Why I Hate Twilight
Trust me. I'm aware that I'm going to garner some animosity from this post, but it really has been a long time coming. I fully and passionately hate the Twilight series of books. Why? Well, I have a list. My airing of grievances is in no particular order.
1) I have a dog named Belle. Since I apparently named her around the same time the series came out, I get asked, "Oh, after the character in Twilight?", on a regular basis. No, I named her after the Disney princess who loved to read and had one of the best libraries I've ever seen at her disposal. Also, my dog accomplishes more in one day than the character in that book. Simply by barking and catching a ball in mid-air, the dog has shown more athleticism and voice than the character in Twilight. When a dog is doing more than you, it's time to question life decisions.
2) When Edward dumps Bella in the woods, she literally curls into the fetal position. After a search party is sent out to find her, a solid six months pass in the book of nothing happening. I literally mean nothing. The chapters just consist of the names of months that pass. Do you know how long it used to take me to get over someone? Approximately the length of time it took to gather everything the person ever gave me, deposit it at a Goodwill store (someone should benefit from my poor choices), play a few angry songs, and an evening out with girl friends. Yes, I have cried over boys, but if I'm being honest, I cried out of pride. I was mad that I didn't do the dumping first. In more cases than I care to admit, I got back together with the person just so I could rewrite history and dump him. I would apologize for my poor behavior, but as a rule, I don't stay friends with exes, so they shouldn't be reading this post. Also, I'm not really sorry. Until I got engaged and then married, I refused to change my relationship status on Facebook because I knew none of the relationships were going to last. I didn't want them to last. If I was still figuring out me, how could I possibly fully commit to someone else? I couldn't. I took the scenic route to marriage; while that is not the right path for everyone, it was the right path for me. Clearly, I'm not running for sainthood, but I have also never been left completely wrecked by a guy. I say this as someone whose parents started dating in high school; by no means do I mean to say that high school relationship are insignificant, but I truly believe you have to be okay on your own before being in a healthy relationship. A suicidal Bella Swan is not being okay on her own.
3) I wouldn't consider myself an athlete by any means, yet I manage to interact with humans on a daily basis without tripping, falling down, or getting called "clumsy". In Twilight, Bella essentially can't move without getting hurt which is actually insane to me. Have you seen the Olympics? There are some extraordinary female athletes. If they can fly through the air or jump across the ice, surely, Bella can manage to open a gift without hurting herself.
4) I absolutely hate the idea of females reading about a weak female character. I particularly hate that the book was written by a woman. Teenage girls deserve so much better than Bella Swan as a heroine (I'm using the term very loosely here). All of the teenagers I know are exceptionally bright, talented, and extremely strong. In a society where so many pictures of women are photoshopped to an unnatural standard and so many lyrics are demeaning to women on so many levels, why would another female make the decision decide to feed into that image? I'm not perfect. I make messes and I sometimes jump without looking. With that said, I also clean up my messes and deal with the consequences of my decisions. I don't wait for someone to save me. I honestly don't know any females who do.
5) Bella literally has to change to survive in Edward's world. I agree that people change and grow up over time. I'm not the same person I was at 16, 21, or even last year for that matter, but I never changed for someone else. I may act differently depending upon the occasion, but I know who I am. More than that? I like who I am right now. It's an important lesson that Twilight fails to teach.
Maybe we could have done with a little less description of glittering and more actual character development for the central character? Just a thought. For the record, I read the Twilight series because I lost a bet.
More than anything, I want to help change the landscape of YA literature. Realistically, I won't be able to do it overnight. With that said, I don't plan on giving up my dream. I'm a force. I'll get there one day. In the mean time, I'm very excited to see what the next generation will bring to the table. From the time I've spent teaching them, I can see many of them being game changers in the best possible way.
As always, feel free to friend me on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/kelly.coleman11, follow me on Twitter, https://twitter.com/KA_Coleman, or connect to me on LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?....
1) I have a dog named Belle. Since I apparently named her around the same time the series came out, I get asked, "Oh, after the character in Twilight?", on a regular basis. No, I named her after the Disney princess who loved to read and had one of the best libraries I've ever seen at her disposal. Also, my dog accomplishes more in one day than the character in that book. Simply by barking and catching a ball in mid-air, the dog has shown more athleticism and voice than the character in Twilight. When a dog is doing more than you, it's time to question life decisions.
2) When Edward dumps Bella in the woods, she literally curls into the fetal position. After a search party is sent out to find her, a solid six months pass in the book of nothing happening. I literally mean nothing. The chapters just consist of the names of months that pass. Do you know how long it used to take me to get over someone? Approximately the length of time it took to gather everything the person ever gave me, deposit it at a Goodwill store (someone should benefit from my poor choices), play a few angry songs, and an evening out with girl friends. Yes, I have cried over boys, but if I'm being honest, I cried out of pride. I was mad that I didn't do the dumping first. In more cases than I care to admit, I got back together with the person just so I could rewrite history and dump him. I would apologize for my poor behavior, but as a rule, I don't stay friends with exes, so they shouldn't be reading this post. Also, I'm not really sorry. Until I got engaged and then married, I refused to change my relationship status on Facebook because I knew none of the relationships were going to last. I didn't want them to last. If I was still figuring out me, how could I possibly fully commit to someone else? I couldn't. I took the scenic route to marriage; while that is not the right path for everyone, it was the right path for me. Clearly, I'm not running for sainthood, but I have also never been left completely wrecked by a guy. I say this as someone whose parents started dating in high school; by no means do I mean to say that high school relationship are insignificant, but I truly believe you have to be okay on your own before being in a healthy relationship. A suicidal Bella Swan is not being okay on her own.
3) I wouldn't consider myself an athlete by any means, yet I manage to interact with humans on a daily basis without tripping, falling down, or getting called "clumsy". In Twilight, Bella essentially can't move without getting hurt which is actually insane to me. Have you seen the Olympics? There are some extraordinary female athletes. If they can fly through the air or jump across the ice, surely, Bella can manage to open a gift without hurting herself.
4) I absolutely hate the idea of females reading about a weak female character. I particularly hate that the book was written by a woman. Teenage girls deserve so much better than Bella Swan as a heroine (I'm using the term very loosely here). All of the teenagers I know are exceptionally bright, talented, and extremely strong. In a society where so many pictures of women are photoshopped to an unnatural standard and so many lyrics are demeaning to women on so many levels, why would another female make the decision decide to feed into that image? I'm not perfect. I make messes and I sometimes jump without looking. With that said, I also clean up my messes and deal with the consequences of my decisions. I don't wait for someone to save me. I honestly don't know any females who do.
5) Bella literally has to change to survive in Edward's world. I agree that people change and grow up over time. I'm not the same person I was at 16, 21, or even last year for that matter, but I never changed for someone else. I may act differently depending upon the occasion, but I know who I am. More than that? I like who I am right now. It's an important lesson that Twilight fails to teach.
Maybe we could have done with a little less description of glittering and more actual character development for the central character? Just a thought. For the record, I read the Twilight series because I lost a bet.
More than anything, I want to help change the landscape of YA literature. Realistically, I won't be able to do it overnight. With that said, I don't plan on giving up my dream. I'm a force. I'll get there one day. In the mean time, I'm very excited to see what the next generation will bring to the table. From the time I've spent teaching them, I can see many of them being game changers in the best possible way.
As always, feel free to friend me on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/kelly.coleman11, follow me on Twitter, https://twitter.com/KA_Coleman, or connect to me on LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?....
No comments have been added yet.
