaste of rabid, obsessive fandom that really irks me.
--- End quote ---
This.
Twilight, to me, is pretty much the ultimate example of poor execution of an idea. (Though the Eragon movie comes in a close second. No, wait, that was worse...)
The thing that bugs me more than anything else, is that the book, "The Host", proves that Stephenie Meyer can actually write a good story. The Host is vastly far and above Twilight in every single way, yet most people, even a lot of Twilight fangirls, haven't even heard of it. And the premise for Twilight, while not by any stretch, genius, isn't really as stupid as people make it out to be. There are a lot of interesting elements and ideas in there that, in the right hands, could have made for a very interesting narrative.
So, why does the quadrilogy suck so much then?
Well, obviously, its very badly written. That's the most glaring flaw, but like it or not, her stunted prose is very, VERY easy to read. I wonder if this was accidental or actually done intentionally. SOMETHING has made these book spread through the tween and teenage population like wildfire, and the ease with which kids can actually get through the books probably has something to do with that.
Something else that only became apparent to me after I read The Host, and the released partial manuscript for Midnight Sun, is that in the Quadrilogy, Bella's point of view is very, very twisted, but this bizzare point of view was so poorly executed, that it brought the whole story down because it could only be seen through Bella's eyes. After reading Midnight Sun, it's clear that Meyer had a very clear picture of Bella as a character, and she is by no means meant to be a role-model, or even remotely sane or ordinary. Bella is more of a freak than Edward.
In my opinion, Twilight would have been a very, very different story if it had been written in the third-person, rather than from bella's perspective. Or even from any of the other character's perspectives. But it wasn't, so I guess we'll never know.
scarred:
I wouldn't discount anything yet. I mean, I love Harry Potter, but I blanched when I heard Rowling discussing a "Potter-Encyclopedia" or an Albus Severus spinoff. She hasn't done anything yet (barring the "Dumbledore's gay!" thing), and while I suspect this is largely due to the fact that there are still 2* more movies coming out, I can't help but think fondly of her rags-to-riches story and seemingly ferocious intelligence. I don't think Stephenie Meyer would be as dignified in letting her series rest, not to mention the fact that any Twilight fan I know would jump at the chance to read another book, even if it's simply the same story told from a different perspective (it worked for Orson Scott Card with Ender's Shadow).
*Book 7 is being divided into 2 films, remember.
Alex C:
--- Quote from: NeverQuiteGoth on 03 Dec 2009, 17:20 --- Bella is more of a freak than Edward.
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It can certainly be interpreted that way, but I wouldn't go so far as to ascribe that to author's intent. Meyer's interactions with Twilight fan community never seem to encourage anything but taking the book at face value; she comes across as the sort of fanfic writer that specializes in Mary Sues. She's referred to Bella being more mature than she was a that age, which is somewhat worrying. If she's at all worried that some people might see Bella as a role model, she sure isn't showing it, what with all the prancing around in a reproduction of Bella's prom dress.
Border Reiver:
--- Quote from: a pack of wolves on 02 Dec 2009, 02:56 ---That's rather different though, since that aspect of the books isn't practical to emulate. Even if you did decide to be like Poirot people are unlikely to start mysteriously dying every time you go on holiday and attempts to involve yourself in any cases that do arise will be quashed due to your unfortunate lack of an international reputation as a Belgian super-sleuth with a superb moustache.
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I can grow the 'stache - but my wife will get right tee'd off if everytime we get to go on vacation someone had to die and I have to solve the crime.
I've seen the first movie - my neice was visiting and she absolutely had to see it. My biggest objection to it was the completely horrible acting and the overemphasis on the sexual element of vampires while ignoring the whole "embodiment of the fear of death" thing...While I can often turn my brain off in certain movies and say "Entertain me!" this movie had enough jarring elements for me to be unable to do so.
Eris:
--- Quote from: NeverQuiteGoth on 03 Dec 2009, 17:20 ---The thing that bugs me more than anything else, is that the book, "The Host", proves that Stephenie Meyer can actually write a good story. The Host is vastly far and above Twilight in every single way
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The Host is slightly better written, but is still not a good book. I agree that the ideas in both Twilight and The Host are good ideas (albeit fairly cliched and overdone already), but The Host is full of bizarre damaging ideas as Twilight. TVTropes is good to read when looking at the different themes in those books (and many others, I might add)
I read a Twilight fanfiction where Bella was being abused by her father after she moves home because she reminds him so much of her mother, and she blames her "clumsiness" for all the bruising she has. Edward notices this and smells the burst blood vessels from her bruising or something, and he, uh, tries to get her to confront Charlie or something? it was a while ago and the fic wasn't complete when I read it. Anyway, I thought that was a much better way of doing the story, because it gave Bella an actual character and proper problems rather than her "OMG I am sooo clumsy and like, wish Edward would look at me" shit. It is things like that which make me defend fanfitcion. Whilst wading through the myriad of "Bella is a Nerd and Edward is the Jock Playa" fics there are some gems which actually are interesting. There are also the really terribly written fics that make no sense at all which are hilarious by themselves.
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