Day 94 - "He Had It Comin'"

Yeah, Chicago.

Anyways, I feel the need to rant, and just so you know, this completely off topic. I'm not ranting about Chicago the musical, the movie musical (which is great, by the way,) or the band.

I want to rant about Twilight and New Moon.

I know I'm going to get a lot of flack about this, but I don't see what the big deal is about Twilight. My sister bought tickets for the midnight showing of the new movie and is driving halfway across Akron to see it! There is no way I'd risk life, limb, or my sleep to see this movie.

Here's my problem with it - Stephenie Meyer, you can listen to this. As a writer, the books stink. Sure, there's a story there, but where are the characters? Where's the depth? Where, for the love of God, is the beautifully crafted language that literature is supposed to embrace?!?! Where is the substance, the depth of human experience, the hidden knowledge of human (or vampire) existence?

Maybe I'm asking too much, but whenever I see someone reading Twilight I honestly want to barf. I can't say that I haven't read my fair share of poorly-written books, but there's just something about me that cannot come to love Edward Cullen or whatever his cohorts' names are.

Not to mention that I think Amelia Atwater-Rhodes does YA vampires much better.

So to sum this up, I would like to say a few things.

Dear Edward,

You are not as cute as millions of screaming young (and not so young) women think you are. In fact, I think you are terrible for convincing young, impressionable minds that Twilight is great literature. Please endorse something classic, something timeless, to show that reading is not all about the latest fad and that there are much greater things out there if children simply want to pay attention long enough to think. I would start with something easy.

However, I would like to thank you for getting children to read. At least it's a start.

-AA