And that fact absolves Twilight from predictable plots, retarded characters, cliche's and repeating itself in what way?
Twilight: Bella is SUPPOSED to be a flat character.
- Thread starter DanDeFool
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Probably true that's part of the reason for any consciously bland protagonist, though from what I've heard on it [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/moviebob/7779-The-Problem-With-Twilight] the situation the (female) readers are supposed to project themselves into - the passive purity of an existence consisting of being bickered over by omnipotent men - is promoting norms which are at best quite backwards.
And if you look to the right, you can see a person blowing the OP's excuse out of the water.Daquin said:
Means "Quoted For Truth"Durgiun said:
OT: My issue with Bella isn't that she's "bland"; It's that she's stupid. Also, the books (and films) she appears in are poorly written and the messages they convey are beyond disturbing.
Quoted for truth. And dont worry about it, I used to think it was Quit fucking talking lol XDDurgiun said:
the audience (little girls who were too stupid for the hunger games) project themselves in to HER!!
*tares shirt of and walks out in the rain*
strike me down, shoot me, kill me, pull my plug, end my time, execute me on the spot, stop me once and for all. i do not wish to live in a world where women are influenced by twilight Bella.
seriously. she is the worst role model ever. i'd rather my children idolize charlie sheen than her. he's a selfharm, male dependent, irresponsible, cruel bi*ch
*tares shirt of and walks out in the rain*
strike me down, shoot me, kill me, pull my plug, end my time, execute me on the spot, stop me once and for all. i do not wish to live in a world where women are influenced by twilight Bella.
seriously. she is the worst role model ever. i'd rather my children idolize charlie sheen than her. he's a selfharm, male dependent, irresponsible, cruel bi*ch
Deliberately writing a lifeless character in the hopes that all teen girls everywhere would project into it seems like a bad plan. A lot of book series that do well allow you to empathize and somewhat project yourself on to the main character while still featuring interesting characters. You can have first person narrative characters who are interactive, witty, entertaining, and emotional.
The reason Bella appears to be a flat character is because Twilight is wish fulfillment pablum about girl meeting absurdly handsome and rich magical boy who will then make all her decisions for her and she will never have to do anything ever again. And because of this idea, Bella is entirely dependent on other people for everything. She can't be happy unless she's with sparkle-ass the vampire. She apparently does risky motorcycle racing not because she likes to, but because it reminds her of how fast sparkle-ass can magically run. She treats everyone around her poorly not because of anything they've done or not done to her, but because they aren't sparkle-ass. She has no will, no agency, in the story whatsoever, but everything mysteriously revolves around her for no reason.
And that's why we get the real problem with the writing. It's not that you can't ever have flat characters in a novel, even in major roles. Asimov pulled it off multiple times in Foundation, but you didn't notice the characters were flat unless you took a hard look at the book. But in Twilight, there's nothing to hide that Bella is a flat character. There's no shading, no effort to make her even a tiny bit of a person. Everything she likes is either obviously supposed to parallel her "great love story" or is incredibly cliche stuff that everyone likes, or is never given an explanation of what about a thing she likes or dislikes. She doesn't get along with her parents, why? She didn't like arizona, why? She refuses to even consider going out with the ab-tacular werewolf, why? She likes sparkle-ass, for the love of god, WHY?! Oh right, because he's pretty. Ugh...
TL;DR: The problem with Bella isn't that she's a flat character, but that she's a very badly written one that is devoid of ANYTHING to even qualify her as a character.
The reason Bella appears to be a flat character is because Twilight is wish fulfillment pablum about girl meeting absurdly handsome and rich magical boy who will then make all her decisions for her and she will never have to do anything ever again. And because of this idea, Bella is entirely dependent on other people for everything. She can't be happy unless she's with sparkle-ass the vampire. She apparently does risky motorcycle racing not because she likes to, but because it reminds her of how fast sparkle-ass can magically run. She treats everyone around her poorly not because of anything they've done or not done to her, but because they aren't sparkle-ass. She has no will, no agency, in the story whatsoever, but everything mysteriously revolves around her for no reason.
