Thursday, July 1, 2010

Twilight

Let me first say this. I am all about pop culture. I enjoy seeing what people are into, the current "it" thing of the day. The thing I seem to have noticed more and more is that the line between what is popular with pre-teens and teens, and what is popular with adults, is blurred. I really first noticed it with the Harry Potter phenomenon, so much so that I read the books, and now I am a huge fan. Is it a bad thing? I don't think so. The books are well written, and tell a really good story. I think anyone can identify with the stresses of growing up that the HP kids go through, because they have been there themselves. I think that JK Rowling has created a world that transcends age and gender. Her stories can very easily fit in alongside J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Tad Williams, and many others. And the movies can fit in alongside Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and the Lord of the Rings. But it is the current fascination that I am not getting at all. Twilight.
Before you jump on me and say I have never read the books or seen the movie, you are wrong. I have read and seen the first book and movie. And I was not impressed. Much like The Golden Compass before it, I read the first book with some excitement. I had heard great things, and I expected to see great things. What I got in both situations were books that were poorly written, and story lines with huge plot holes. I know they are not supposed to be great works of literature, like the classics we are taught about, but my goodness I found both appalling. Especially Twilight.
Now I know so many of you ladies out there are just enthralled with them, and that is fine. The funny thing to me is I know MORE women above the age of 25 who are enthralled with these books and movies than I do those under 25. This is where I get baffled. These books are written for teenage girls. Yet the majority of fans, from my view, seem to be adult women. And that is totally fine. If you want to watch the kid from Shark Boy and Lave Girl in 3D, or Cedric Diggory, be my guest. But when I laugh at you about it, now you will know why.

Cheers

2 comments:

  1. Hey, Allen, I'm an over 25 woman, and I mostly agree.
    I read and enjoyed all the books. They were fast, pleasant, sometimes amusing reads. I sort of think of them as the book version of television- entertaining escapes that require nothing of the consumer.
    The movies, on the other hand, were bad enough to be laughable. I enjoyed the two movies I saw in the same way I enjoyed any B-movie. I will likely watch the third one from Netflix later.
    Looking forward to checking out your blog.
    Come visit mine:
    http://shakeragsusan.blogspot.com/

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  2. The "Twilight Moms" phenomenon puzzles me as well. I find it particularly disconcerting because I'm in that age demographic and it's everso creepy. I'm not down with the idea that moms and daughters are giggling and mooning over the same characters/actors. Did I miss the mind-altering Kool-Aid the day they distributed it to us in mid-Eighties high school???

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