What was the last movie you've seen?

[Rurouni_Fencer]

There's nothing really healthy about the relationship between Krang and Shredder

*fixed*

[rocketcat]

Yeah, that's a funny article. I'm confused-- did you actually take it seriously?

It was written in a humorous context sure and is funny at first glance, but you can't tell me if a sister or close female friend was in a relationship very much like that (minus the vampire part of course) that you wouldn't be at least a little concerned. :/

In fact a lot of Twilight can be funny if you take aside all the wrong messages it sends. I mean...who can't laugh at stuff like this?



Or this.

If it were a healthy relationship, it wouldn't be dramatic or romantic. It's about high school vampires and werewolves. It's a schlocky guilty pleasure. If it were about a normal, healthy relationship, nobody would have ever read it. There's nothing really healthy about the relationships between the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Shredder, or between the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and Rita Repulsa, either.

*EDIT*

On a more serious note, I do really agree that girls should not really view Twilight as a model of what a relationship should be like. I'm not really familiar with other similar media. Are there examples in film or literature or other media targeted at teenage girls that you believe do present healthy romantic relationships? If so, what are they? If not, why single out Twilight?

As for singling out Twilight I think it's basically about how extremely popular it is and how many young girls and mature women (yes, let's not forget about the "Twilight Moms") publicly declare how perfect Edward is and how they want a man like that of their own. It's the magnitude of the idolization that makes it truly disturbing. If the fans in general acknowledged how dysfunctional it was and didn't long for it themselves then no one would care. But they don't. That's the main issue people who hate on Twilight have with the series and it's fans.

I'm not saying ALL teens take it seriously, but some do - especially the younger teens. I worked in a library for 4 years and during that time I checked out the Twilight books to a LOT of teens. I asked some of them why they liked them so much and what some of the younger ones (as young as 10 or 11) said about how it was the "perfect romance" and they hoped to find a man like that someday bothered me a little.

It's not like -to stick with the vampire theme- True Blood (which is all kinds of messed up too), which is marketed to adults who (hopefully) know the difference and just take it as a story. That's all I'm trying to say.

[Jrecee]

Apparently the reason for doom being set before raiders was that they wanted an Indiana Jones who didn't believe in magic yet. Which A. seems like a flimsy reason to do that and B. works fine for the story of temple of doom, but makes his disbelief of magic in raiders make no sense.

[Ack]

Look, if you ever find yourself in a position where you're with someone who wants to watch the Twilight films, and you are dynamically opposed to the idea, I suggest you check out the RiffTrax for the series. Trust me, it makes the series incredible, even compelling. I mean, how could you say no to a description like this one, of Twilight: Eclipse:

"Every now and then a sequel comes along that is arguably superior to the original film. The Godfather II. The Empire Strikes Back. 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain. But the makers of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse cleverly avoided such comparisons by just making the exact same movie a third time. You want a slack-jawed girl who can’t choose between some squinty, mopey fellows? We got it! You want a red-headed vampire lady running around causing some sort of unspecified trouble? We got it! You want a consistent mythology, or a story that builds tension and develops in any way over the course of three films? We got...uh...hey look, werewolf nipples!"

In the second one, the RiffTrax crew begin taking bets to see how long it takes that Bella chick to say a single line without a dramatic pause in the middle of it, but have to give up the game five scenes later when she still hasn't managed to do it.

[BoringSupreez]

Look, if you ever find yourself in a position where you're with someone who wants to watch the Twilight films, and you are dynamically opposed to the idea, I suggest you check out the RiffTrax for the series. Trust me, it makes the series incredible, even compelling. I mean, how could you say no to a description like this one, of Twilight: Eclipse:

"Every now and then a sequel comes along that is arguably superior to the original film. The Godfather II. The Empire Strikes Back. 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain. But the makers of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse cleverly avoided such comparisons by just making the exact same movie a third time. You want a slack-jawed girl who can’t choose between some squinty, mopey fellows? We got it! You want a red-headed vampire lady running around causing some sort of unspecified trouble? We got it! You want a consistent mythology, or a story that builds tension and develops in any way over the course of three films? We got...uh...hey look, werewolf nipples!"

In the second one, the RiffTrax crew begin taking bets to see how long it takes that Bella chick to say a single line without a dramatic pause in the middle of it, but have to give up the game five scenes later when she still hasn't managed to do it.

I've never watched any RiffTrax before. I think I need to fix that.

[OldSchool_Boy]

The most obvious Twilight joke was ignored...until now

[BoringSupreez]

The most obvious Twilight joke was ignored...until now

I don't get it. Someone explain.

[Michi]

Yeah, that's a funny article. I'm confused-- did you actually take it seriously?

I found it funny...until I realized they hit every nail on the head

It was written in a humorous context sure and is funny at first glance, but you can't tell me if a sister or close female friend was in a relationship very much like that (minus the vampire part of course) that you wouldn't be at least a little concerned. :/

I certainly would if I found out they were abandoned in the woods or thrown through a glass table.

