I think you don't like the book because you are just used to being good at everything you do. You have no sympathy for those of us who are incapable of even minimum competency - which is why I think I like it so much. It won't be in my top 10 but I have been making time to read it. I think you and I just have very different views on relationships....
That's nonsense. I am very much NOT good at everything, I just don't dwell on the things I suck at. Please note you've never seen me play baseball, or basketball, or badminton... all things ms bella spent a lot of time whinging about in the book. I'm not good at them. Oh woe. So I do something else and don't cry about it...it's the crying about it that annoys me.
I also fail abysmally at water skiing (so I haven't bothered to try snow skiing!), football, and pretty much any other team sport. I can at least run without injuring myself (usually). And you can't just say "oh, but you're so smart it makes up for not being a jock" (Which Bella apparently can, but doesn't admit.) because there were several subjects in school that I despised and did not do well in (geography, history, social studies...). I am, at best, a mediocre cook, so apparently Bella has me beat there, too. Also, if the actress chosen to play the part in the movie is any indication, she's a good bit better looking than I am, and MUCH cuter than I was in high school. Yet again, she whines about not being good enough, leaving those of us less pretty to wonder what the fuck she's on about.
The main difference here, is that I don't just give up because I am clumsy, and call myself useless in all things.
Also, "I'm not worthy" is not a healthy state to be in in a relationship. It just isn't--ask any counselor you want. That I find their relationship unhealthy and disturbing is not that I have an odd view on relationships. I've been that stupid girl, convincing myself that I was in love with the "dangerous" boy. It was STUPID. It got me in trouble and got me hurt. Modeling that shit as romantic for young readers is not helpful.
And it's not the obsessiveness that kills me about it. I'm pretty damn obsessed with Bruce, and vice versa. It's the part where she seems to think that being with him somehow magically makes her worth something. Sometimes. Except when she's worthless. That's not good, not fun, not romantic, that's codependency.
But all of that aside, the point of the comic is: He is supposed to be a vampire! Monster, evil! At the very least, aloof predator. Vampires either ignore, eat, or turn humans. Because they're vampires. Well, unless there are zombies also, in which case the vampires may be farming the humans and protecting them from the zombies, because otherwise what would they eat?
She is too "good at everything"... that I've seen her do. Also, terribly unsympathetic towards people who wallow in self-perpetuated martyrdom (appealing as that may be)... with a few notable exceptions.
I remember everything until college being about what sports you played - who gives a damn if you are smart - so I can empathize with her there. And on the relationship thing, again, I guess I can relate. I can accept that this is a major character flaw but its true. Not all of us are as self confident as you. Plus, part of why I enjoyed the book is that it paralleled some of the good parts of my life well. I've been involved with several guys who fell for me and I had/have no idea why. Mine worked out well and the fact that that was flattering actually helped me start to feel a little better about myself sometimes. Again, I can accept that you are a more evolved aware person than I - probably another reason I enjoyed it and you didn't. As for the vamp part I have no problem with a different imagining of what a vamp is. Why not? They don't exist anyway. I kind of like to see someone think outside the traditional box. Again, just me. Don't read the second book though. I'm only a few chapters in and already hearing your comments ringing in my head. :)
I was too busy wandering around in the woods with my horse and dog to give a shit about the other kids at school before college. I'm not sure that qualifies as self-confidence so much as hiding. I was lucky enough in college to have a couple very good friends who decided that I needed to learn to have some self-esteem and become capable of accepting a complement. They both worked damn hard at it, and neither one of them tried to leverage it towards getting into my pants. It was a good thing for me. I wish everyone could have something similar. Confidence didn't become more than a mask until a few years after that, and it's still a great bit shakier than you seem to think. It's not confidence that has let me get out of bad relationships and jobs, it's a modicum of self-worth. The mask of confidence is what gets me a new job, so that's nice to have, but it's always scary as hell to shake things up in such a way. It comes down to feeling that I deserve better than I've been treated by the psycho boss or s.o.
It's very flattering when someone is attracted to you. This is true, I think, for anyone. The parts I object to about the "romance" as portrayed in Twilight are where she is willingly and grossly stupid about danger. Not just the "I might get hurt if he breaks up with me" danger that is inherent in any relationship, but the part where she blithely says "oh, it doesn't matter" when he tells her that he's a "reformed" serial killer. "Oh, it's alright, because he feels guilty about it, so it can never ever happen again, tra la fucking la." That is plain, blatant, eager stupidity, for which I have no sympathy or empathy. (Yes, this despite the fact that I've stupidly blinded myself and insisted on a relationship with "the bad boy" before. I have no sympathy for myself either. Less, in fact, that I do for other people, because I have no excuses, I should have fucking known better. Giving a statement to the cops is not a fun way to end a relationship, in case you wondered.) And since these books are supposed to be aimed at young/teenage (and presumably impressionable) girls, I do not think it's appropriate to be showing such stupidity as shiningly romantic. If people like my mom and cousin (and you) who are old enough to know what they want in a relationship feel like reading it, fine. I don't see that it's any worse on that audience than the Harlequins my mom would otherwise be reading (not like those are particularly healthy relationships, either, but at least they're not aimed at the tweens!)
