Cullenism - Twilight spawns an actual religion?

[Nepenthe]

You must have very little imagination.

Yeah, that's probably it.

That or Stephanie Meyers is just not a talented writer. She's introduced nothing new to the vampire trope except maybe for plenty of bad prose. I know it's popular to bag on Meyers but she truly deserves it. More power to her for such a successful career, but I think she's fair game for critics. Sure, I'm not her intended audience, but there are authors who write for young women interested in romance and vampire novels (or erotic horror) who don't dumb their stuff down; they appreciate their audience and write accordingly. Laurel Hamilton and her Anita Blake series comes to mind and is much better written than Meyers works.

As for vampires in general, I still think Let the Right One In is the best vampire novel I've read in the last 10 years- it's one of those rarities where the movie is slightly better than the book too. The film omits some unnecessary horror subplots and focuses on the melancholy relationship between Oskar and Eli.

But that might just be due to my lack of imagination.

 

[Atreyu]

Yeah, that's probably it.

That or Stephanie Meyers is just not a talented writer. She's introduced nothing new to the vampire trope except maybe for plenty of bad prose. I know it's popular to bag on Meyers but she truly deserves it. More power to her for such a successful career, but I think she's fair game for critics. Sure, I'm not her intended audience, but there are authors who write for young women interested in romance and vampire novels (or erotic horror) who don't dumb their stuff down; they appreciate their audience and write accordingly. Laurel Hamilton and her Anita Blake series comes to mind and is much better written than Meyers works.

As for vampires in general, I still think Let the Right One In is the best vampire novel I've read in the last 10 years- it's one of those rarities where the movie is slightly better than the book too. The film omits some unnecessary horror subplots and focuses on the melancholy relationship between Oskar and Eli.

But that might just be due to my lack of imagination.

Interesting theory, however my ten year old daughter who had little interest in reading because many books that caught her interest were beyond her childlike vocabulary, actually read all 4 sagas. Meyers made it simple enough for youngsters to read and yet, written beautifully enough for an adult to stay entertained.

I have read many Vampire books and Meyer's imagination is splended. If you only read 120 pages of Twilight then you have no idea what is beheld within these books.

 

[Nepenthe]

I have read many Vampire books and Meyer's imagination is splended. If you only read 120 pages of Twilight then you have no idea what is beheld within these books.

I've read one or two vampire books too.
Maybe I'll give Meyers another shot; I might read up to 130 pages before I make up my mind this time.

 

[Willamena]

What Spirituality would be in this series???

If they are worshipping the series itself, then none whatsoever.

 

[Atreyu]

I've read one or two vampire books too.
Maybe I'll give Meyers another shot; I might read up to 130 pages before I make up my mind this time.

I rather enjoyed and it, they progressivly get better with each book.
I have yet to read Let the Right one in. I am currently reading The Vampire Lestat and I just finished Memnoch the Devil.

 

[Nepenthe]

I rather enjoyed and it, they progressivly get better with each book.
I have yet to read Let the Right one in. I am currently reading The Vampire Lestat and I just finished Memnoch the Devil.

I highly reccomend Let the Right One In. I really liked Interview With a Vampire, and read up to Memnoch the Devil, but Interview' is definitely Rice's best. Off the top of my head some of my favorite vampire books are I am Legend, Anno Dracula, Fevre Dream, and The Vampire Tapestry.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

As far as vampire movies go, I highly recommend Embrace of the Vampire. I have no idea what the plot is, but Alyssa Milano is nude a lot in it.

 

[Nepenthe]

As far as vampire movies go, I highly recommend Embrace of the Vampire. I have no idea what the plot is, but Alyssa Milano is nude a lot in it.

You make a convincing argument.
Moderator cut: image removed

 

[CelticRavenwolf]

It's a good thing that L. Ron Hubbard is dead, or else he might be upset about the competition!

Also - why the flying f**k are people labelling this a 'religion'? It's not. If anything, it's a cult. Personally, I pray that this is just a big joke, because if people are seriously so obsessed with those FICTIONAL books that they want to literally worship them, then I officially give up on the human race. We will have officially bred ourselves into complete stupidity. What "values and ideals" are represented by these books that make them the basis for some type of spirituality or way of life?

The popularity of the books to begin with is mind-boggling to me anyway. My sister tried to make me read them, and she's one of those freaks gushing about how Edward is the "perfect boyfriend." Umm, did you miss the part where he's an obsessive, controlling stalker? In real life when people have boyfriends like that, the girl usually ends up either getting a restraining order against, or in some cases killed by said "perfect" guy.