And that's why we get the real problem with the writing. It's not that you can't ever have flat characters in a novel, even in major roles. Asimov pulled it off multiple times in Foundation, but you didn't notice the characters were flat unless you took a hard look at the book. But in Twilight, there's nothing to hide that Bella is a flat character. There's no shading, no effort to make her even a tiny bit of a person. Everything she likes is either obviously supposed to parallel her "great love story" or is incredibly cliche stuff that everyone likes, or is never given an explanation of what about a thing she likes or dislikes. She doesn't get along with her parents, why? She didn't like arizona, why? She refuses to even consider going out with the ab-tacular werewolf, why? She likes sparkle-ass, for the love of god, WHY?! Oh right, because he's pretty. Ugh...
TL;DR: The problem with Bella isn't that she's a flat character, but that she's a very badly written one that is devoid of ANYTHING to even qualify her as a character.
Well, this sort of stuff can sometimes work in games, where a character is given a name, or even the outline of a personality, leaving character and player to merge. It works because gaming is interactive. You can change the actions of the lead character and his/her interactions with other characters.
This, however, does not work so well in books, and definately not in movies. You could argue that books can leave things to the imagination, but the interactions still have to be set, which means as much as you can project yourself onto said protagonist, her actions will still be that of a flat character.
It certainly doesn't work well in movies, where less can be left to the imagination.
In summary, maybe the author was aiming to do it, but it didn't work, and probably would never have worked in the first place.
This, however, does not work so well in books, and definately not in movies. You could argue that books can leave things to the imagination, but the interactions still have to be set, which means as much as you can project yourself onto said protagonist, her actions will still be that of a flat character.
It certainly doesn't work well in movies, where less can be left to the imagination.
In summary, maybe the author was aiming to do it, but it didn't work, and probably would never have worked in the first place.
Yeah, we kinda knew that. That doesn't make it good. For instance, if I intend to fail an exam, and get exactly 0%, my lecturer will still tell me I've failed, rather than praise me for my brilliance.
That's pretty much it.
Still doesn't excuse all the other characters.
And doesn't excuse every problem those books have.
But that's a big reason the books are as popular as they are.
And she's still a horrible role model.
Anyways, I thought we were past the whole Twilight thing? Can't we just let it die?
EDIT:
ALRIGHT, WHO NECRO'D THIS THREAD?!
Ahem, anyway. Why resurrect a Twilight thread of all things?
Still doesn't excuse all the other characters.
And doesn't excuse every problem those books have.
But that's a big reason the books are as popular as they are.
And she's still a horrible role model.
Anyways, I thought we were past the whole Twilight thing? Can't we just let it die?
EDIT:
ALRIGHT, WHO NECRO'D THIS THREAD?!
[HEADING=3]IT WAS YOU!!! OUT WITH YOU!! YOUR DARK ARTS ARE NOT WELCOME HERE!!!!![/HEADING]Matt S Hoimyr said:
Ahem, anyway. Why resurrect a Twilight thread of all things?
Bella is written in the classic style of pandering-roleplay.
It's nothing new or original, nor is it a mode of writing that's effective at telling a story.
However, it's suited perfectly for pandering, and it's not all that different in design from any other form of self-insertion fantasy aimed at the teenage male demographic.
How it took off like a rocket, I have no idea, because Meyer's writing abilities are about on par with someone you'd find doing Dracula slash-fics on the net.
ASIDE: The Captcha was something OTHER than spam from DISH or that fucking shingles website?!!
WHAT SORCERY IS THIS??!!
"Dragon with matches"
Damn fucking right I am!
It's nothing new or original, nor is it a mode of writing that's effective at telling a story.
However, it's suited perfectly for pandering, and it's not all that different in design from any other form of self-insertion fantasy aimed at the teenage male demographic.
How it took off like a rocket, I have no idea, because Meyer's writing abilities are about on par with someone you'd find doing Dracula slash-fics on the net.
ASIDE: The Captcha was something OTHER than spam from DISH or that fucking shingles website?!!
WHAT SORCERY IS THIS??!!
"Dragon with matches"
Damn fucking right I am!