Don't worry, I've no plans on reading any more of the series, or watching the movies. They are neither bad enough to be entertaining, nor good enough to be worth spending the time. As I said a while back; I don't understand the love/hate fest, Twilight was just mediocre, and for the most part boring to me.
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sforzinda
no subject
Date: 2009-11-29 07:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-30 09:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-30 03:46 pm (UTC)I also fail abysmally at water skiing (so I haven't bothered to try snow skiing!), football, and pretty much any other team sport. I can at least run without injuring myself (usually). And you can't just say "oh, but you're so smart it makes up for not being a jock" (Which Bella apparently can, but doesn't admit.) because there were several subjects in school that I despised and did not do well in (geography, history, social studies...). I am, at best, a mediocre cook, so apparently Bella has me beat there, too. Also, if the actress chosen to play the part in the movie is any indication, she's a good bit better looking than I am, and MUCH cuter than I was in high school. Yet again, she whines about not being good enough, leaving those of us less pretty to wonder what the fuck she's on about.
The main difference here, is that I don't just give up because I am clumsy, and call myself useless in all things.
Also, "I'm not worthy" is not a healthy state to be in in a relationship. It just isn't--ask any counselor you want. That I find their relationship unhealthy and disturbing is not that I have an odd view on relationships. I've been that stupid girl, convincing myself that I was in love with the "dangerous" boy. It was STUPID. It got me in trouble and got me hurt. Modeling that shit as romantic for young readers is not helpful.
And it's not the obsessiveness that kills me about it. I'm pretty damn obsessed with Bruce, and vice versa. It's the part where she seems to think that being with him somehow magically makes her worth something. Sometimes. Except when she's worthless. That's not good, not fun, not romantic, that's codependency.
But all of that aside, the point of the comic is: He is supposed to be a vampire! Monster, evil! At the very least, aloof predator. Vampires either ignore, eat, or turn humans. Because they're vampires. Well, unless there are zombies also, in which case the vampires may be farming the humans and protecting them from the zombies, because otherwise what would they eat?
no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 03:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 03:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 03:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 03:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 03:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 03:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 12:30 pm (UTC)And on the relationship thing, again, I guess I can relate. I can accept that this is a major character flaw but its true. Not all of us are as self confident as you. Plus, part of why I enjoyed the book is that it paralleled some of the good parts of my life well. I've been involved with several guys who fell for me and I had/have no idea why. Mine worked out well and the fact that that was flattering actually helped me start to feel a little better about myself sometimes. Again, I can accept that you are a more evolved aware person than I - probably another reason I enjoyed it and you didn't.
As for the vamp part I have no problem with a different imagining of what a vamp is. Why not? They don't exist anyway. I kind of like to see someone think outside the traditional box.
Again, just me.
Don't read the second book though. I'm only a few chapters in and already hearing your comments ringing in my head. :)
no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 05:54 pm (UTC)It's very flattering when someone is attracted to you. This is true, I think, for anyone. The parts I object to about the "romance" as portrayed in Twilight are where she is willingly and grossly stupid about danger. Not just the "I might get hurt if he breaks up with me" danger that is inherent in any relationship, but the part where she blithely says "oh, it doesn't matter" when he tells her that he's a "reformed" serial killer. "Oh, it's alright, because he feels guilty about it, so it can never ever happen again, tra la fucking la." That is plain, blatant, eager stupidity, for which I have no sympathy or empathy. (Yes, this despite the fact that I've stupidly blinded myself and insisted on a relationship with "the bad boy" before. I have no sympathy for myself either. Less, in fact, that I do for other people, because I have no excuses, I should have fucking known better. Giving a statement to the cops is not a fun way to end a relationship, in case you wondered.) And since these books are supposed to be aimed at young/teenage (and presumably impressionable) girls, I do not think it's appropriate to be showing such stupidity as shiningly romantic. If people like my mom and cousin (and you) who are old enough to know what they want in a relationship feel like reading it, fine. I don't see that it's any worse on that audience than the Harlequins my mom would otherwise be reading (not like those are particularly healthy relationships, either, but at least they're not aimed at the tweens!)
Don't worry, I've no plans on reading any more of the series, or watching the movies. They are neither bad enough to be entertaining, nor good enough to be worth spending the time. As I said a while back; I don't understand the love/hate fest, Twilight was just mediocre, and for the most part boring to me.