Anti-Twilight

Spoiler alert: This is going to be a long rant. I'd apologize, but I don't want anyone else to waste time or money on this ridiculousness.

An avid bibliophile almost since before I could talk, I'm always on the lookout for new books with which to spend a few hours. Our overflowing bookshelves contain everything from historical non-fiction to soapy beach reads and everything in between. Basically, I'm willing to try anything, including young adult fiction. It's more than possible for talented authors to craft multifaceted stories that transcend genres and appeal to readers of all ages (J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis, and Philip Pullman have all managed it, people).

I was intrigued by all the press surrounding the Twilight series, and decided to give it a try. My ill-advised decision only resulted in elevated blood pressure and spontaneous cursing with every new chapter. I'm currently halfway into the third book in the series and plan on seeing this mother through to the end (the fourth and final book was released last week), because I'm apparently masochistic.

To get quickly to the point, the plot is melodramatic and boring, the main characters are poorly developed, and the writing is repetitive, redundant, and dull. If I didn't know that the author was 29 when the first book was published, I'd assume a 12-year-girl cranked out over 500 pages after a summer of watching General Hospital (my personal guilty pleasure in middle and high school). Most importantly, though, this series is misogynistic, sexist, and glamorizes unhealthy behaviors for the intended audience of young women.

The main character of the novel, Bella, is a boring, weak girl who can barely stand on her own two feet. She has no ambition or goals beyond being with her man. She lies to her family, distances herself from all other friends, and allows her boyfriend (who just happens to be a hundred-year-old vampire) to control and manipulate her life. According to the author, it’s totally acceptable to become totally lost (even descend into a “catatonic” state!) without a strong man in your life to lean on.

::breathe::

Edward and Bella’s relationship is emotionally and mentally abusive. He is a pretentious, arrogant, controlling, overbearing, possessive, lying, obsessive idiot who has no respect for his girlfriend's autonomy. Edward forces Bella into compliance with his will, because he knows best. On various separate occasions, he breaks into her house to watch her sleep, has his sister kidnap her and hold her hostage, uses suicide threats as leverage, and tampers with her car to keep her from visiting friends.

What’s the message I got out of these books? “Throw your life away when you are a teenager, because you'll know what you want at 17! Who wants to be a perfectly normal human when you could be beautiful beyond description? All you have to do is give up everything. Forget about having kids, growing up, or dying. Who wants that? Let your boyfriend control you completely. Be completely dependent on him for everything. Use your friends and treat them like dirt. Spend months moping around the house if you don't have a boyfriend, because without a man, life is worthless.”

I'm saddened at the positive press and numerous accolades this series and this author have accumulated. I really hope that teenage girls out there aren’t taking Twilight to heart.