YA Lit:: Twilight love/backlash?

A good friend passed on this hilarious take on Twilight on NPR. The gist? Author Brad Meltzer pulls out the big guns and defends his glee over Twilight because he should be allowed to openly love the famous vampire love triangle. Even if he's not *supposed* to. After all, he's heterosexual and other big men might call him a pansy.

I love Meltzer's argument. It's sweet, articulate manna from a kindred spirit. Dude, I can so relate. Twilight is a guilty pleasure for me too because I'm
~ a librarian
~ an educated feminist
~ a twenty-something looking into my thirties.

I'm supposed to leer at Meyer's simple writing style. I'm supposed to scoff at Bella's weaknesses and insecurities. My girl parts shouldn't melt when-- *Eclipse spoiler*-- Jacob keeps Bella warm with his body heat and Edward has to suck it up.

It's really the second book that cemented my bond with this series. *New Moon spoiler* When Edward abandons Bella and she does idiotic things to bring his voice back... I was sincerely touched. I lost my mother to breast cancer a few years ago and I still hear her inside me sometimes. I still cry when I see round women with the familiar Mexican hips and big booty. I suppose my only consolation is the memories and the fact that my body seems to be headed in the adorably rotund direction too.

I recently looked back at my old MySpace profile that I haven't updated in months. In the section where you get to list the books that mean a lot to you, Twilight is right there, big and bright. You see, I read the book long ago, before the characters were associated with movie actor faces and before avid teen fans turned their backs on it when it became too popular. I saw it there on my profile and cringed. I even thought about editing it away so that it no longer bears shame on me.

But why should I? Yes, in a way, the series' phenomenal popularity has spiraled out of control. And yes, I absolutely despised the ending, which lessened my love for it significantly. Still, the books capture a little something that many books can't fake. For me, these were the books I was reading when I was studying to be a librarian and I was getting ready to get married. They're like songs that remind you of your youth. The Twilight series will forever be tied to my mid-twenties through love and backlash and whatever the future holds for it.

Spotted!:: Breaking Dawn Sneak Peek!

You know, Entertainment Weekly sure can publish absolute drivel but here is a gem. Un diamant brut.

.the beginning.
of Breaking Dawn is here.

Can you believe that I refuse to read it? I want to read the whole book all in one go and I shall close my ears to the world for fear of spoilers. I want to innocently discover
.the end.

Spotted!:: Twilight movie trailer

Twilight Movie Poster by ~EvilRaine on deviantART

For those of you Twihard peeps out there... It's here. Kinda. Sorta.

By "it" I mean, the teaser trailer. And yes, it does tease. And entice.

I'm going to save the "I actually envisioned it like this" comments because there's no point. The good definitely outweighs the "eh" here. This looks like it's going to be very, very exciting.

I... am having a hard time... waiting for this one...
Can't wait!

...

...

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Okay, I lied. I am going to go into a discussion here, though not the kind you're probably expecting.

Like many of you, I became enamored with the idea of Henry Cavill and Emily Browning playing Edward and Bella. This was back when Stephenie was fantasizing about which actors would bring life to her characters. Then they cast Kristen Stewart. Then Robert Pattinson. At first, I thought, "Okay. I guess." Now, seeing the trailer, I can see Kristen as Bella. She was never described as beautiful. In fact, that's her appeal. She's supposed to be normal. Attractive in her own way but still, just a girl. (A winning option, because it makes the average reader feel like, "This could happen to me!" A romantic notion indeed.)

But I couldn't see Robert as Edward. Why? Because of the many descriptions of Edward's "perfect face" and allusions to his godly physique. And as I watched the trailer, I kept thinking, "His lips aren't full enough."

Then I snapped myself out of it. What am I, sixteen and on the prowl for a pretty face to idolize? Why does it all have to be so beautiful? These characters are about more than just their appearance. Yes, we all had specific images in our minds as we read the books which may not match with the reality of this film. But come on! It's silly to write Robert off as not worthy of Edward without really seeing what he can do with the character. He totally had that Edward playfulness in that last scene of the trailer. And I'd much rather see individuals who can really act, as opposed to really cute teens with the acting ability of a chipmunk (sorry, Emma Watson).

So what did I learn here? Keep an open mind and let yourself get excited. That's not so hard. The more I watch this trailer, the more...

*swoon*