Just because it made me laugh

[cleolinda]

So: we've spent way too long discussing the Stephen King comments, and yet (I think?) you love stories about my mother. I am torn! I will err on the side of maternity.

So. My mother hasn't read anything by Stephen King OR Stephenie Meyer (that said, The Shawshank Redemption is one of her all-time favorite movies, and she did like the Twilight movie, except that Edward's future elopement with his own child was fretting her the whole time), but I started reciting the best of the indignant fan comments she got ANGRY. You know, the comments like,

• "I think he is just jealous because he's not getting as much coverage or is well liked as Stephenie"


• "Twilight was a much better movie than all of his movies put together, IMHO"


• "Who [is he] to tell anyone what is good and what isn't!"


• "I encourage Rowling and King himself to write the book that fascinates the readers at this point"


• "IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO JEALOUSY THAT A WOMAN IS HAVING THIS MUCH SUCCESS AND THAT HIS IS OUT OF THE LIMELIGHT"


• "Well, I do not think he can write because he is too detailed and most of his stuff is about crazy clowns or kids getting hit by cars. Then again, he is famous, but has he ever made as much as Stephenie for a movie? No, most of his movies went straight to DVD or TV"

Oh, my God, that last one in particular SENT HER. Like, she actually started ranting at the dinner table. I had to intervene (with chips and queso!) at one point, because I thought she was going to blow a circuit. I mean, the sheer "Were you actually born yesterday?" pop-cultural ignorance of some of these people was getting to me, yes, but I didn't expect her to carry on for five minutes. It was a thing of beauty, I'm telling you.

(You also get "FROM A PERSONAL READING EXPERIENCE I HAVE NEVER READ A BOOK IN MY 26 YEARS" and "dudes im not a reader like ever" later on. As someone on Sparklefield suggested, the reason this brand of Twilight fan may get so vehemently defensive is because they really haven't read any other books, so if you tell them Twilight is bad, you're basically saying that their taste in literature is 100% bad. And also, they have nothing to compare Twilight to. I'm not sure why, but it really does seem like Harry Potter has resulted in people picking up a whole slew of other books, and Twilight... has not.)

And then I told my mother about Stephenie Meyer's idea of literary discussion ("Why is Edward right about Wuthering Heights sucking?"). Emergency applications of salsa became necessary.

Comments

[more-dragoncelt.livejournal.com]

Salsa always tames the savage beast.

[where-ru-now.livejournal.com]

Agreed. And your icon is WIN.

[dramaturgca.livejournal.com]

Those are Twimom comments... Scaaaaaary...

*goes to hide in the tinfoil cave under the bed*

[maudelynn.livejournal.com]

please do not let it get to guacamole levels!!!

Also, I guess the thing I posted cause a kerfuffle and I am now hated by some Twilight folks. sigh.

[visceralvamp.livejournal.com]

Your icon makes me happy.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure why, but it really does seem like Harry Potter has resulted in people picking up a whole slew of other books, and Twilight... has not.

GOD, yes, exactly. It's the more loudmouthed opinionated ones who sound as if, just this once, they read four books and are really ridiculously proud of themselves and cannot see the faults to save their lives, and so when somebody points out that they're not perfect they feel like someone's kicked them full-on in the nuts. Or, given the fanbase, punched them really, really hard in the ovaries.

[blpurdom.livejournal.com]

Plus, there's the fact that a lot of HP readers seem to have read a few books BEFORE picking up HP. How astonishing!

That whole it's-because-she's-a-woman thing is too laughable, though. I mean--did they miss the part about King being JKR's unabashed fanboy?

[visceralvamp.livejournal.com]

I burst out into giggles at the first one, and then my roommate laughed at me. And then I explained, and we both had a hearty laugh. IT WAS TREMENDOUS.

[smirkdoctor.livejournal.com]

Oh, Twimoms!
1) If the discussion is about books, why even bring up movies?! (although I must name The Shining, Carrie, and Cujo as widely released, successful SK films)
2) I heard the jealousy argument from a friend of mine. Someone I had assumed was intelligent and a reader. And it made me double-take. What exactly does SMeyer have on STEPHEN KING, twimoms? I'm pretty sure it's not units sold, money made, website hits, or respect in the literary community...

Also, your point about Twihards not reading anything else is right on the money.

[auraesque.livejournal.com]

Something that gets me is that Mr. King knows some of the movies made from his books sucked...and he is totally cool with it. His introduction to the comic version of Gunslinger is hilarious.

