Vampires

Another thing that I am really geeky about is vampires, particularly tv shows. My all time favourite of course would have to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer. More recently I've been getting into True Blood and Vampire Diaries. Currently 5 eps into season 2 of Vampires Diaries and loving it! Its very addictive. Glad I got into it on DVD tho so I don't have to wait between episodes.


I also really love Vampire novels as well. I have every Buffy novel they made (about 80 odd), as well as all the Angel ones and yes, I even have my own full set of Twilight novels (stop mocking and get over it if you don't like it!). I've also got a few other random ones like "Boys That Bite" and the first 3 Vampire Academy books which I still have yet to read. Naturally I have all the Sookie Stackhouse novels and I also just picked up the first Vampire Diaries book so I'll prob be getting into those really soon.


Ok, so since it's Speak Out With Your Geek Out week I'm gonna be brutally honest here. I like Twilight. I am a fan. I do not identify with the whole "Twi-hard" label or concept especially because of all the bad connotations it has attached to it. I also don't feel I fit there as I am not the stereotypical teenage fangirl. Do I squeal hysterically whenever Edward Cullen gets mentioned? No. Do I have to know every single ridiculous minute detail of Robert Pattinson's life? No. Do I recognise that the whole story and characters are highly flawed and not of supreme quality? Absolutely.



Yes, I am a fan and yes these stories are not the greatest. I fully admit that I think the first novel needs a severe edit (or 3) and I remember when I first read it thinking how badly written it was. The rest did pick up fortunately though they are still not the greatest writing I've ever read.


Twilight honestly is a lot of trash. It's really stupid and contrived and ridiculous and do you know what? That's ok. It's not for everyone and I don't think it tries to be and anything that says different is just media spin which is all BS anyways. It's trashy but for me, thats a lot of the fun.


While I am a fan I do also enjoy all the mocking it does get - to an extent. Sometimes it just gets overwhelming and redundant and annoying. If you don't like it, fine. Get over it and leave people who do be. I think there is often too much "hating" going on out there and not enough tolerance.


My particular favourites against it include the "the Buffy staked Edward" quote; my good friend Scott Carelli (who will probably disown me forever after this) saying the whole plot point of "you killed my boyfriend so now I kill you" is ridiculous which it is and I whole-heartedly agree!; and all the "Alex reads Twilight" vids on youtube always have me laughing my head off. I particularly recommend those if you REALLY dont like this stuff.


One reason I do like it, however, is that I actually have a lot of friends who like it too. This is a big deal. 10 years ago, finding people who would even look at anything vampire or horror/sci fi related was really difficult. It was too niche and unacceptable to them. Vampires are evil and you shouldn't like them. Now, I have a ton of girlfriends who love it and are therefore more willing to look at other things in the genre and other geeky realms and I think this is a great thing. There is nothing more fun than being able to talk with and introduce people to something you are geeky about and not have them laugh in your face or judge you - hence this week's event! It's nice to see them getting involved with it and seeing it springboard them onto other (better) things.


Why is any of that such a bad thing? More geeks? Hell yeah!


Another reason I like it is that to a certain degree, I can relate to the source material. I can relate in the way of having that first love and being completely ridiculous and over the top and life and death about it all. Am I proud of that? No. But thats part of being a teenager. Its not pretty, its not logical and thank God we all grow up and move past all that.


I think there are a lot of people who can get on board with fighting for a love that should not work and is ultimately doomed from the start (hello any relationship in any Joss Whedon work). This not a new plot device but it is an entertaining one.


And for me, flawed and all, at the end of the day I find Twilight entertaining on many different levels. If nothing else, people talk about it whether they love it or hate it. More discussion is good in my opinion. If you don't like it cuz its bad and you want something better? Thats a good thing. Seek out something else and find out what your thing is.


But seriously, stop all the hate. If you don't like it, it's not for you. That's ok. But it is for someone else. It does fulfill a role and there are just as many people who do like it as dont. Leave those people be to enjoy it for what it is - entertainment. The biggest, most respectful thing you can do if you don't like it? Don't engage with it. Don't buy the books or see the movies. And don't rain on someone else's parade just because you have a different opinion. We could all stand to be a little more tolerant.