Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Elise on October 31, 2010 at 7:26am

I am not usually the kind of a person who reads stuff like this... I am one of those boring scholarly people who usually reads literature or philosophy. My boyfriend and his mother usually roll their eyes whenever we go to the movies together because I never watch action movies. I like my stories to have a depth to them. So the fact that I could ever like Twilight is an aberration that is sending my family into incomprehensible shock. I think they actually like it; they like the idea that I could like something they consider a silly puffed up poorly written romance novel... Idiots.

My obsession started when I saw Eclipse in the movie theaters. The end of the movie, when Bella said "This was not a choice between you and Jacob, its a choice between who I should be and who I am" I was moved. I realized that most people I know including myself rarely have been brave enough to take on that challenge. I also liked the love triangle in Eclipse, I liked that the movie was not making a decision for us, that we were presented with two good positive characters who both made sense for Bella, and her feelings were conflicted between the two of them. I have frequently been in that situation and its no picnic, I sympathized with her choice, I understood her suffering at loosing Jacob and unwillingness to give him up.

But when I read the books I found so much more in them that I liked.

I am so glad I found this forum because I think I need to talk to people, adults, who share my new obsession. Twilight stories are not empty and meaningless, and they are not just sending a message for our teenage daughters to wait for marriage, what a shallow analogy! Modern romantic stories are full of men who have these flaws. Enters a perfect female character who we know can look beyond these flaws and love him anyway, because we women are such creatures. For a while it seems as if the flaws have disappeared. Then the very flaws that we thought were gone suddenly re-emerge during the climax of the story, and usually make the man act boorish, disrespectful, treacherous, mean, callous, or whorish. Then the female lead, because we women are naturally so maternal and forgiving, forgives him.
Twilight stories tell our daughters - and us - that a man who is worthy of us would not act boorish, or disrespectful, that he wouldn't leave us to "sow his oats" to return later regretful, that he wouldn't treat us with disrespect, or use the excuse of our feelings for him (when we are 18) to stick his tongue down our throats, he will not forget to open the door for us or treat us like property. It tells us that if a man has flaws, those are here to stay and if we decide to stay with him, we will have to deal with the repercussion of those flaws. But, mostly, it tells us to hold out for the right man, the man who is worthy of us. I find too many of us who never do. People keep saying how the books are anti-feminist, but they are the very opposite, that's probably why so many women subconsciously flock to the stories. The books are about NOT SETTLING DOWN. They are about HOLDING ON for the right guy, the REAL right guy. Yes, I am 33 and a dreamer still. :-) Love to hear if anyone agrees with me.

Permalink Reply by DaveK on November 5, 2010 at 4:34am

Totally agree Elise - I left most of my feelings over in "What touched you most" but to recap slightly ... Twilight is not really about vampires or shapeshifters but about true love and as Wesley once said "nothing can stop true love, Buttercup ... not even death"

I am a thousand times grateful to my niece Anna who got me started, actually without even knowing it .. and now, she probably feels like "Enough, Uncle Dave, okay ?!?" for now I'm buying her the movies and forever wanting to "talk" about Twilight. Now, at nearly 18, & a senior in H.S. she certainly has other things to occupy her time ... but I'm stuck in a place where there is no time - only Bella & Edward ... for all eternity ... and yes, loving every minute of it.

Breaking Dawn, Part 1 will be my pinnacle for the Saga : with the marriage, Jake's "reveal" to Charlie, the birth and Rose & Jake's alliance against those who would seek to do harm to Bella, ending her pregnancy - even Edward struggles with how to protect her. The guy is definitely, so much more soulful than many so-called humans.

And as HAL remarked to Dr. Chandra ... Will I dream ? - "I don't know" is definitely, the wrong answer. For without our dreams, who are we, really ?!

I dream for Midnight Sun, for more Cullens, for more Twilight !

Permalink Reply by Elise on November 5, 2010 at 6:08am

You are a fan of "Princess Bride." We should get married, I just found my soul-mate! :-) I am probably a little more gory then most Twilight fans, I like horror movies and such things, so I am actually looking forward to the birthing scene. I think it would give the actors so much opportunity to shine, with the conflicting feelings about Bella, about the baby, Jakes' reaction to her death. I cant wait to see his interpretation of imprinting.
DaveK said:

Totally agree Elise - I left most of my feelings over in "What touched you most" but to recap slightly ... Twilight is not really about vampires or shapeshifters but about true love and as Wesley once said "nothing can stop true love, Buttercup ... not even death"

I am a thousand times grateful to my niece Anna who got me started, actually without even knowing it .. and now, she probably feels like "Enough, Uncle Dave, okay ?!?" for now I'm buying her the movies and forever wanting to "talk" about Twilight. Now, at nearly 18, & a senior in H.S. she certainly has other things to occupy her time ... but I'm stuck in a place where there is no time - only Bella & Edward ... for all eternity ... and yes, loving every minute of it.

Breaking Dawn, Part 1 will be my pinnacle for the Saga : with the marriage, Jake's "reveal" to Charlie, the birth and Rose & Jake's alliance against those who would seek to do harm to Bella, ending her pregnancy - even Edward struggles with how to protect her. The guy is definitely, so much more soulful than many so-called humans.

And as HAL remarked to Dr. Chandra ... Will I dream ? - "I don't know" is definitely, the wrong answer. For without our dreams, who are we, really ?!

I dream for Midnight Sun, for more Cullens, for more Twilight !

Permalink Reply by Elise on November 5, 2010 at 6:14am

I found a complete Eclipse copy in real player format, I have it on my laptop. I'd offer to send it to you, but by now you can probably just buy a DVD with perfect quality and watch it on the tv, not the computer. Let me know if you want it, I can probably E-mail it to you.
Gina Love said:

No one ever mentioned to me that I should read the Twilight Saga or see the movies. When Twilight came out I was going through a traumatic time in my life so I did not even give it much thought. This past April I was hearing about Eclipse and the big deal people were making so I decided to give them a try. But I wanted to read the books first. I put Twilight and New Moon on my Netflix queue and borrowed Twilight book from the library I had read half the book and was hooked. I went and bought the first 3 books in paperback ( I only buy books in paperback) and the 2 movies that same day borrowed Breaking Dawn from library and read the books in a week (while working full time and being a single mom to a 3 year old). As soon as I finished Breaking Dawn I started all over again reading Twilight.and taking slower to read them in 2 weeks. I am eagerly awaiting Breaking Dawn coming out in paperback in a few weeks and I know I will be reading the Saga over and over again frequently since I don't have to borrow them. I have a bunch of books I am wanting to read but all I can think about is reading the Twilight Saga again. I was half way through New Moon when I watch Twilight and New Moon I have watched them too many times to count now. Saw the midnight show of Eclipse. Have seen it 2 times now and plan on going to see it a couple more while its still in theaters ( and probably going to buy a bootleg copy also until it comes out on DVD legally).

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