Why Everyone Hates Twilight

Destiny's Gate wrote:Paper I wrote for school:

Cult of Twilight

Love it or hate it, just about everyone has heard of Twilight. Having spawned a series of books, The Twilight Saga, and a series of movies, Twilight is undeniably a huge phenomena thanks to its legions of fans. The fans, known as Twi-Hards among their ranks and as Twi-Tards to the anti-fans, have blasted Twilight and its author, Stephanie Meyer, to fame and fortune. As a result, the series has been the focus of a cult of personality, one that draws more and more people in every day.

It cannot be denied that Twilight has become a polarizing issue among people. Many a friendship has been shattered because one adored the book while another despised it. Even among the fans of the series there is a separation between fans of the characters Edward and Jacob, known as Team Edward and Team Jacob respectively. The series has separated fans from non-fans, and fans of specific characters from fans of others. Similarly, cults attempt to separate members from nonmembers, and in the cases of cults where the leaders sexually exploit younger members, separating the desired victims from the rest of the members. While the reasons driving the separation of fans of Twilight might be more benign than those of separating cult members, the fact that being devoted to certain characters can destroy long-standing relationships between Twilight fans is extreme and cult-like. So, in a way, Twilight can be broken up into two smaller cults, one known as Team Edward and one as Team Jacob.

The leaders of these two smaller fan clubs are the fictional characters Edward and Jacob. Fans of one can see the faults of the other, but members of Team Edward cannot see those of Edward, and members of Team Jacob can’t see those of Jacob. In the eyes of their devotees, the focus of their affections is infallible and saint-like, despite Edward fans saying Jacob is an overprotective jerk and Jacob fans saying Edward is a manipulative stalker. Both characters have faults that ought to crush the dedication fans have, and yet no one seems to even notice. Comparatively, cult leaders are just as flawless in the eyes of their followers and Godly. Those outside an actual cult might look in and see just how insane, wrong, or abusive a cult leader might be, but followers continue to sing their praises. Both Twilight fans and cults have leaders that are viewed as positively perfect and Godlike, whether they are or aren’t.

To show their love for their leader, Team Edward and Team Jacob fans wear shirts, buttons, or other goods that label them as members of the teams, much like religious people wear jewelry representing their creed. These fans will find like-minded fans and shun fans of the opposite team. If they find someone who is not on a team, like a person wearing a generic Twilight shirt, they will attempt to convert them to their own team with all the good things their team represents. “Oh, Edward represents true love!” a Team Edward fan might say. “You want to be on the side of true love, don’t you?” A member of Team Jacob might instead say something along the lines of, “Jacob is loyal! He went against his own pack to protect the girl he cares for! Don’t you want to be on the side of loyalty?” Both sound rather promising, but they leave out any details about Edward’s being a stalker or Jacob’s being an overprotective jerk, as the Team Jacob and Team Edward members have argued respectively. Fans trying to garner more support for their favorite character might also give those not on a team yet a sense of belonging or a fear of being despised for joining the opposing team. Cults do much the same to recruit new members. Also, fans of Twilight in general like to recruit those who have not chosen a side in the fandom by lending their books and talking up the series. False promises have even been made by the industry, as in an ad for the fourth movie in the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part One. The ad claimed to boyfriends that if they got their sweethearts the movie, “They would get a happy Valentine’s Day.” In other words, “Buy this movie and your girlfriend will have sex with you.” Some might find such a method of selling movies in poor taste, but it was certainly persuasive enough to convince some boyfriends to buy the movie for their girlfriends. These false promises that spur recruitment into the fandom is a deceitful recruiting technique, much like ones some cults use, but like cult members, fans tend to overlook these deceitful practices because of their belief that Twilight and its characters deserve fame and glory.

It has been said by Twilight fans that the book is better than many classical pieces of literature, surpassing classics like anything by Shakespeare or Jane Austen. Anyone who believes otherwise is uneducated, according to some of the more hardcore fans. Those who criticize the films or books are told, “How is it popular if it’s as bad as you say?” or “You only hate it because you don’t understand it.” The first response assumes that because Twilight is popular, it must be good, and so the fans are right and anyone questioning its quality is wrong. The second response puts the blame on the person for not liking it, claiming they aren’t able to see why the book is good because they aren’t as enlightened. Basically, the fans are right and anyone who disagrees is wrong, no matter what the argument. This is reminiscent of cults because in a cult, the leader or group has the “absolute morality” that is applicable to everyone, and those who disagree are spurned or punished (Shermer). Absolute morality serves to discredit dissenters and enforce beliefs. People on the fence about their belief in a cult might be more likely to stay quiet and to go along with the group once they see what happens to those who disagree. The same can be said for Twlight. As mentioned earlier, Twilight has broken up good friendships because of a disagreement about the fandom. This is why.

Because of its cult-like mentality in fans and the media, Twilight is a cult of personality. Through the expulsion of those that are not fans, the hero-worship and perception of flawlessness of Twilight and its characters, the questionable ways it recruits new fans, and the absolute morality of its fans, Twilight has become a cult. Perhaps it is not a dangerous cult like the ones heard about in the news, but there is a Twilight cult of personality for better or for worse.

JupiterLightning wrote:

Gold Chocobo wrote:Even Inuyasha hates it