Eh, alert

[cleolinda]

Again, since y'all seemed desperate to get some: Twilight reviews are starting to come in (updated Fandom Lounge entry). Here's one from The Chicagoist, courtesy of my friend Marcus. And Roger Ebert just barely gives it a thumbs up. What I'm getting out of this is that it's not going to set the non-believers alight with cinematic fire, but fans are going to love it, and it's not just hilariously awful. Here's the Rotten Tomatoes page.

I'm over here trying to get work done, so short of an international incident, no more Twi-spam today.


ETA: You know what? Regarding some comments made around here, I'd like to pose a question to y'all. People keep being nasty about Stephenie Meyer's weight--the most recent ONTD post I saw had a thread about "secret internet fatty no more!" (I mean, that's ONTD, I expect that from them. But still.) I'd say "How would you feel if that were you?," but for all I know, you really are in shape, or you'd say, "Well, I'm not famous so whatever." So let me put it to you this way: I know a lot of y'all feel protective of me. I know because you've told me so. Any time I worry about angry fans coming over here to flame me, the pitchforks immediately come out and everyone swears undying loyalty.

I'm heavier than Stephenie Meyer. And I don't have the excuse of being a mother of three, either.

How would you feel if I somehow became famous and the ONTD "lol fatty" thread was about me?

Just... think about that next time "zomg she's so hiddy" springs to your fingertips. I mean, as far as your opinion on her writing, you know, go for it, because it's sink or swim when it comes to a writer's actual talent. But apparently I'm going to have to spend a year cross-training before I dare publish.

Comments

[iamshadow.livejournal.com]

An additional, unrelated alert - dorkorific's journal and shoebox_project are still hacked. The arsehole hacker just not long ago posted a deceptive message implying Rave had control of the journal again, and to click on the links for archives of the deleted posts.

*rolls eyes*

The links go to the same Russian sites as the links in the first hacker message did.

Anyone who wants genuine Shoebox archives should go to the PDF Project (http://www.lomara.org/sbp/) which has been around for a long time, is approved of by the authors, and has the art and chapters up in full.

[i-will.livejournal.com]

Aaah, you beat me. /slow

[conejita-diabla.livejournal.com]

Eh alert? There's Canadians? WHERE??

*looks in mirror*

Oh. Wait. ;)

[pigsnicket.livejournal.com]

HAHAHA!

You have to watch out for us, we're a very sneaky nation!

[i-will.livejournal.com]

Just a follow up to last week's Shoebox hacking: It's still hacked, and they just posted another entry with dorkorific explaining as Rave that she had gotten her account back and links to, I assume, the same site, cleverly disguised by tinyurl.com. They're smart.

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

Why do girls always prefer the distant, aloof, handsome, dangerous dudes instead of cheerful chaps like me?
AW, I LOVE YOU, ROGER EBERT.

[amberdulen.livejournal.com]

I know, I lol'd. :)

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

I'm over here trying to get work done
I was just musing upon this yesterday: what work do you do?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Nothing I actually get paid for. Trying to finish my annotations e-book and Black Ribbon. So "working," for certain values of "work," is maybe a little more important for me to focus on than for people who are actually salaried.

("lol, she's fat AND unemployed.")

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

there's an ONTD thread about her weight? how gauche. I will love you even if you're the size of a truck! I might love you more for it!

[ook.livejournal.com]

I enjoy ONTD, but the "LOL fatty!" comments are truly lame especially since most of them aimed at females. Wonder what the same posters would say in 20 years or so when middle-age spread finally hits them.

[all-ephemera.livejournal.com]

*claps* I know that at this point anything I say is going to sound entirely like I'm sucking up, but I'm just really glad you made your comments about Stephanie Meyers weight. It's not okay to just start trouncing her for her weight.

(If you want to trounce her, do it for her abysmal writing, folks, it's not like the digs are hard to get at on that front.)

[heathrow.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I think that Stephanie Meyers looks really okay for a mother of three. She's not an overly exercised/operated-on person - she looks like a size-12 woman who writes, lives, does carpool, etc..

The dress she wore to the LA premiere wasn't the best choice she could have made, but she looks like a lovely woman.

[h4yleyg.livejournal.com]

Ah, people suck. A person is wonderful, but put a hundred thousand of them together and give them anonymity, and you've got a nightmare. SM is not fat. Not even in a politically correct way, she's just not. People are just bitchy.

And it really doesn't matter what you look like. You're hilarious and talented and any person who thinks less of you for what you look like isn't really worth having as a fan anyway because you've got hundreds who aren't so shallow.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I just actually saw some people talking about her weight in the comments here, not just ONTD (granted, it was a lot more civil here), and while I'm not angry or upset or anything, I just kind of wanted to put that out there. You know, think about what you're saying. Because it's easy to judge someone's looks in a celebrity culture and forget that writers are not people who are paid to look good. They're not professional bodies, if that makes any sense; they're just real-people bodies with professional minds.