Mr. King and his family came to the museum I worked at in college a couple years ago. One of my coworkers was a huge fan of his, and the man was so awesome as to sign a book for her between buying his kids Star Wars memorabilia. He does not have the jealousy.

Also? He totally Mary Sues himself into one of his books, but when he did it, he didn't bother to change his name to "Bella."

[callmesyd.livejournal.com]

I want to shake your mom's hand and aspire to one day be present for one of her rants. I want to learn from the master.

I'll bring salsa, I promise.

[joaniemaloney.livejournal.com]

haha, I love stories about your mom.:)
My parents have no idea about what Twilight is, so in some ways I'm glad. I can't even imagine trying to explain its 'appeal' to them.

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

"Twilight was a much better movie than all of his movies put together, IMHO"

STAND BY ME. STANNND BYYY MMMMEEEE. Even if you're not a horror fan, COME ONNNN.

[smirkdoctor.livejournal.com]

I forget about that one. So much River Phoenix/Corey Feldman goodness!

[hjsnapepm.livejournal.com]

"I encourage Rowling and King himself to write the book that fascinates the readers at this point"

>:[

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

That kind of made me wonder if they really do, in fact, all live on Opposite Planet.

[lunylucy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I bet Stephen King and JK Rowling stay up at night wondering what it'd be like to be famos for writing books.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

*snickers*

[willendinrain.livejournal.com]

"conversations with my mother" is my favorite of your tags.

Some mothers are totally bamf, it's like the universe knew in advance it would have compensate for TwiMoms.

[greedyskunk.livejournal.com]

I'd have to agree with you here. I totally think my own mom is badass. When the only thing in the "Things I Wish My Mother Had Done Differently" column is help me jack up my car so I could change the spark plug wires and the opposing column measures to the moon and back...well, I got pretty damn lucky. I can forgive her for the Jon & Kate Plus 8 obsession because she knows nothing about Twilight.

*passes the guacamole*

[jettcat.livejournal.com]

I love your mom!

[goonie-freak.livejournal.com]

Sadly, about 85% of the Twilight fandom seems to be people who don't usually read... So they DO get mad when you tell them that Twilight isn't what makes the world go round.

While I don't really like Stephen King (novels or short stories) I do have a large list of authors I do like... because I read a TON of books to make up for the TON of movies I watch (and for the fact that I read Twilight).

I cannot STAND people who don't read AT ALL. How can you not read? Reading is just like a movie in your head... and you get to cast it! so you don't have to suffer through people like Christian Bale... lol sorry still mad at him.

[soulforophelia.livejournal.com]

I can't stand people who don't read either. Like, I immediately think somethings wrong with you if you say you don't read. I know that's really wrong but I can't help it. :(

[ppyajunebug.livejournal.com]

Someone needs to sit these Twitards in front of a TV and force them to watch "The Shawshank Redemption" on repeat. YES, EVEN TEH GAY SEXX0RS.

[laurenmitchell.livejournal.com]

I was sitting here thinking WHAT GAY SEXXORS and then remembered OH THAT GAY SEXXORS and... and. Yes. I imagine it would be utterly brainbreaking for their twoo wuv hetsparkle-infested minds.

[reticent-lass.livejournal.com]

And also, they have nothing to compare Twilight to. I'm not sure why, but it really does seem like Harry Potter has resulted in people picking up a whole slew of other books, and Twilight... has not.

Remember all those "If You Liked Harry Potter..." lists they used to have in libraries, where they went and slapped up any book title that had 'kids doing magic' on the back cover? Often they had virtually nothing in common (I remember with fondness the HP fans who turned up their noses at Young Wizards (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Wizards_series) because 'it was such a rip-off', despite being more science-based than most SF) but there were plenty of kids who got into reading other stuff because their moms used those lists for Christmases and birthdays.

Anyway, I think a big part of this one-true-series fandom is that similar things haven't been done for Twilight--because all the other books with vampires in can't really be mistaken for fluffy teen girl lit, so the lists don't get made, and the series is 'one of a kind' and no recommendations can be given. (I did find myself recommending 'Sunshine' to my dentist as a gift for her daughter. Here's to hoping I haven't given the poor kid nightmares...)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

You know, you're right. Twilight's such a study in contradictions that there's pretty much nothing you can recommend from an "If you liked this" angle. There's plenty from an "If you hated this" angle, though.

