Cambridge Deems Twilight Worthy of Analysis

[psychowatcher]

Well, I personally hope they analyze it and then come out to the world and say that it's nothing more than bubblegum for the brain and has a negative effect (if any at all) on it's readers. Then the antis can point to the fact that experts have called it rubbish. The twi-hards seem to disregard Stephen King.

 

[Ophiuchus]

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the article, but I think a lot of people here have the wrong impression.

Not really, they just don't bother to read what's written. They just see the mention of the word Twilight and immediately jump for the bandwagon to show how cool they are. I would've liked to imagine that we (that is, The Escapist community) were slightly more intelligent than that... but never mind. And, honestly, I would've thought by now that people might've got over the whole anti-Twilight thing. Seriously, it's boring now.

We know. You don't like Twilight. You're very masculine and you have wonderful taste in literature. Shame you're not mature enough to ignore something that's obviously not aimed at you. Either that or you're so arrogant that you think everything in the world is meant to be aimed at you. Whichever way, it's not an attractive quality for a human being.

Seriously, people, read the fucking article before spouting the obvious hatred where it's not really warranted. Although, in your defence, I can't help thinking the headline and the sub-header were deliberately worded to cause exactly that sort of reaction... which is a whole 'nother issue, but I guess I can hardly blame The Escapist for wanting to get hits on their article.

[small]To clarify my personal stance: I've never read any of the Twilight books, nor seen any of the movies. It's fairly obvious that I'm not their target audience, so I've completely ignored them. Therefore, I have no opinion on them at all.[/small]

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Analysis is not the word I'd use.

Dissection, followed by laughter would be more appropriate.

What's to understand anyway? It's a badly written wet dream from a menopausal Mormon.

You could pick apart Cosmopolitan or FHM in exactly the same way.

The sum total of what Twilight teaches us is that women like their pr0n more sustained, which is what we could have worked out with a basic treatment of sex ed.

Oh, and homosexual couples tend to affect heterosexuals. Again, known for centuries.

And while our pseudo-intellectuals are decrying those that knock Twilight because "it's not meant for them", may I point out that - like a lot of games - the biggest fans are outside of it's scope - and Cambridge is going to have to find someone who understands Twilight to teach that course. And it's very rare to find a non-rabid Twilight fan.

 

[GeekFury]

Wait, what? Twilight is demend worthy of being on the school circulum, yet I take in my H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Hoawrd, Douglas Adam, Terry Pratchett, J.R.R. Tolkien, Stephan King and Frank Herbert books into school, legitamate authors, and I got told they were'nt suitable for my english book reports when they told us to choose books.. I should have brought in a few of my Anne Rice novels when I had my goth phase or some tat teen trash and that'd have been more likely to have been approved. Good lord and we wonder why the youth today are so worthless.

 

[Chaos-Spider]

at least almost all the others have appeal to both sexes, this.... this...

THIS IS MADNESS!

THIS. IS. TWILIGHT!

*Boot*

Sorry, i couden't help myself...

Thank you for making a Sparta joke for me. It had to be done.

 

[Closet Superhero]

The problem I see is that treating it as a cultural phenomenon means the professors - who need to come up with profound analyses as part of their jobs - will largely discount the roles of marketing, internet word-of-mouth, snow-balling effect of popularity, etc.

All factors which I am certain are FAR more important to understanding it's popularity than anything to do with it's content. Because I read the first book of it and there is absolutely no substance there. It was the most amateurish writing in a published novel that I have ever seen.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Go for it. Just like Battlefield Earth should be studied at a film school so should Twilight.

 

[inpachi]

at least almost all the others have appeal to both sexes, this.... this...

THIS IS MADNESS!

THIS. IS. TWILIGHT!

*Boot*

Sorry, i couden't help myself...

THIS IS SPARTA!!!

 

[Calatar]

Oh, and homosexual couples tend to affect heterosexuals. Again, known for centuries.

What the sensemake?

Analysis is not the word I'd use.

Dissection, followed by laughter would be more appropriate.

What's to understand anyway? It's a badly written wet dream from a menopausal Mormon.

You could pick apart Cosmopolitan or FHM in exactly the same way.

Well, you could. But they're discussing children's literature/media, and why certain things are popular. It's not inherently wrong to study why something is popular. As the article said, it's easy to dismiss such things as trash, but why do they really like it? What themes ring with them, and how does one tap into their emotions the way the books do? Of course you don't like them, you're not the target audience. And we all know why you don't like them, but that's not the question at hand.

I mean seriously, if you're going to be studying pop culture, you can't just go "lol it sucks people are dumb." If the theme in there really is "pr0n for girls," then how do you get it in a medium that does not send bad messages to young girls?
EDIT: Lawl edited your post after I replied

And while our pseudo-intellectuals are decrying those that knock Twilight because "it's not meant for them", may I point out that - like a lot of games - the biggest fans are outside of it's scope - and Cambridge is going to have to find someone who understands Twilight to teach that course. And it's very rare to find a non-rabid Twilight fan.

I point out that you are not knocking Twilight alone, but the entire study of pop culture merely because it includes it. And you don't actually need a fan of a book to analyze a book. You are saying nonsense.

 

[KiruTheMant]

Such trash,I don't understand it,scientists are going all the wrong ways.One day they say this teen stuff kills the mind,now they add it to a fucking museum?Add games that teach Drama,Puzzles,and Reaction!FFVII,Portal,and Call of duty teach those things,WITH A LURE NONE THE LESS!This makes me regret that only a few adults can be considered smart after 25 to me.

"Edit" And to ADD to my rant,Think,Who here likes the beatles other than posers?Most people like Twilight for that same reason.THE,FACT,THEIR,FRIENDS,DEMAND,THEY,DO.

 

[Hurr Durr Derp]

The only good thing about this thread is that every time it pops back up in the Latest Posts list, it reads "Cambridge Deems Twilight Worthy of Anal".

 

[OtherAlex]

It's probably because the Cambridge English Literature and Creative writing department is currently 15th in the country.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Oh, and homosexual couples tend to affect heterosexuals. Again, known for centuries.

What the sensemake?

Males find Lesbian antics fascinating, same for women and gay men. (And those werewolves are a very unsubtle portrayal)

Well, you could. But they're discussing children's literature/media, and why certain things are popular.

I understand that, but they're popular because of hype. So by analysing things like that, they're only understanding the basis of peer pressure rather than the qualities of the literature. And for that, you don't need any text.

Of course you don't like them, you're not the target audience. And we all know why you don't like them, but that's not the question at hand.

See below.

I mean seriously, if you're going to be studying pop culture, you can't just go "lol it sucks people are dumb."

Equally, you really need to be studying why people feel that way. But the above was not what I expressed, which leads me to my concerns over who is going to teach it if the only justification for it's "haters" is "lol they suck".

If the theme in there really is "pr0n for girls," then how do you get it in a medium that does not send bad messages to young girls?

Perhaps you should look at how you define "bad messages"

EDIT: Lawl edited your post after I replied

Unlikely, I just thought of something else to add.

I point out that you are not knocking Twilight alone, but the entire study of pop culture merely because it includes it.

That's a reducto ad absurdum argument. There are better studies to be made on hype phenomenons than the latest flavour. Looking at something that still sells well, while being well-written, would be a far more educational practice. Simply including certain books as they hit the best seller chart is futile because they will age far faster, and - as has already been said - children's books that have hit the charts like Pratchett's haven't been inducted. This is a case of the hype leading the hype and I believe that to be wrong despite what I feel about the books themselves.

And you don't actually need a fan of a book to analyze a book. You are saying nonsense.

Ironical, isn't it?

 

[GothmogII]

Now, calm down everyone. They never said that the book was good; they only said that it should be studied as a cultural phenomenon. I can't say I disagree with that.

Yeah, like dissecting a hideously mutated animal: FOR SCIENCE!

 

[inpachi]

Oh crap does anyone realize that on the main forums page it says in the latest posts tab thingy!

Cambridge Deems Twilight Worthy Of Anal? I just find that to be hilarious! That is all good bye!

 

[The Wooster]

If It means I don't have to read 'The Prelude' again I'll write a thesis on every damn book in the series.

 

[Tonimata]

The only analysis Twilight is worth of is to FIND ITS FUCKING WEAK POINT AND SHOOT IT!

Alternatively...

Cambridge's grade requirements are about to drop exponentially.

 

[pirateninj4]

If we all just ignore it, maybe it will go away.

 

[erbkaiser]

^^^
I could not agree more, Twilight being excremental lecture.