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Aug. 1st, 2008 06:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kippurbirdIn regards to the Lie Meme: I never collected G.I. Joes. Though I did play with my brother's all the time.
Apparently a blog picked up/noticed my Mark Twain Essay. I'm not really sure what to make of it, beyond being exceptionally amused and bewildered that someone would feel that it's good enough to post about.
Twilight. Port Angeles Chapter Eight
So, there's a girl's night out. Jessica, Bella and Angela are out to Port Angeles. Bella is happy to be going out with the girls, the estrogen giving her a rush. However, there is still some condensation from Bella on Jessica. "We listened to whiny rock songs while Jessica jabbered on about the boys we hung out with." If Bella was really one of them, she wouldn't find the rock songs whiny. This, I think, is Meyer's stepping through here. As a parent and thus removed from Bella's generation, it's likely that she would find today's music whiny. However, as Bella is part of her generation, it's not likely that she would. It would have been nice to see exactly what sort of music, which bands/singers that Bella is finding to be whiny, because "Whiny rock songs" can encompass a great deal of music, depending on the person. Is Elvis whiny rock? The Beatles? Bon-Jovi? This is a chance here to give us insight on what sort of person Jessica is and what sort of person Bella is by exploring their musical tastes. By just saying "whiny rock songs", we learn absolutely nothing. Also, "jabbering about boys" makes Jessica seem shallow (and from Bella that's really saying something yes?)and air-headed. Like she doesn't approve of what Jessica is doing and is just there to use her as a ride to get out of Forks or to keep her happy. It doesn't seem like she's paying attention, more like smiling and nodding. Plus the fact that Jessica's choice of subject matter makes her seem like all she cares about is boys. We never hear her talk about anything else really. She doesn't seem to have any other facet to her personality.
Angela, on the other hand, isn't too happy about going out with "chess club Eric", the guy Bella suggested she ask out for the Spring dance. She's "lukewarm". So, Jessica, as she's all about guys tries to get Angela to say what her type is, since Eric is not.
At the junior's section of the shopping mall, Jessica and Angela are amazed to learn that Bella has never gone to a dance.
First of all, this makes Bella into the virginal princess. She's pure and unsullied, thus making her purer for Edward's True Love. This is something that a mother would want for her kids and is being projected into Bella. It's not that I'm saying that Bella should have already had sex, but it would have been okay for her to have some relationship experience. Especially since she's about seventeen in this book. She says that she never had a boyfriend or anything and it seems to indicate it's because she's afraid of her klutziness, but guys would have seen her at times other than the dances, and she hasn't proved to be very klutzy at all. I find it hard to believe that no one asked her, especially the ways she looks and the fact that she doesn't appear to be a complete and total social idiot. I'm sure she had friends back in Phoenix, even if she's too self-centered to mention them.
However, by not having the boyfriend, by not having the previous relationship experience it'll make what she has with Edward, supposedly, that much more special. But for me, how can you know if something is the best in the world, if you've never tried anything else?
To move on, it seems like Tyler is telling everyone that Bella is going to the dance with him.
And this is why Lauren, designated bitch queen, doesn't like Bella. Once this is cleared up, I'm certain that Lauren will come to team Bella.
Bella manages to ask if the Cullen's go camping often. Angela says that they do whenever the weather is nice. This must be their convenient excuse of how come they're not out and about town when it's sunny out. Of course, it still doesn't make sense because what about the summer or you know partly cloudy days? Or if it is cloudy and then all of a sudden, it becomes sunny? And then cloudy... and then.. well, you know... act like weather?
But as this is not my reality, I'm sure this isn't a problem.
Finally, Bella and the other two girls separate, Bella saying she needs to go to find a book store. This is the Convenient Excuse for what happens next.
See, Bella goes off into the wrong part of town. She realizes that she's headed in the wrong place and instead of back tracking decides to go around the block. This allows her to get into trouble when four guys surround her. But before anything can happen, Bella is rescued when she darts out to stop a car. The car's owner does a James Bond maneuver and lets her into the passenger seat.