If it were a healthy relationship, it wouldn't be dramatic or romantic. It's about high school vampires and werewolves. It's a schlocky guilty pleasure. If it were about a normal, healthy relationship, nobody would have ever read it. There's nothing really healthy about the relationships between the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Shredder, or between the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and Rita Repulsa, either.

*EDIT*

On a more serious note, I do really agree that girls should not really view Twilight as a model of what a relationship should be like. I'm not really familiar with other similar media. Are there examples in film or literature or other media targeted at teenage girls that you believe do present healthy romantic relationships? If so, what are they? If not, why single out Twilight?

As for singling out Twilight I think it's basically about how extremely popular it is and how many young girls and mature women (yes, let's not forget about the "Twilight Moms") publicly declare how perfect Edward is and how they want a man like that of their own. It's the magnitude of the idolization that makes it truly disturbing. If the fans in general acknowledged how dysfunctional it was and didn't long for it themselves then no one would care. But they don't. That's the main issue people who hate on Twilight have with the series and it's fans.

I'm not saying ALL teens take it seriously, but some do - especially the younger teens. I worked in a library for 4 years and during that time I checked out the Twilight books to a LOT of teens. I asked some of them why they liked them so much and what some of the younger ones (as young as 10 or 11) said about how it was the "perfect romance" and they hoped to find a man like that someday bothered me a little.

It's not like -to stick with the vampire theme- True Blood (which is all kinds of messed up too), which is marketed to adults who (hopefully) know the difference and just take it as a story. That's all I'm trying to say.

Agreed. I was pretty indifferent towards the whole series til I actually saw some clips from the movies (pathetically pause ladden though it was). After actually watching the clips all those sound bites of teens/moms saying how wonderful Edward was just took on an unimaginably creepy tone.

Edward is not wonderful. As funny as that 'abusive relationship' article previously posted was, it was still frightfully accurate. If you took out the entire vampire/supernatural aspect, Edward just turns into the disturbed emo kid at school who's distancing the girl he has murderous impulses for from her friends and family, insults her, tries to control her life, toys with her head while telling her its for her own good, and watches her sleep from both outside and inside the house. I'm sorry, I find nothing appealing about that.

It also doesn't help that Bella herself is a horrible role model for girls. I get that her 'average girl' image was done to widen her relatability to the largest group possible, but her constant reliance on everything Edward and her apparent lack of being able to make decisions for herself doesn't exactly encourage the young girls reading this to do anything other than finding that one perfect guy. Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with trying to find the perfect mate, in fact I encourage it, but when that person ends up being someone like Edward then something wrong has happened in the equation and you need to go back a couple of steps to fix it.

Also, those movies are just painful to watch and the only way I'd endorse a viewing would be if you had Rifftrax playing in the background.

The most obvious Twilight joke was ignored...until now

Replace Blade with Buffy and I'm sold. Actually, I think I found a text image somewhere on the web that looked like it came out of the book that said, "The Proper Twilight Ending" and in image of the text it read, "And then Buffy killed Edward. The End."

[REPO Man]

Kristen Steward is gorgeous.

Taylor Lautner is a Jheri curl mullet away from looking like AC Slater.

Robert Pattison will have to butch up to play David Bowie.

Bella is damaged.

Stephanie Meyers ruined vampires forever.

K-Stew + R-Patz + Buffy remake = FAIL

AnnaLynn McCord as Buffy FTW.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse needs a starring role cuz he's too good for this scene-stealing secondary character bullshit.

Christopher Meloni looks like Frankenstein's monster.

These are facts.

[Limewater]

Edward is not wonderful. As funny as that 'abusive relationship' article previously posted was, it was still frightfully accurate. If you took out the entire vampire/supernatural aspect, Edward just turns into the disturbed emo kid at school who's distancing the girl he has murderous impulses for from her friends and family, insults her, tries to control her life, toys with her head while telling her its for her own good, and watches her sleep from both outside and inside the house. I'm sorry, I find nothing appealing about that.

Sure, let's remove ALL context and examine every action completely in a vacuum.

That guy who pushed a little kid out of the way of an oncoming car? Take away the car and HE PUSHED A LITTLE KID! Frightful!

The guy hanging around the playground watching his daughter play? Take away the whole father-daughter relationship and OH NO! THERE'S SOME CREEPY GUY HANGING AROUND THE PLAYGROUND!

A married couple have sex. Take out the whole "consent" aspect, HOLY CRAP! RAPE!

It was written in a humorous context sure and is funny at first glance, but you can't tell me if a sister or close female friend was in a relationship very much like that (minus the vampire part of course) that you wouldn't be at least a little concerned. :/

Sure, if you removed ALL context, it would be pretty concerning. If, for example, a guy forces his girlfriend to leave her home because someone is trying to kill her, I have a hard time seeing that as abuse, though.


I really don't think Twilight teaches twelve-year-old girls that relationships should be like the one in the book. I think it's successful because twelve-year-old girls already want relationships like the one in the book, and Stephanie Meyers just gave them what they wanted.