[sweetsyren.livejournal.com]

I would get on their cases straight away. But they'd probably just call me a fatty and wouldn't see a word I typed.

I don't understand what the deal is with everyone getting on her case about her weight. She's not fat! She's actually got a lovely figure. I would, in fact, kill for her figure, 3 children or not!

But again, i'm a chubby girl so my opinion probably doesn't count...*rolleyes*

[michellerz.livejournal.com]

Your opinion counts just as much, if not more than everyone else's. All the people taking stabs at that poor woman's weight - which is not bad AT ALL - I just wonder how miserable and insecure they must be.

"What? She's hugely successful and bigger than a size 4? WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TOOOO?!?!" *and the hateful one crunches celery and looks wistfully at her poster of RPattz*

lol ;)

[vega-ofthe-lyre.livejournal.com]

I know. I'm with you. I can't stand SMeyer, but there are so many other issues that are fair game to criticise her on; people really do not need to go there. Stay classy, folks. I mean, as you said, yes, it's ONTD, they'll attack and eat anything that has mobility and sentience--and I say that with the greatest possible affection--but it isn't her job to conform to ridiculous standards of Hollywood beauty.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah--ONTD was just the most vivid example I had at hand. People here are also talking about her, though.

Her weight and her religion--those are both things I'd like people to leave alone. Because as several Mormon commenters have come here and said, they don't know what the hell she's on about in those books, so it's not like the series reflects their beliefs in general.

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

What I find distasteful is how this all surged after Robert Pattinson's comment about Twilight being her fantasy; it's as if you don't deserve to have fantasies if you're not perfectly shaped and toned and you. Maybe it's a creepy fantasy, maybe it's a weird one (and it certainly is one that I find poorly written) but she's entitled to have it - and if she can get people to pay to buy it and make a fortune out of it, well, I'm not sure why she'd not publish it. And it's not as if it's the only authorial fantasy out there that's masquerading as fiction (James Bond being a primary example).

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

And it's not like it didn't turn out to be thousands of other women's fantasy as well.

[bishsticks.livejournal.com]

I've never commented in your journal before, but I've been reading it for a while. I've never read the "Twilight" books for reasons that are too long to list, so I guess I could say "Everything I've Learned About Twilight I Learned From Cleolinda." I dislike the author also for reasons too long to list, but making fun of her weight? That's just mean-spirited and low, in my opinion. Criticize someone for what they do, not what they look like.


(And I'd also like to off-topically add I love your "True Blood" summaries.)
^_^

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks. : )

[skybreak-seeker.livejournal.com]

I'm telling you, Gabe's Internet F-wad theory.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Oh, to be sure. I'd just like people around here to lay off, because I'm used to better from them.

[palmetto.livejournal.com]

I think there's enough wrong with the quality and content of SMeyer's writing that I don't get why people even care about the way she looks. This whole thing about her weight sickens me and makes me want to defend her.

[lenamoster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I saw that thread on ONTD too. And again, I expect that kind of thing from them, but come on. Why do people have to resort to making fun of a woman's weight or her appearance when they don't like them? It's just like, my god, enter the 21st Century where appearances only matter THAT MUCH when you're a model or actor or similar profession where you trade on your appearance as part of your talent. (You can tell me that that isn't true for actors, and then I tell you to show me some hugely popular contemporary actors that aren't hugely attractive to at least a good portion of people. To be popular, you need to be eye candy.)
To write a book? Not so much! This is where intelligence and storytelling matter, not whether you can still shop in the children's department. It's insulting to me to see that shit, since they're basically telling me I'm a huge fatty too and that's all that should matter to me. Boo hiss.
I still think you're wonderful, btw. Keep writing and being awesome, bb.

[havocs-roman.livejournal.com]

>>(show me some hugely popular contemporary actors that aren't hugely attractive to at least a good portion of people. To be popular, you need to be eye candy.)

I just feel so strongly about this--Helen Mirren put it really well a few years ago: something like "[looks on screen] have nothing to do with looking good; it has to do with whether you have the right look", which is quite different. It's about how you are perceived.

You CAN be a popular performer (even in the movies) without being too much of a looker. Granted, like everything in life, it's easier for men (who apparently don't "age", just "mature" *snerk*). Neither Whoopy Goldberg, nor Imelda Staunton, nor Judi Dench, Emma Thompson, Frances McDormand, for instance, are necessarily stunningly good-looking (though you might think so, as it IS subjective)--yet they ARE both respected and popular actresses. No, they're not vying for the sexpot parts, but they HAVE been going strong for decades; do they appeal to certain sects? Yes, as does absolutely everybody on the public eye. Even Uwe Boll somehow charms people into giving him money for his movies.

