TA TALKS BACK: AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
Ta forum member Dahlia discusses the opinions of a blogger after reading Twilight.
Just to spice things up a bit around here, I’m going to play some defense for the series. Frightening I know, isn’t it? Don’t worry, I’ll revert back to my heartless, cruel ways once I’ve purged myself.A friend recently sent a link for a popular blog to me. I’ll pause, briefly, for your reading consumption.
http://bamber.blogspot.com/2009/02/book-review-twilight.html
And you think I am prat! At least I am a fan of the series. Now, let me condition my commentary, first, by repeating that everyone is entitled to their thoughts, feelings and opinions. I am, in no way, a supporter of public censorship. That being said, I am slightly confused as to how Ms Amber thinks this is a review of Twilight. Being a Harvard Law Graduate, you might think she would know the difference between a book review and a political/ideological polemic. Granted, she has every right to express her disdain for Twilight, I would just think she might want to dedicate more time to the issue before she jumps all about on her (jump to) conclusions mat.
Ms Amber’s thoughts are based on one book: Twilight, but her public “review†extends to the whole series. I really don’t understand such leap in thought. Personally, I tend to reserve my judgment of something until I have all the facts to base my thoughts on, instead of basing them on someone else’s influential ideas. This is even more so the case if I intend to publicly express my opinion on a subject. Had her feelings been expressed in ’04, I might be more inclined to excuse her hasty condemnation, but being that the entire series was at her disposal at the time of this “review†I will not. It is folly to not gather all the knowledge you can, for yourself, before publicly opening your mouth. What is the phrase: when you assume you make an…… well you get the picture. Had Ms Amber read the entire series, instead of merely reading others’ summaries on it, she might have come to an entirely different conclusion. And even if she hadn’t come to a different conclusion, I might have taken her point of view a little more seriously.
Ms Amber very clearly thinks of herself as a feminist- liberal woman, but her diatribe would smack any real feminist in the face, wouldn’t you think? To lump every single young woman in the world into the category of “callow and dumb†is a bit of projection in my book. While all humans have the capacity to be callow and dumb, it is not their predisposition. If a girl truly is callow and dumb, make no mind about it, she will find literature to match her attention span and then what harm can it do? Most feminists I know, young or old. would spit in the face of any person who said they weren’t capable of deciding for themselves if something should be read or not. Isn’t a basic principal of feminism the right to make your own choice? To stand powerful and strong, saying there is nothing to fear from a questionable love story? That a feminist woman is strong enough to rise above what ever message may or may not lie encoded in a story’s lines? That she can read such things and come out of it unscathed because she has a mind of her own? Really, Ms Amber, you do your view no service here.
She does have it right to some degree: Twilight, and its series, is a fantasy. But if you can show me any romance novel that isn’t based in some sort of ideological fancy, I will tip my hat to you. Romance novels are not what we, as women, base our desires in– at least not I, or most of the women I know. They are simply great stories to escape into when your man is being a bit unsympathetic or unromantic. Books like this indulge that part in all of us where we fantasizes our very presence can influence a man to change for us alone. It isn’t reality—it’s fancy. Next thing you know, Ms Amber will want all of Jane Austen’s works kept from our youth for the same reasons. A wonderful friend of mine once said: “Nobody is at the center of a greater swirling storm of manipulative bull-hock than teenagers. If they [aren't allowed to] sort it all out, they’d all be dead before college.†With Ms Amber’s approach, one might wonder when a person is “old enough†to be allowed to read something with which they may or may not agree. Exposing one’s self to only one point of view is not education– it is indoctrination. And while studies have shown too much unrealistic fantasy romance is damaging to one’s love expectations, who is to say these sort of stories is all we consume? Again, freedom to choose is everyone’s right, right?