I hated the book and couldn't even bring myself to pick up the second (even though I love anything to with werewolves). The movie was even worse. I was literally laughing so hard that I cried at the agonized "this is the skin of a killer, Bella!" I couldn't empathize with Bella at all, because she's quite frankly a stuck up b**ch from the get-go. She's the ultimate Pre-teen Mary Sue. "I'm clumsy, but people find it adorable. I'm a loner, but I'm the most popular girl in school." She barely considers the other plebes to be her friends. I don't see anything in any of the characters to aspire to.

The only one who seems to be at all half-decent is Jacob, who's all "baby I'd treat you like a real person and respect you and protect you and not bail on you". Meanwhile the hussy Bella wants nothing to do with him when she could pine away for the controlling outcast who oils her window so he can sneak in and watch her sleep.

No, the obsessive level of devotion to these books is downright scary. The obsession that girls and women alike have for Edward Sparklepire is f***ked up. The very notion of cult fanatacism over it having the audacity to call itself "religion" is absurd in the extreme.

 

[Nanda]

I have read all four books, and I have to be honest, while I found them entertaining enough at the time, they left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It bothers me a great deal to think of how many young girls are reading these books and romanticizing this relationship model. So many parents get wrapped up in the pro-abstinence message that they completely overlook the fact that the relationship between Bella and Edward is incredibly unhealthy. At one point he has her family keeping tabs on her so that she can't leave her house or go see her friends, "for her own good." Is this what we want our daughters to think is normal and desirable in a boyfriend? It's abusive behavior, and that really worries me.

 

[CelticRavenwolf]

Even in the first book, after she has her "fainting at the sight of blood" spell, and he won't let her drive home. He pressures her to go to his car, and says that if she tries to get to her truck anyway he'll just catch her and force her into his car. He has one of his sisters bring the truck home, and this is when she barely knows him!

Man, I would lose my ***** if some guy tried to pull that on me, and if I ever found out that a guy did that to my daughter (or my son did that do a girl) - there would be words.

 

[Gunfingers]

I don't know the full circumstance there, so i might be talking out my ***, but there's been more than one occasion where i've had to force someone out of their car because they were drunk or had recently passed out (an anemic female, in one instance) or were otherwise unfit to drive.

 

[CelticRavenwolf]

I don't know the full circumstance there, so i might be talking out my ***, but there's been more than one occasion where i've had to force someone out of their car because they were drunk or had recently passed out (an anemic female, in one instance) or were otherwise unfit to drive.

A little bit. She never actually passes out and they sit in the nurse's station until she feels better and Mr. Sparkle convinces the nurse that Bella should skip the next class (gym) and go home. She insists that she feels fine, and since it's written from Bella's inner monologue we know that she really does feel fine and is irritated by his persistence, but she allows herself to be cowed anyway. This also sets the pace for his possessive and controlling nature for the rest of the book.

Yeah, not allowing a drunk/seriously ill person to drive is one thing, but even the way that it's portrayed in the book is excessive and not a little threatening.

 

[Nepenthe]

 

[whereismynotecard]

I'm sure it's just some weirdo fans making **** up as a joke.

 

[whereismynotecard]

The halloween degrassi episodes are even funnier than the regular ones.

 

[whereismynotecard]

The girl who plays Ashley must be related to the director. She cannot act worth a ****.

 

[Nanda]

Ha! This one's good, too:
YouTube - Buffy vs Edward: Twilight Remixed -- [original version]

 

[CelticRavenwolf]

Nepenthe - WIN!

They even cracked a joke in Supernatural about it. Dean's about to stake a vampire and says "suck this, Twilight!"

I've seen that Buffy vs. Edward before too - priceless!

 

[MoonWater]

Interesting theory, however my ten year old daughter who had little interest in reading because many books that caught her interest were beyond her childlike vocabulary, actually read all 4 sagas. Meyers made it simple enough for youngsters to read and yet, written beautifully enough for an adult to stay entertained.

I have read many Vampire books and Meyer's imagination is splended. If you only read 120 pages of Twilight then you have no idea what is beheld within these books.

I know what lies within the first two and part of the third. I say the books are crap and the main characters are deplorable with no redeeming values. No offence intended but just because you enjoyed reading something doesn't mean it's well written. And yes I know what I'm talking about in this regard as I am myself an ameatur critic who has been studying the process of creative writing and writing stories and poems ever since middle school, which is more than can be said of ms meyer. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying you should stop liking it I just don't think "like" should equal "well-written". And to be fair yes there are several books that I enjoy that aren't very well written(twilight just isn't one of them)