[dives.livejournal.com]

"Well, I do not think he can write because he is too detailed and most of his stuff is about crazy clowns or kids getting hit by cars. Then again, he is famous, but has he ever made as much as Stephenie for a movie? No, most of his movies went straight to DVD or TV"



Ahahahahahahahahahahahah


ahaha


ahaha


oh, I am crying right now

from laughter or sadness I am not quite sure

[latenightcuppa.livejournal.com]

"I encourage Rowling and King himself to write the book that fascinates the readers at this point"

Uh, do they have any concept of how tiny their fandom is in comparison to that of Harry Potter? -headdesk-

We all remember how JKR kicked Smeyer out of the top spot on Amazon in a matter of hours with Beedle the Bard, right?

[soulforophelia.livejournal.com]

And Beedle Bard was the length of one of Meyer's chapters. And it STILL kicked Meyer's ass.

[emmaorgana.livejournal.com]

Your mom is awesome.

[nmessina.livejournal.com]

Between the SM's idea of a book discussion and the WTF Bella uterus... I don't know which scared me the most.

[soulforophelia.livejournal.com]

I read a comment somewhere saying there is an actual essay written by Meyer about her opinion of WH? Is that true? And if so could I have a link? Pleaseeeee

And I knew the twihards would flip a shit. I was waiting for it. It's somewhat funny but at the same time I want to hit the majority of them.

[viorica8957.livejournal.com]

Oh God, I hope not. I enjoy hearing about her "literary opinions" (it's all for the lulz!) but after hearing that she criticised The Princess Bride because Buttercup was helpless and Westley was too perfect, I don't think I could take her thoughts on one of my (other) favourite books.

[rina2o6.livejournal.com]

That's a great point about the fandoms - I worked in a bookstore for the sixth and seventh HP releases, and in between I'd have tons of people coming in asking for something like Harry Potter, or just something new because their kids wanted to read. I was thrilled! And then people came and asked for something like Twilight and I wanted to make the sign of the cross and hide in a fort constructed out of Twilight books...I actually did that during a store wide game of Hide and Seek. Figured no one would look for me there.
The whole thing terrifies me, though. People out there really think she's some sort of messiah, don't they?

[himhilien.livejournal.com]

Your mom is pretty badass. I want to come over for one of her rants. I'll bring a lot of salsa.

"Well, I do not think he can write because he is too detailed and most of his stuff is about crazy clowns or kids getting hit by cars. Then again, he is famous, but has he ever made as much as Stephenie for a movie? No, most of his movies went straight to DVD or TV.

I've read this so many times the past 24 hours and it still makes me want to cry. What rock do these people live under and can they go back? *shakes head*

the reason this brand of Twilight fan may get so vehemently defensive is because they really haven't read any other books, so if you tell them Twilight is bad, you're basically saying that their taste in literature is 100% bad.

Which is valid when you look at this (http://www.journalfen.net/community/sparklefield/20002.html?thread=890914#t890914/) thread. I know some people don't like to read, but to say YA novelists shouldn't challenge their readers? I don't get it. This just shows you the state that some of the minds of some of my cousin's peers. She's been such an avid reader for as long as she could read. *sighs*

[lyricalnights.livejournal.com]

The whole "SMeyer is a genius and King is JUS JEELOUS!!" thing cracks me up the most.

Meyer clearly hit some emotional flashpoints for a certain kind of audience, and more power to her.

Meanwhile, my library's copy of The Bachman Books is falling apart, but I don't want to replace it because it contains Rage- the story King wrote in 1977 which captures the mentality behind modern school shootings so well that King himself took it out of print.

Suck it, Stephenie.

[lyricalnights.livejournal.com]

Actually, doing my research, King starting writing Rage 1966, published it for the first time in 1977. Almost fifty years ago. Damn.

[queenanthai.livejournal.com]

"Well, I do not think he can write because he is too detailed and most of his stuff is about crazy clowns or kids getting hit by cars. Then again, he is famous, but has he ever made as much as Stephenie for a movie? No, most of his movies went straight to DVD or TV"

FLAMES ON THE SIDE OF MY FACE

[leoprincess.livejournal.com]

Forgive my language but, MY GOD, these bitches are dumb! They don't even have the right to be called TwiMoms! It's like watching Idiocracy come to life; the fact that these idiots can breed is a crime! D: