Of course, as I got older, I realised Bella was a prime example of a “Mary Sue”, basically a character designed to be two dimensional so readers can put themselves in her shoes. I also realised Edward was creepily abusive, and by the time the final book was released my love was fading faster than the blood sucked from a vampire victim. It disappeared completely before my 15th birthday.
Though my love may have diminished, the hype surrounding the series only grew. Every teen magazine in the world featured the stars of the movie on their covers numerous times a year, and every teen girl appeared to have read the books, and in most cases, loved them.
If you asked anyone under a certain age if they were Team Edward or Team Jacob you would be sure to get a very enthusiastic response. Every girl in Year Nine or younger seems to be an obsessed fan, and is willing to talk about their views of the series for hours, more often or not on a social networking websites like Twitter or Facebook.
Mashable has released results of a study comparing the social media sentiment for Harry Potter and Twilight. Harry Potter was the ultimate winner, garnering more positive feedback (70% on Twitter and 72% on Facebook, compared to Twilight's 41% and 66% respectively), which to me is unsurprising. I believe the key determining factor in these results is the fact that Twilight has an awful lot more critics, especially among the adults who use social networking (and pen the reviews).
Abusive relationships, borderline pedophilia, birth scenes containing half-vampire babies being torn out by their father’s teeth, sex scenes where entire bedrooms are destroyed…Breaking Dawn: Part One was quite possibly the most bizarre book I have ever read, so I wasn’t expecting much from the movie, which is in keeping with the the 24% negative comments made about Breaking Dawn: Part One in the weeks leading up to its release.
Still, despite being creepy and drawn out, it was enjoyable. I believe Twilight will always have super-fans because it is the kind of story you wish you were living yourself. When you are 13, it is easy to breeze over the creepiness of the whole storyline and just see a beautiful love story. It’s an escape. If real-life boys are feral idiots, why not escape into a story about a perfect guy who falls in love with a regular girl who is Just. Like. You?
It’s the bottom-line of any fandom obsession. Teen girls, especially, will fall in love with something that promises them otherworldly romance. It’s the same reason fairy-tales, with their promises of happily ever after, are eternally popular. The idea of Prince Charming – or a super-hot vampire who stays 17 forever – is just too alluring. Love conquers even social media.
Catch up with some other reviews here:
The Guardian: "It raises more laughs at the back of the stalls than hairs on the back of the neck."
The New York Times: "The latest and best of the movies about a girl, her vampire and their impossible, ridiculously appealing — yes, I surrendered — love story."
The Sydney Morning Herald: "This latest film in the phenomenally successful teen-pleasing vampires v werewolves romantic saga is the most engaging, incident-packed, dramatically satisfying yarn yet."
SBS: "The least entertaining and compelling of the quartet."
Georgie blogs at Frangipani Princess
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