Gosh, I apologise in advance if I sound like a bitch; I really don't mean to. I see where you're coming from, and partially agree. But this is a vicious circle that I would love to see broken: you CAN be a popular, respected, loved performer even if you don't look like a supermodel/overgrown preteen, there are famous people out there as proof, and yes, it's difficult, but perpetuating the "you have to look HOT" idea is what got us our hot yet crappy current H'wood generation in the first place.

... I'll... I'll shut up now.

[robinmc.livejournal.com]

There are plenty of legitimate reasons to rag on Stephenie Meyer, and they all have to do with her work. Harping on her weight is not only mean but lazy. If all one has are ad hominem attacks, I have no use for that person.

Also: Roger Ebert would fit right in over here, don't you think?

In total:

[biomekanic.livejournal.com]

+1

As for the ZOMG! fatty! crap, yeah, bust on her for bad writing and creepiness, but weight?

Sheesh.

[elvensapphire.livejournal.com]

ONTD is made for that sort of immature cruelty, which is why I usually don't like it. Criticize her for her writing or her insane delusions (because we all know that's what they are, even RPattz says so!), but leave the weight issue out of it. It's just meanness for the sake of meanness. I hate it when I see it about actresses/musicians/models, and they're in the public eye with looks as a primary focus. That's just how it is for them, and the criticism is usually unnecessarily harsh. But authors? They're not here to be eye candy. They're here to contribute their work on the printed page (whether it's liked or not, whether it's well-written or not). The one time when I would totally step up and defend SMeyer would be on this issue. If it was you? I'd be hitting people with pitchforks, for sure.

And I'm currently very small. I used to be pretty average sized, but my illness for the past few years has slowly whittled down my weight. I don't point that out at all as a bragging right, because I don't consider it one, but I say it to underscore the fact that I don't think weight should matter. So, I'm small and someone else is generously curvy. Big whoop. In the balance of things, important things, it's the size of the heart/mind/soul/imagination that matter, the quality of the person as a human being that matters, and the people who belittle others for their weight are the ones that are disgusting. /rant of rantyness

[fangulation.livejournal.com]

I'd break out my internet-ass kickin' boots and go to town on those people.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

You know, the commenters are generally good people, regular readers, nice folks. That's why I wanted to bring that point up, because I think it's just a matter of not thinking it through first. I would just ban trolls and not think a second more about it.

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

I'll be sad if it's not hilariously awful.

Oh, and I think it's really shitty when anyone gets made fun of for their weight - famous or not.

[ravenofthejade.livejournal.com]

....Stephanie Meyer's fat? *looks* Uh, no, no she's not. She looks better than a LOT of people her age.

[madeline-may.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I have a really hard time with ONTD. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I really do - there can be plenty of funny comments, and it's pretty on the ball with celebrity news.

But my lord, they can get so incredibly ridiculous. All I can think about is how hard it is for me to hear one bad comment about how I look; how traumatizing would it be to stumble across somewhere like ONTD and be battered by hundreds of comments like that?

And personally? I think Stephanie Meyers is beautiful.

[tygress.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I pretty much read the actual post and ignore the comments because the comments usually put me in a state of head-desking from which there is no recovery except a stiff drink and a nap. :)

[topazera.livejournal.com]

I don't know why people tear down her physical appearance instead of going for more legitimate criticisms. I mean, it's the internet, so I'm not surprised it happens. But, c'mon, there's enough to rag on with her self-insert/anti-feminist/florid prose etc. I think going after her physical appearance only reflects badly on the person making the remarks. That said, I think the line for "LULZ" is blurry for a lot of people.

[gwynevere1.livejournal.com]

ONTD is full of asshats of the highest (lowest?) caliber.
I've seen them criticize the weight of when who are 7-9 months pregnant!

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

yeah, what's with that? I plan to eat as much ice cream and cake as I can swallow when/if ever I'm knocked up! Kids need calcium.

[fiveforsilver]

People keep being nasty about Stephenie Meyer's weight

I saw a couple pictures of her recently and I thought she was rather pretty.

That doesn't make me like her books any better, but I wouldn't think they were worse if I thought she was unattractive, either. The one has absolutely nothing to do with the other, geez.

Not in a creepy Twilight way either...

[mustang-bex1126.livejournal.com]

Cleo... I freaking love you!

I have said this to my guy friends so much when they're like "look at the (derogatory weight term here)" because I'm freaking HEAVY, and not too long ago I was definitely FAT by most standards. We all need to be a little more kind.

Re: Not in a creepy Twilight way either...

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

I love this comment's title.