Ms Amber’s unrealistic paralleling of these characters to real life is just a continuation of her ridiculous stance. She feels the need to condemn Bella for being a painfully shy caregiver who has always been the adult in her paternal relationships– as if this is her fault. Personally, I find being a caregiver a noble characteristic to have. There is nothing wrong with serving those you love at any age– especially if it is part of your nature and you choose to do so. Bella is a product of her circumstances who is doing the best she can, as a 17 year old, with what she’s got. If she had read the entire series, Ms Amber might have been chagrined in her hasty judgment by the changes Bella undergoes and the growth she achieves as a person; including her eventual enrollment in college and the friendships she fosters, all at Edward’s urging. Ms Amber also berates Edward for being a “stalker nutjob†who, too, is really only a product of his human youth at the turn of the 20th century. Edward didn’t choose a vampirical life and, in his 103 years, he has never had to deal with affairs of the heart. Just like Bella, he is a product of his circumstances and throughout the series, he changes and adapts for the best; including, but not limited to, his acceptance of Bella as a strong capable woman. In the end, Ms Amber has chosen to project her morals onto fictional characters who can’t possibly measure up to her ideals because they aren’t supposed to…yet. They might be vapid and shallow in Ms Amber’s eyes, but then again so are all of today’s young women. So what does she expect? You can’t have it both ways; stories have to start some where.
I can’t help but continue to laugh at Ms Amber’s assessment of the sexual content of the series. Again she is enforcing her own ideals onto the characters; only this time it’s in the form of proper sexual conduct. I will not go into my own beliefs on proper sexual conduct because they, like Ms Amber’s, are not valid to the issue. A person has to find their own path in such things and, with the guidance of their parents; they should be allowed to find that path without persecution from anyone. I find the author’s dedication to Edward’s virtue refreshing. Again, had Ms. Amber taken it upon herself to read the complete series, she might have come to find the gentleman in Edward she refuses to acknowledge at present. And furthermore, Ms Amber’s negative assessment that the book teaches young women that they must “monitor their behaviour at all times lest they cause a guy to lose it and kill/rape them,†is at best incredulous and at worst missing the mark entirely. What is wrong with being in control of a sexual situation as a woman or monitoring your behavior to protect yourself or *gasp* your own virtuous reputation?
When I was a young woman, my parents’ only rule for literature was to let them know what we wanted to read beforehand. After, if we had any questions or thoughts, our parents would discuss the material with us to help us come to an educated conclusion on it. I read questionable books on sex, war, drug addiction, abuse, love, and horror as early, sometimes, as 10 years old. My parents trusted the values they had instilled in us from an early age and knew that the fastest way to turn us into monsters was to censor and stifle us. Again, while it is completely within Ms Amber’s right to rebuke the series for her own haphazard reasons, shouldn’t it be within the same right as a parent to choose what their children can and cannot read? Yes, in later comments, Ms Amber conditions her stance by saying she is not calling for the burning of these books, but really, what is she, instead, asking for then? She calls the book evil and a bad influence, and later says the series should not be read by young people at all. If she’s not calling for censorship of the series by saying these things, then what is this rant about? Why even say such things if you aren’t expressing your desire for censorship to some degree? Express your disdain sure, Ms Amber; Lord knows I surely have. But do not call into question and judgment things you really have no knowledge on and offer counsel to others when you clearly don’t have all the facts. Collecting all the pertinent information on a subject, whether it confirms or refutes your position, is the first thing you learn as an L1 in law school, so why should this public “review†be any different?
When it comes right down to it, this series is not dangerous on any level, save the occasional paper cut from turning the pages too quickly. I completely respect Ms Amber’s view point as her own, but draw the line at her scathing “reviewâ€. It’s all a matter of personal discipline. If you can read this series and keep it where it belongs– in the fantasy world– then bravo! But doesn’t everyone deserve the right to do that in their own way? Bright, shiny, speed-loving vampires don’t exist. These books are not based on any sort of reality, period. They are not a model, on any level, for life. If a young woman can’t come to these conclusions on her own, in her own time, about the series, I think being “callow and dumb†is the least of her problems, wouldn’t you agree?
Talk back to us, what do you think?
