Twilight-y stuff. (Also known as procrastination.)

[elisi]

So, until today I had never heard of Caitlin Flanagan (the author of To Hell With All That (2006). She is currently working on Girl Land, a book about the emotional life of pubescent girls.), and it turns out that she is a Twilight fan. (I can see why. Oooooh yes.) She has a review here, which I skimmed (lots of stuff about 'the emotional life of pubescent girls' which made my eyes glaze over), but at the top of page two I was greeted with this astonishing declaration:

Twilight is fantastic. It’s a page-turner that pops out a lurching, frightening ending I never saw coming.

What? *boggles* [ETA: Unless she means 'Breaking Dawn', in which case - absolutely!] My mind immediately sprang back to my first experience of Twilight - shinga's reviews (beginning here), and her summary of the ending:

ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW WHAT, FUCK IT

THE REST OF THE BOOK: *is boring*

BELLA: *gets the crap kicked out of her and it’s amazing how boring that scene actually is*

EDWARD: *saves her*

READERS: *aren’t surprised and find this incredibly predictable and stupid*

THIRTEEN YEAR OLD FANGIRLS: THAT IS SO ROMANTIC.

PLOT: *never really shows up and probably committed suicide*

THE END

READERS: So this is what a lobotomy feels like!

BELLA: I LOVE EDWARD.

~~~

I can understand the appeal of teenage fantasies and OTT romance (even if it does nothing for me), but to claim that the ending is *surprising* is... words fail me.


BUT - in happier news I also found what might be the funniest review of the movie so far: ENJOY!

Comments

[lynnenne]

I think, before taking any of her reviews seriously, readers might want to check out the Publisher's Weekly review of her book: "...it's easy to overlook that she offers no evidence to back up her chief notion 'that women have a deeply felt emotional connection to housekeeping.' Coming from someone who admits she doesn't change her sheets or clean her house (the maid does it), it's hard to take this assertion seriously."

Yes, this is a woman I'd trust to tell me about women's experiences. :S

Then, readers might want to have a look at the 1970 essay from which Flanagan's title is stolen: Goodbye to All That, by feminist author Robin Morgan, and her 2008 follow-up, a scathing commentary on the sexism visited on Hillary Clinton during the primaries by the mainstream media. Frankly, these essays speak to me far more than sparkling vampires ever could.

[elisi]

Yes, this is a woman I'd trust to tell me about women's experiences. :S
As I said to owenthruman above, even from just reading the one article, her reasoning clearly goes as follows: 'I'm a woman. I feel a particular way. Ergo every woman feels this way.' Which is flawed logic. (And as a housewife who DOES change the sheets, allow me to say that housework might be an emotional thing, but mostly along the lines of 'Bloody hell, does it never stop?' ;) )

Frankly, these essays speak to me far more than sparkling vampires ever could.
*nods* I think the sparkly vampires are symptom though. Bella LOVES housework f.ex., apart from being the ultimate teenage Mary Sue, so I am beginning to see how this woman feels like the books were pretty much written for her.

[lynnenne]

allow me to say that housework might be an emotional thing, but mostly along the lines of 'Bloody hell, does it never stop?'

Hahahaha, yes. I feel the same way, and I don't even have children!

[elisi]

It's funny, because I was never the tidy type *until* I had children...