am I missing something, I just don't get twilight?

[griphook]

Is it me, it just long and boring, but everyone I knows loves it.

Why hardship?

at your students Cotes

hardship I'm another one wanting to know why the thread has upset you

I read the books and quite enjoyed them. The film (only made it through the first one) is utter shit. Terrible casting and the plot seems a lot thinner. Bella is not how I imagined her, I don't expect them to cast my vision of Bella but maybe an actress that can act? I also think there's no chemistry between edward and Bella which is odd as they are supposedly a real life couple.

I don't get it too. Despite liking True Blood. I found Bella drippy and Edward very creepy and stalkerish.

They are romantic, fighting form something you beleive in, how two different worlds/people can come together and what is wrong with the no sex before marriage issue?

You'd rather have teens furiously doing each other all over the place? Give me Edward and Bella anyday over bikini clad women gyrating all over the show on MTV and the like. There is no pleasing some people.

Women hating?!? Where, why and how exactly? Please do explain.

I enjoyed the books and the films are great, roll on Nov 18th!

There's the fact that Bella is so hopeless she can't go a day without falling over, fainting or hurting herself and the men in her life actually think it's hilarious.

There's the fact that Edward at one point removes the engine from her car to stop her from going somewhere he can't himself go. And she finds it romantic.

Seriously there are so many examples it's hard to count.

As for woman hating, how about the werewolves abusing and belittling the only girl in their pack? And the fact that Emily stays with her abuser boyfriend werewolf despite the fact that he nearly killed her oncewhen he lost control (which of course wasn't his fault as he can't control himself- that's just his nature)? All because he imprinted on her (not the other round of course. Once girls are picked by werewolves as Jacob himself explains they find the constant attention so 'flattering' that they usually yield to the males).

Anyway the whole dynamic between Bella and her 'boyfriend' is completely twisted- teh excuse being that they are supernatural beings and thus have more power than her.

The fact her took the engine out of her car does not equal women battering, is that what you get from that? Do you really beleive Superman can fly and rescue Lois Lane from burning buildings, do you? He did it as he thought he was protecting her from being harmed.

Imprinting is part of the story; yes woo hoo cooee over here, story, not set of rules all women must follow. I think 99.9% of the population who watch it, know it forms part of the story eg: human/wolf cross over and the details of that.

Also Edward does not his vampireness to over power her, I like that fact she is a strong person and has chosen what she wanted, not what everyone else wanted her to have eg: Jacob. Just because she does not shout about it, in a a faux feminist way by proving her power over him, if she did would make her relationship valid in your eyes?

OMG, maybe she does really love him and he her. Why is the simple concept of love so complicated with power bases in your eyes? Want them to arm wrestle and take a general knowledge test to see who is most mighty and most powerfull?

And where do the wolves constantly over power and belittle the women? I really don't know what you are watching/talking about. Single moments do not define the relationships within the film, character develpoment and storylines are more fluid.

Do you have power over your OH to ensure the relationship has any validity? You have no addresssed the no sex before marriage thing, any views on that?

'He thought he was protecting her from being harmed'.
She wanted to go see Jacob and he didn't want her to. Hardly a burning building situation.
Edward uses his vampireness quite frequently to overpower her, did we read the same books?

Re the wolves belittling the women- how about the girl werewolf? The one who's heartbroken because her boyfriend left her when he imprinted on her sister/cousin (can't quite remember the details). The boys have no empathy towards her at all- they're all pissed off because she's hurt when she can read her ex's thoughts about his new girlfriend. On top of that they're constantly referring to her as unhinged, irrational, crazy etc and totally dismiss her from their pack.
In the last book Jacob also constantly laughs at one of the Cullen girls (not quite sure why) insists on calling her 'blondie' and making blonde jokes at her the whole time. Lovely.

As for the no sex before marriage I have no issue with the concept per se but I do with the way it's played out in the book.
Instead of it being portrayed as a lovely special joint decision (ie they want to wait till their wedding night to make it special) it's all about Bella wanting it, Edward saying no because it could cause him to lose control and physically hurt her (nice) but on the other hand if they get married he might change his mind and do it after all.
Again quite controlling to me. It's all about him having the power and using it to get her to agree to marry him, something she's totally reluctant to do throughout.

