Having moved here at age 18, I lacked the cultural literacy that my counterparts and colleagues already possess by the mere virtue of having grown up in USA. In most professions it may not make a difference, but in the media industry (marketing/ advertising/ journalism) it is crucial to understand and be informed about the psyche, the cultural imprint of the quintessential ‘American’ experience. Now that is the educated, intelligent reasoning I give myself for what I am about to reveal.
In reality though, it is for none of the reasons above that I do what I do. It is simply because I enjoy it – it is an indulgence and I fervently crave it: The young adult media.
I am obsessed with media/ entertainment. Period. But I am supremely obsessed with media and entertainment packaged specifically for the Young Adult market. I am 25 and I shamefully admit that I am obsessed with the 17-year old immortal Edward Cullen, the vampire protagonist of The Twilight Series. I read all the four books (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn) and the Midnight Sun excerpt made available on Stephanie Meyer’s website. The story is the obvious mix: love, danger, high school – how could the story not be successful? But there are two main reasons why I think this is a cult sensation.
Storytelling: The storytelling is potent: teetering on the edge of eternal love and danger, the book’s premise is riveting enough to keep the readers flipping page after page to move with the story. Harry Potter and LOTR created worlds outside of the normal human realm that made them universally appealing but the Twilight Series has created a parallel world that seems to exist within the confines of the normal human world as we know it. She has taken ordinary everyday people, placed them in the midst of life-threatening danger and made them blissfully unaware about it. Sheer brilliance. I have to concede that I don’t admire Meyers for her writing – she is masterful storyteller.
Edward Cullen: Edward Cullen’s character takes the prize. His rich history, (born in the 1900’s!) his supernatural powers,(mind-reading) his wisdom and chivalrous attitude, his cars,(Volvo, Ferrari, Ducati) his strength, his looks, his intelligence, his talents (piano) and his intense devotion to the love of his life (Bella Swan) – Edward Cullen is the fantastical fabrication of every young girl’s dream love. He epitomizes perfection – and impossiblity. Nothing wrong with him, except that he is a vampire which at that (teenage) age is interpreted more as fascination and intrigue than danger. Now you package that into four 500 page plus books and tell me why girls will not dream of him, crush over him or wish he were real!?
Teenage years are as it is difficult to live through- what with the complexity of relationships, self-awareness, sexual awakenings and first loves. And that young love at its most potent, primal and purest form is what Meyers has captured in this book. Latching on the fact that teenagers evaluate love interests differently than adults, it comes as no surprise that Meyer’s Bella falls for Edward.
Twlight Series is an impossible, drug-like state – hard to let go off and wake up from. The impending release of the movies will fuel this mania further, but slowly as I wake up from Meyer’s brilliant imagination, more of the world will succumb to it. No doubt, she is talked of in the same sentence as J.K Rowling.
I love Cullen too!!! Barney of Doctors if off my list for now!!!
Ugh, please don’t talk about Meyer being on a par with JK Rowling. She doesn’t even come close to the depth and meaningfulness of Rowling’s work.
The thing that annoys me most about Twilight’s popularity is that it is not original. The things which you describe as ’sheer brilliance’ have all been done before – in particular there is a YA author named LJ Smith whose work predates Meyer’s by at least a decade. Her stories bear many uncanny similarities to the Twilight series. And most importantly, her heroines are strong and intriguing, and are are not anti-feminist caricatures like Bella Swan.
Nyxie – I actually have to admit that I agree with you.
I actually realized that this is not an original story when I started watching True Blood. The big picture similarities are too glaring too ignore : a mind-reader, a vampire who doesn’t drink human blood (prefers fake or animal instead) a shape-shifter.. etc etc.
I think Meyers might have been inspired by that story..
There is however something about the stories that work. I was addicted to them. I couldn’t stop reading. Its not that the writing was that good – but the storytelling was masterful.
I am quite a bit older than the average Twilighter. I have been drawn to vampire stories and movies for a long time. I loved the series. I feel like yes, there are some similarities to some of the books I have read. “Vampire falls for human” But the devotion that not only the main characters show for one another is awesome.The Cullen family taking Bella in as their own and being there for her just because they know she is eternally The love of Edward’s life. To see how she awakened him after soooo many years of being the loner in the family. Having to be around couples who have found their soul mates.Well Redone or not it was a compelling story and kept a “non reader” reading non stop for two weeks straight!! I put my life on hold until I was finished.
Nyxie- Have you ever heard that there are only 8 plots in existence? All stories are variations of a few basic plots. Yes, Meyer has drawn from many sources. A few that immediately come to mind- Anne Rice, Meredith Pierce, many different Native American legends, etc. However, I challenge the assumption that such inspiration renders her work invalid.
Meyer differs from authors such as Christopher Paolini and Cynthia Dart-Thornton in that she took a conglomeration of different material and used it to create a story that is unique. She is not plagiaristic or un-original.
As for Bella being anti-feminist- when has Bella ever said or done anything to reduce the value of women or their choices? Feminism at its root is about empowering women to make their own choices regardless of their sex. And the Twilight series has many women who choose- some choose careers, some choose men, some choose children- all are valid choices.