Well, we've all had our fun and made our jokes, but I think that the fans of the blockbusting vamp romance Twilight have had just about enough of us. At least, that seems to be the case in an editorial titled Enough with the 'Twilight' fan-bashing media antics already, over at The Examiner. The editorial was a response to a piece on The Frisky about Twilight conventions that was full of the usual cheap shots and snark that accompanies all Twilight news. But The Examiner isn't the only one defending the Twi-hards -- here's an editorial from our own Erik Davis over on Movies.com about how Twilight actually saved fandom.
I'll be the first to admit that, yeah, I was one of those people taking cracks. I made jokes about toothless sparkly vamps, and all the rest. But I've started to wonder if us writers have crossed the line of gentle teasing and into 'bullying'. So what makes Twilight jokes any different than cracks about Trekkies or a geek who lives in their mom's basement? For me, it was the idea that these girls (or women) were just silly little hormonally charged chicks looking for a glimpse of Robert Pattinson rather than honest to goodness fans of the series (however flawed it may be).
When it came to Twilight, it seemed that the general consensus was: Girls like it, so it must be stupid. Well, I've had enough conversations over my lifetime about how something is a 'dude thing', that I'm fully versed in the idea that certain stories appeal to men and women sometimes. But what has me ticked is the idea that when you pull the dude card, it's in a tone that says, "You just don't understand, it's a dude thing". Whereas when it comes to us girls, it's more along the lines of disdain as in: 'Eww, that's a chick thing".
After the jump: will I mend my Cullen-bashing ways?...
But here's the thing: just because I'm going to try to avoid slinging mud at the Twi-hards doesn't mean that my opinion of the franchise has changed. The same complaints I had about the story of Edward and Bella are still there, but I'm also open-minded enough to admit that things could change as the franchise continues. That said, even I've noticed the snark was getting out of control when I read about Comic Con protests that had just a tinge of misogyny with complaints that a bunch of squealing girls were going to ruin the event for everyone.
But it isn't just the boys taking shots at fans -- plenty of female journalists have made remarks and called fans everything from anti-feminist to sexually repressed losers. I'm not saying that we shouldn't all have our opinions, and as a writer the last thing I want is someone telling me what I can and cannot say. But perhaps we should just try to remember that fandom can be a funny thing and we all have our personal kinks -- so maybe we should try and treat each other with a little bit more respect.
So what do you think? Has the media been too hard on Twilight fans? Or, should these guys and gals just get used to one of the tenets of geek culture -- flaming. Sound off below...
1. No; knowing several Twilight fans myself, I don't think you have anything to apologize for. I have been to anime conventions where there were more normal, well-adjusted people than the night I mistakenly went to the local multi-plex when Twilight first premiered.
I would take random "glomps" by strangers over the girl who screamed in my ear when she spotted the life-size Edward cardboard cut-out.
The fans have completely killed any interest I originally held for the series.
For the demographic record - I am a female who enjoys the occasional romance and I LOVE fantasy.
Posted at 5:17PM on Aug 25th 2009 by H