case: (Default)
Case ([personal profile] case) wrote in [community profile] fandomsecrets2012-12-29 02:53 pm

[ SECRET POST #2188 ]


⌈ Secret Post #2188 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 05 pages, 102 secrets from Secret Submission Post #313.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

(Anonymous) 2012-12-30 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I think you are right and there are some fans who really wouldn't want that type of relationship in real life, and some people do assume that liking the books = condoning stalkery behavior and unhealthy relationships irl, which is stupid. But I think the reaction that people have to Twilight fans is tied up in a lot of things. For one, the majority of people irl are going to have a romantic relationship at some point, whereas most people are probably not going to get their hands on a sword or small munitions and go on a Tarantino-style killing spree, so I think people tend to worry a lot more about rl consequences when it comes to how people interpret relationships as presented in the media. And there are definitely a fair share of people who assume that people who like violent media are somehow more violent or that violent media makes you violent.

There's also the fact that the books are aimed specifically at pre-teens and teenagers, and people are worried about young people who have very little relationship experience reading the books and internalizing that the relationship is romantic, despite being completely unhealthy. So, some of it's kind of concern-trolling, but I don't think it's completely unwarranted, either. Talking to younger fans - and especially pre-teen fans - and telling them it's okay to like the books, but explaining some of the issues with Edward's creepy-ass behavior is generally a good idea, just liking talking to your kids about the media they consume and rl issues in general is a good idea.

I think that there are people who say they think that Bella and Edward's relationship is romantic who wouldn't actually want that irl, but there are those people who, when asked about it, also say that they think that Edward breaking into Bella's room to watch her sleep is "sweet", or even girls who like Jacob who write off his rapey-ness as him just really liking Bella and not being able to handle himself. And honestly, if someone told me they wished that Kill Bill or Inglorious Basterds were real and seemed as sincere about it as some people do when they say they wish they had their own Edward, I would probably back away slowly.

(Anonymous) 2012-12-31 09:55 am (UTC)(link)
ayrt

Yeah, this is a really reasonable comment and I pretty much agree with you - especially on the point about romantic relationships being something people are actually going to have in real life. If I had kids I wouldn't give them the books, that's for sure.

I just have been feeling pretty devils-advocatey about Twilight fans lately because I see so many people being melodramatic about the woeful mental state such fans must be in, and I feel like it's an overreaction and also kinda hypocritical (i.e. is how a non-rabid Twilight fan feels about the books really that different from how I feel about the stupid angst ship fic I read about questionable pairings.)

Yeah, Twilight is problematic and the fact that it became so instantly popular is maybe concerning. But I wish people would a) stop being melodramatic, because although the books are problematic most Twilight Fans are probably still well-adjusted individuals and b) stop using Twilight's problematic nature as a way to show off how good they are at love by going on about how they can't possibly understand those poor maladjusted girls who actually like such horrible sludge.

I think that if people were primarily concerned with the wellfare of developing teenage girls, they would focus their criticism on the book and talk more about how it's marketed and how it became so popular, and how it fits in with other popular media targeted towards young girls. Instead, the criticism is often laden with condescension towards people who like the books and treats the fans themselves as the problem. Which says to me that while they may be concerned about Twilight's societal implications, they are more concerned about feeling superior.