Harry Potter vs. Twilight

One of the benefits of having your own blog is that you can state your opinion on popular culture.  Both Harry Potter and Twilight have been on my mind lately because people keep comparing them.  And it's driving me slowly insane.

It's Halloween--time to dress up, right?  Be who you'd like to be, feel young again, whatever.  And lots of people are choosing Harry Potter costumes.  And vampire costumes are always fashionable--think "Interview with a Vampire," fangs, teeth, neck-sucking, all that kind of stuff.  NONE of which is in the Twilight movies or books.  People seem to think if they add glitter, then Lestat becomes Edward Cullen (and their costume from 17 years ago is suddenly relevant again.) 

Um, no.  And you know what?  This crap pisses me off.  This, for example:

the edward cullen vampire cupcake stand

has absolutely NOTHING relevant to Twilight, Edward Cullen or even the movie "Vampires Suck," which was actually pretty funny.  (My husband and I can't watch Twilight now without saying "Look, it's the Black Eyed Peas!")

The whole reason Stephenie Meyer has been and continues to be so involved with "The Twilight Saga" (aka the movies as opposed to the books) is so NONE of the typical vampire crap sneaks into her story.  She's been heavily criticized for it, but she HAS to be.  Why?  She wants her books to be accurately portrayed on the big screen, and she has good reason to fear otherwise. 

Some of the ABSOLUTE CRAP making its way around lately:
This quote from 2009 by a socially-irrelevant writer who sells the rights to his books as if he's a pimp on a street corner:

is suddenly all over both Pinterest and Facebook.  And this, which drives me practically INSANE with its ignorance:

 I would list a source here, but all I can find are links to the same picture, over and over again.

It probably wouldn't bug so much if I felt people had actually read all the books for both series and watched all 3 of the Twilight Saga films. 

Twilight is NOT just about having a hot boyfriend--it's about finding your soul-mate and choosing to be with them for eternity, something which should be appealing to all of us from divorced households growing up, and who are now old enough to realize just how hard marriage really can be.  It's about finding your "niche" in the world: Bella is clumsy everywhere, all the time.  Becoming a vampire suddenly gives her the freedom to walk down the street without breaking her leg or worse--my gosh, her own mother accepts the story that it's "normal" for Bella to fall through a PLATE GLASS WINDOW!!!

And in the end--if you would freaking READ the end--it's Bella's power that saves them all--she surrounds her family, their friends, and most importantly, Edward, from the threat of the Volturi.  She is not hiding behind Edward, waiting for him to save her--she does it, on her own, without him even knowing she has the ability to do so!  How does that make her a bad role model?  She literally becomes the SHIELD to protect her family in battle!!  What wife, what mother, would not do the same?

And at the same time, when she could be sitting around playing with her daughter and letting the men protect her, Bella is off making arrangements for her daughter and Jacob to be able to run, to get away from the Volturi if the battle goes badly--again, with no help from Edward or even Jasper (who usually handles getting the necessary fraudulent documents for the Cullen family.)  So while she's learning how to harness her power, she's also doing what every mother does and preparing for the worst.

GOD, just give it up already!  Get something new to discuss!  I know: what's one way you can help this country out of its recession?  Or, how can we raise public consciousness about water conservation?  Or, what can you teach your child about tolerance by SHUTTING UP ABOUT THIS ALREADY???

In the end, they're both BOOKS, people.  And since literacy is one of the factors in determining a child's success later in life--let them read!  I remember when churches were telling the schools not to carry the Harry Potter novels, that they were about real "Witchcraft" and opened the door for Satan to ruin their child's life.  Now, ten years later, it's accepted, even assumed, that everyone has read (and loved) every one of the Harry Potter books and every Harry Potter movie.

I've read them all, and loved them all.  I read the last Harry Potter book with a pack of tissues at my side, and at times sobbing completely.  I read all of the Twilight books, in a row, staying up all night to do so in spite of having a 3-year-old to take care of all day. 

They are all wonderful books--go read them and be an example to our children that even as adults, we can understand how hard it is to be a kid in a grown-up's world.  Show them that true courage is not limited to warriors in the past.  Show them that whatever they choose, all you want is their future happiness.

So, this is MY OPINION on MY blog.  Disagree with me?  I don't care, life is too short and I have too much laundry to fold to think about this anymore!