I realize there already have been TONS of Twilight threads, but please, bear with me.
Important note: This is not a Twilight-bashing thread, but a discussion on what elements and tropes a hypothetical piece of fiction would need and how it needs to play them, to properly and succesfully deconstruct Twilight.
I am going by the TV Tropes definition of a deconstruction, not the Movie Bob definition, with apolopgies to Mr. Chipman.
Tl;dr on the TV Tropes article: "[...]a deconstruction of X the work must both play the trope deadly straight and not ignore the realistic implications or consequences of the trope." Also, we work with the material given to us: this is a deconstruction of tropes, characters and mythology presented in Twilight, not how it's vampires sparkle (even though they shouldn't).
As for my odd knowledge on the subject: I've read the Mark Reads Twilight Blog up until somewhere at the start of the third book, when my brains just gave out.
On to the subject at hand.
Now, this autumn and next year's will mark the end of the film adaptation of the Twilight series with the release of Breaking Dawn in two parts. Hopefully, it's popularity will start to wane after that and perhaps it's fan's will realise how ridiculous it really is, but that doesn't mean we can just let it slide.
Now, as most of you know, there's a whole lot wrong with the relationship of Edward and Bella. However, there's something we can do with it and perhaps make it brilliant, with a simple switch of pesrpective.
Allow me to expand: Noah "The Spoony One" Antwiler has noted on two occasions, that if the story wasn't told as something of true love, but instead a tragic story of a teenager, who mistakes a lustful highschool crush for pure love and subsequentially ruins her life forever, it could have been one of the greatest drama stories ever told. That's the point I'm going to build from.
So now we have not!Bella down: She's completely head over heels for this mysterious figure, but her obsession in being with him for eternity is ruining her life. Her father, mother, friends et al are the voice of reason, her last life-line to a more regular, independent life, which she tosses into the wind.
As of yet, I do not know how to work in the original's manipulation of the people around her and her contempt for them.
Next on the list is not!Edward: a century old vampire with the appearance of a boy in his late teens, who can read minds. Now, he obviously hasn't gone mad over the years from hearing voices everywhere he goes á la Mao of Code Geass.
Now suppose this: after reading minds and socially interacting with humans for some time, not!Edward has noted paterns in thoughts, behaviors and what he says and how he presents himself. After over a century of practice, is now perfectly able to create any image he wants with anyone, and knows exactly what strings to pull to elicit a specific reaction. Using this skill he's able to easily manipulate not!Bella's lust in his favour. In fact, he's done it before and in fact has a harem's worth of vampire women all over the world still madly in love with him. Not!bella's just a dime a dozen addition to the collection.
To sum it all up: A girl gets a high school crush and mistakes it for eternal love and throughs anything else she might have had going straight out the window. However, her object of obsession however is just toying with her. Eventually, they get arround to turn her into a vampire. After she's had some time to reflect, she realises what she's done, and what she's become, it's already to late. She's damned herself to immortality for a highschool crush who didn't actually care.
These were my thoughts on some basic elements, what do you think a proper deconstruction of Twilight should have?
Important note: This is not a Twilight-bashing thread, but a discussion on what elements and tropes a hypothetical piece of fiction would need and how it needs to play them, to properly and succesfully deconstruct Twilight.
I am going by the TV Tropes definition of a deconstruction, not the Movie Bob definition, with apolopgies to Mr. Chipman.
Tl;dr on the TV Tropes article: "[...]a deconstruction of X the work must both play the trope deadly straight and not ignore the realistic implications or consequences of the trope." Also, we work with the material given to us: this is a deconstruction of tropes, characters and mythology presented in Twilight, not how it's vampires sparkle (even though they shouldn't).
As for my odd knowledge on the subject: I've read the Mark Reads Twilight Blog up until somewhere at the start of the third book, when my brains just gave out.
On to the subject at hand.
Now, this autumn and next year's will mark the end of the film adaptation of the Twilight series with the release of Breaking Dawn in two parts. Hopefully, it's popularity will start to wane after that and perhaps it's fan's will realise how ridiculous it really is, but that doesn't mean we can just let it slide.
Now, as most of you know, there's a whole lot wrong with the relationship of Edward and Bella. However, there's something we can do with it and perhaps make it brilliant, with a simple switch of pesrpective.
Allow me to expand: Noah "The Spoony One" Antwiler has noted on two occasions, that if the story wasn't told as something of true love, but instead a tragic story of a teenager, who mistakes a lustful highschool crush for pure love and subsequentially ruins her life forever, it could have been one of the greatest drama stories ever told. That's the point I'm going to build from.
So now we have not!Bella down: She's completely head over heels for this mysterious figure, but her obsession in being with him for eternity is ruining her life. Her father, mother, friends et al are the voice of reason, her last life-line to a more regular, independent life, which she tosses into the wind.
As of yet, I do not know how to work in the original's manipulation of the people around her and her contempt for them.
Next on the list is not!Edward: a century old vampire with the appearance of a boy in his late teens, who can read minds. Now, he obviously hasn't gone mad over the years from hearing voices everywhere he goes á la Mao of Code Geass.
Now suppose this: after reading minds and socially interacting with humans for some time, not!Edward has noted paterns in thoughts, behaviors and what he says and how he presents himself. After over a century of practice, is now perfectly able to create any image he wants with anyone, and knows exactly what strings to pull to elicit a specific reaction. Using this skill he's able to easily manipulate not!Bella's lust in his favour. In fact, he's done it before and in fact has a harem's worth of vampire women all over the world still madly in love with him. Not!bella's just a dime a dozen addition to the collection.
To sum it all up: A girl gets a high school crush and mistakes it for eternal love and throughs anything else she might have had going straight out the window. However, her object of obsession however is just toying with her. Eventually, they get arround to turn her into a vampire. After she's had some time to reflect, she realises what she's done, and what she's become, it's already to late. She's damned herself to immortality for a highschool crush who didn't actually care.
These were my thoughts on some basic elements, what do you think a proper deconstruction of Twilight should have?