Do you have power over your OH to ensure the relationship has any validity?

I'm not sure what you mean by that I'm afraid.

She was going to see Jacob yes, but he was protecting her from the bad vampires who wanted to kill her. She could not see it, he could.

You seem to think Edward has power over a helpless Bella, meaning that she is weak. Do you want her to have some power of him then? I don't get A - why you think he over powers her and B -why the balance of power has to all one way or the other?

I can't quite beleive that you think Edward wanting to wait until they are married to have sex is again another power issue, forcing Bella to marry him and then she can have him. You do look at things at a base level from Edward's point of view, if he had sex with her in the first movie you'd be on here saying how dreadfull it is that he has used his power for sex! Why can't both decisions be respected, his to wait and hers to want to? She is not reluctant to marry him, she just does not want to to start with, until she really knows what she feels for him and all that entails.

That question about you and your OH is because you seem to view the whole thing as a power struggle of titanic proportions. He can physically hurt her due to his extra strength, should he have just cast his worry about that aside and had sex with her anyway, would that have made you happier?

With Jacob and his family, they all rib each other, it is part of who they are and what they do eg:wolf/human tendacies, which includes the female in the group. Also the Cullen girls are rude to Jacob quite a bit, is one way rudeness and ribbing only allowed then? If so, why? Reading minds are part of the story, you know, the STORY. It's fiction after all. Is it happening to my friends, family, in my street. No.

Love is powerfull, but not overpowering in this instance. It is a story of characters, not a dossier on how we should all live our lives. Why is it so hard for you to get that sense of perspective? Why be so irate and make it mean everything when it's just a book? Would I live to be the female wolf, no, but I enjoy the books and the films without them having to be life defining.

I just don't get this poor little woman concept being over powered by the big bad vampire, this is not what the books are about at all.

You seem to think Edward has power over a helpless Bella, meaning that she is weak. Do you want her to have some power of him then? I don't get A - why you think he over powers her and B -why the balance of power has to all one way or the other?

Well, yes, I do think she's weak. Physically as is mentioned over and over again with all her injuries/swoons etc but more importantly emotionally. She has no friends and her whole life revolves around Edward- she seems to have no interests aside from him and treats everyone else in her life like crap.
As for him having power over her you only have to read the books- there's the fact that she begs him to turn her but he refuses repeatedly.
And no I don't think the balance of power should be one way or another, which is precisely why their relationship is disfunctional.

I can't quite beleive that you think Edward wanting to wait until they are married to have sex is again another power issue, forcing Bella to marry him and then she can have him.
Well does she not ask for it and he says no? Does he not ak her to marry him and does she not refuse over and over again?

You do look at things at a base level from Edward's point of view, if he had sex with her in the first movie you'd be on here saying how dreadfull it is that he has used his power for sex.
Well if he did have to use his power for sex then I would say it's dreadful as it would be rape!
However if they both decided to have sex in the context of a beautiful loving relationship I'd say good for them.

Why can't both decisions be respected, his to wait and hers to want to?
Well both obviously can't. They either do it or they don't.

Why be so irate and make it mean everything when it's just a book?
Well thanks for reminding me that a book about vampires and werewolves is fiction.

I didn't realise I sounded irate btw. If anything makes me irate about this whole saga it's the fact that it's so appallingly written.
Actually there's also the fact that Bella is such a useless and whiny character. She complains when her 'friends' (rather the people who consider themselves her friends- she tends to see them as inconveniences) and family are nice to her.
She's incredibly ungrateful (I can't believe you bought me a car- how cold you! I can't believe you're throwing me a birthday party you know I hate parties etc) she's manipulative (if Edward is such a soulmate why lead Jacob on for so long) and she's so bland.
Makes you wonder why Edward fell for her- until you remember he was attracted to her smell. And the fact that he couldn't read her mind. if he could have he would have run as fast as possible!

I enjoyed the books. Haven't bothered with the films, but doesn't seem I'm missing anything. Eric from True Blood is more my type of vampire, not too interested in watching the goody goody ones.

I LOVED that link posted by sieglinde. I must watch out for Buffy reruns. I forgot how good Buffy was.

MCos, Eric Northman's is everyone's type of vampire, surely?