Within the past month, I put a pick up on the Vampires Spot asking about people's favorite book series about vampires. In the comments of this pick, I got into an argument about whether the vampires of Twilight are actual vampires (lame to argue about this, I know hahaha).
Specifically she was telling me that Edward wasn't really a vampire because "he has no fangs and doesn't need blood to survive, also the sun thing...". I replied saying that just because Stephenie made her vampires different doesn't mean that they're not vampires. In the end we agreed to disagree.
Personally, I feel that the Twilight vampires are so much better because they are different. I love that they don't fit into the stereotypical definition of a vampire. It's actually really refreshing, I think. I like that they don't have fangs or need to rely on blood or any other difference they have from the stereotype.
I don't know why this bothers me so much. I mean, I just don't understand why a vampire has to fit the whole definition of a vampire to be considered one. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy other vampire books, shows, movies, etc. "Buffy" started my whole obsession with vampires.
I guess one reason it bothers me so much is because that girl I argued with said she only read the beginning of the first one. I noticed that in the comments of picks from the Vampires Spot, she was always putting down Twilight and bashing on it. I finally got fed up and said something to her, hence the argument we had.
Please tell me your thoughts: do you consider Twilight vampires to be considered vampires even though they don't fit into the definition?
|
(PS I believe I saw that disagreement you guys had)
The Cullens are NOT vampires...they're TOO perfect to be what society should call a vampire. I mean...atleast if you went up against Count Dracula as a normal human...you had a chance...if you find yourself on the bad side of Edward Cullen...the only way you could survive is if you threw Bella off a bridge! Let me put this in a simpler way: You're in a dark alley and a regular REAL vampire comes up and tries to kill you...you stab a stake through that things heart and MOVE ON! Now with the Twilight vampires...you'd be screwed (Unless it was one of the Cullens, then you could talk about your feelings and then they wouldn't kill you). Just saying, but Twilight RIPPED THE VAMPIRE DEFINITION TO SHREDS...AND THEN SPAT IN THE DIRECTION OF THE SHREDED DEFINITION.
Another series I enjoyed that did this is the Night World Series by L.J. Smith. The vampires in that one are pretty different from the usual ones, as well. Well, the lamia ones are, at least.
P.S. Maybe you should stop lurking in the Twilight Spot since you so obviously have a problem with it. How lame.
But I do gotta say one nice thing about Twilight, you can have big arguments with the people who go nuts about Twilight and think that all the stuff is real and sit there for hours entertaining yourself by telling them that the Cullens, the Blacks, the Swans, none of it is real! Not to mention I like the coverart...but other than that...it wasn't all that of a good series...
Now I actually took the time and looked up Vampire in the dictionary, it said:
1. A reanimated corpse that is believed to rise from the grave at night to suck the blood of sleeping people.
2. A person, such as an extortionist, who preys upon others.
3. A vampire bat.
Twilight "vampires" to me are just pale-faced, sparkly humans who have a fetish for blood...sorry to rain on the Twilight brigade.
That movie sucked too. Even when I liked the series...I still thought that movie was trash...and they want to make a sequel?
First, I want to know why bash Steph for having an imagination? Why hate something that's different? So they don't fit in with the defintion of vampires; big deal. That's not really a strong arguement either.
Another thing, I definitely do not think that they're real. Obviously, it's FICTION. I will admit that I get caught up in arguing about the series, but don't you do the same with something you really enjoy? What's so wrong about getting engrossed in a story with a great plotline? I will admit that the movie is not the best example of cinematic greatness, but it was nice to see the book on the screen.
And what do you mean you used to like the series? What changed?
I never said you thought they were real, but there are some people out there who fantasize to an extreme...and arguing with them is fun. If I like something, I say I like it and will often tell you why it is that I think it is good, but I never actually sit there for hours debating about it...this is just something I like to debate about because it's like the fight is me vs the world.
And I liked the series, but Breaking Dawn changed my opinion, that book should have never existed for one thing...I believe I mentioned that above. Think about this as an ending for Eclipse, just put this in your mind for a minute and think about your reaction...this goes for anyone else who's reading this: Bella dying. Now when I actually thought about it, my reaction would have been like: "Woah...I DID NOT see that coming." Now that would have made the ending for that book GREAT. I would probably still like it because they completely omitted the whole uber-Bella (then again, I would probably never have thought of that as an ending). That would have been such an unexpected twist, and even though it may have pissed off all those fans, they would have had the same "Woah..." reaction as I did when I thought of it...now you can't tell me you didn't get something relatively close to the same reaction when you thought of that as an ending instead of them discussing marriage.
If something does not fit a definition of something then it cease to be that thing.
There is nothing wrong with thinking outside of the box, but certain attributes still have to be retained. Anne Rices's vampires are not the traditional vampires. She reinvented the entire vampire genre, turning them to beautiful,sophisticated, tortured creatures. However her vampires still had the important features: burns in the sun etc.
With the changes that Meyer has made, what makes her vampires any different from other undeads? In fact I can just label them as immortals who needs blood to survive, or sparkling undying people.
I'm all for imagination, but the only thing that twilight vampires have in common with other vampires is that they drink blood. Drinking blood doesn't make you a vampire, being undead, burning in the sunlight, and being deprived of anything pure and holy makes you a vampire. You can take some liberties, yes, but as many people have said in the above comments, you can only change something so much before it stops being that thing anymore. Stephanie Meyer could have spent the entire book calling the Cullens something else, and I would not have noticed a resemblance to vampires.
and the bella dying ending is lame. i'm sorry, but that's my opinion. i really liked the ending to eclipse. i was really happy with that book; it's probably my favorite after the first one.
Sign In or join Fanpop to add your comment