Here is the text version of Kat’s Twilight Manifesto.
Disclaimer: These are my personal opinions about the Twilight series. They are not facts, nor are they the opinions of all Twilight readers. Your experience with Twilight will (likely) vary.
Twilight is…
# A four-part series of page-turning Young Adult novels.
# The story of a human girl who falls in love with a vampire.
# A multi-genre work that is more than just a teenage romance.
# A unique example of revisionary vampire (and werewolf!) lore.
# A character-based story, which is one of the main reasons for its huge fanbase.
# A story written in first-person perspective, which is an important point to remember.
# An unapologetically romantic portrayal of relationships, reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet and similar works.
# An incredibly popular book series that has millions of fans worldwide.
# The inspiration for a film franchise which, by remaining generally faithful to the books, is making hundreds of millions of dollars and jumpstarting several actors’ careers.
Twilight is not…
* A poorly written book. (It may not be Shakespeare, but it’s not “trash,” either.)
* A Satanic horror series with no morals. (The Cullen family believes it is wrong to kill humans, though the other vampires in the series do not. This is a key point.)
* A dime-store smut novel. (It’s not “racy” by any stretch of the imagination.)
* An anti-feminist series featuring only “damsel in distress” females. (Nearly all the female character in Twilight are remarkably strong and assertive, including Bella.)
* Too different from “original” vampire fiction to be “real” vampire fiction. (Twilight revises certain aspects of stereotypical vampire lore, but most vampire fiction does.)
* A piece of Mormon propaganda. (At best, it could be argued that it espouses some Judeo-Christian values, but not explicitly.)
* A strong pro-abstinence statement. (The fact that Bella and Edward wait to have sex is appreciated by many readers, but the decision is complex and circumstantial.)
* A shallow, escapist fantasy. (Though it’s a supernatural romance, part of Twilight’s charm is that it takes place in the modern world and deals with some deeper themes.)
For me, Twilight is…
- A source of inspiration, which encouraged me to keep writing.
- Full of characters I love, including but not limited to the Cullens, the Swan family, the Volturi, and the werewolves.
- Incredibly fun to analyze, both as an entertaining YA series and a unique example of vampire fiction.
- The reason I love werewolves just as much as vampires.
- A source of personal satisfaction for my hopelessly romantic side.
- A great YA series, both for entertainment value and literary analysis.
