Defending Twilight

I will unashamedly admit that I am Twilight fangirl. I have read all of the books (including the Midnight Sun excerpt on Stephenie Meyer's website) over and over until the spines began to fall apart, giving me the excuse to buy a second set. Yes. I have two sets. Plus the audiobooks and eBooks. Don't judge me.

I have gone to all the midnight premiers of the movies, and purchased all the DVDs. And every time one of the movies comes on TV, my husband groans because he knows we are going to watch it (for the eleventy billionth time). I even have all the movie soundtracks and scores. I say all this because I am confessing to you right up front that I love me some Edward Cullen, and I will shout it from the roof tops while waving my Team Edward shirt.

So many people bash Twilight these days. That's to be expected, because most things that go as viral as Twilight will always have haters. I've even heard a few people say that they used to like Twilight, but started to hate it when the pandemic began. But the question is, why do so many people hate it? Is it the "impossible" forever love? Is it Edward himself for not being "manly"? Or is it Bella, because she gives herself completely to Edward without regard for her future? Some people just don't like vampires, or they don't like Mrs. Meyers' version of vampires, or a myriad of other reasons. But I am not here to argue with the people who don't like it.

I admire the Twilight series mainly because of Edward Cullen. Every person in the world wants someone to love them whole heartedly. Not to say that my husband doesn't love the way I want him to, because he is my Edward-- but he is still a human man. He loves football. He loves to fish. And his brain is solely connected to a certain other part of his body, like every other man on this planet. Seriously, though. I love my hubby more than anyone in the world.

But I'm in love with Edward Cullen too. And Harry Potter, and Mr. Darcy, and Noah Dawson (the male protag of my novel). I think it's okay to be in love with fictional men, even if you have a real-life man of your own. Or EVEN if he's a hot mannequin, like the one that chick from the Axe commercials falls for.

                                 

Because that's what fictional men ARE FOR. They're there to keep you company when the hubby/boyfriend is away on a trip. They're there to comfort you when you and the hubby/boyfriend have a fight. They're there to make you swoon when you have no hubby/boyfriend, and ya need a little romance in yer brain. Sure, these fictional men are usually already taken by the female protagonist (Darn you, Bella Swan!!), but THAT'S THE JOY OF READING. You get to pretend to be somebody else for a few hours a day.

Okay, this post has taken a weird turn. I digress.

So many people bash Stephenie Meyer for her writing, for her morals, and countless other things, but all I see is a good love story and man who makes me sigh with swooniness. (See? He causes me to make up words.) In Stephenie Meyer, I see a woman who helped pave the way for me as a writer.

Before I started college, I used to devour every book I could get my hands on. But when the homework started piling up, I no longer had time to read or write. I found myself going into a reading hiatus, choosing mindless television shows in my free time instead. When my best friend suggested Twilight to me, at first, I was like, "Vampires? No, thanks." But she kept insisting that I would love it, so I bought it at CVS one day. I then read all four books in three days.

After finishing the series, I thought, "Hmmm... I miss reading. I miss writing. I want to write something like this." And so I immediately started writing the very-different-from-what-it-is-now first draft of my novel. I'd always wanted to write a novel, but I'd never actually pursued the idea until I read Twilight. (My novel doesn't have any vampires though, just in case you were wondering)

Also, while I was on a Twilight fansite one afternoon, an ad on the left side of the screen suggested that I  should read the book, Shiver. It sounded interesting, so I bought the book, and delightfully discovered the WONDERFUL Maggie Stiefvater. Her prose, carefully crafted sentences, and characters are... I have no words. "Perfect," might come close. She is now my favorite author, and the author I aspire to be like someday (in her classy & helpful blog posts and writing alike). And I may never have read Shiver, had I not been on that Twilight fansite.

And so many bands have been brought to my attention through the Twilight movie soundtracks. Inspiration through music is a big part of my writing process, and without Bon Iver, Sia, Sleeping At Last, and many others, some of the scenes in my novel would NOT be the same as they are now, had I not found these artists through their brilliant work on the soundtracks. (Come on, even if you aren't a fan of the movies, you HAVE to admit that the music is awesome on every single one).

So to bring this LONG post to a close, I think you should never, ever pass on reading/listening/watching something just because it's "popular," or because you heard that someone else hated it. There are so many things I would have missed out on in my life had I never picked up Twilight at CVS Pharmacy that day. I might not have even written a novel, and would still be bouncing around trying to pick a major in college and trying to figure out what the heck I wanted to do with my life.

So with this in mind, I am off to work on revisions for my novel (so that maybe one day someone will be buying MY book in CVS because their friend made them) :-)