The car's owner is unsurprisingly, Edward.
Edward angry.
Edward wish to smash.
Edward suddenly is wearing purple pants and has turned green.
Somehow that's a more interesting picture than what he's been described as earlier.
ANYWAY, Bella is in no way surprised that Edward has rescued her. It could, however, be the shock from almost being attacked and then having to distract Edward from being so angry that he almost kills something.
He then takes her to dinner.
No. Really.
Once he gets calmed down enough he magically knows where Angela and Jessica were supposed to meet Bella. And they are conveniently finished eating. Edward mind-whammies them into saying that it's okay and that Edward can take Bella home.
I'm suddenly struck by the lack of cell phones. Jessica and Angela are relieved to see Bella, but they never tried to call her on the phone. No one has mentioned cell phones at all. I mean, calling would have made things so much easier. It would have ruined the story somewhat, but it would have been more realistic.
Still, her friends instead of looking for her apparently ate dinner. Nice friends they are. Eating instead of waiting or calling to make sure she's okay when she doesn't show up on time. They just let Edward whiz her away as if nothing had happened.
More later. This is a good break.
Apparently a blog picked up/noticed my Mark Twain Essay. I'm not really sure what to make of it, beyond being exceptionally amused and bewildered that someone would feel that it's good enough to post about.
Twilight. Port Angeles Chapter Eight
So, there's a girl's night out. Jessica, Bella and Angela are out to Port Angeles. Bella is happy to be going out with the girls, the estrogen giving her a rush. However, there is still some condensation from Bella on Jessica. "We listened to whiny rock songs while Jessica jabbered on about the boys we hung out with." If Bella was really one of them, she wouldn't find the rock songs whiny. This, I think, is Meyer's stepping through here. As a parent and thus removed from Bella's generation, it's likely that she would find today's music whiny. However, as Bella is part of her generation, it's not likely that she would. It would have been nice to see exactly what sort of music, which bands/singers that Bella is finding to be whiny, because "Whiny rock songs" can encompass a great deal of music, depending on the person. Is Elvis whiny rock? The Beatles? Bon-Jovi? This is a chance here to give us insight on what sort of person Jessica is and what sort of person Bella is by exploring their musical tastes. By just saying "whiny rock songs", we learn absolutely nothing. Also, "jabbering about boys" makes Jessica seem shallow (and from Bella that's really saying something yes?)and air-headed. Like she doesn't approve of what Jessica is doing and is just there to use her as a ride to get out of Forks or to keep her happy. It doesn't seem like she's paying attention, more like smiling and nodding. Plus the fact that Jessica's choice of subject matter makes her seem like all she cares about is boys. We never hear her talk about anything else really. She doesn't seem to have any other facet to her personality.
Angela, on the other hand, isn't too happy about going out with "chess club Eric", the guy Bella suggested she ask out for the Spring dance. She's "lukewarm". So, Jessica, as she's all about guys tries to get Angela to say what her type is, since Eric is not.
At the junior's section of the shopping mall, Jessica and Angela are amazed to learn that Bella has never gone to a dance.
The dance was billed as semiformal, and we weren't exactly sure what that
meant. Both Jessica and Angela seemed surprised and almost disbelieving when I told them I'd never been to a dance in Phoenix.
"Didn't you ever go with a boyfriend or something?" Jess asked dubiously as we walked through the front doors of the store.
"Really," I tried to convince her, not wanting to confess my dancing problems. "I've never had a boyfriend or anything close. I didn't go out much."
"Why not?" Jessica demanded.
"No one asked me," I answered honestly.
First of all, this makes Bella into the virginal princess. She's pure and unsullied, thus making her purer for Edward's True Love. This is something that a mother would want for her kids and is being projected into Bella. It's not that I'm saying that Bella should have already had sex, but it would have been okay for her to have some relationship experience. Especially since she's about seventeen in this book. She says that she never had a boyfriend or anything and it seems to indicate it's because she's afraid of her klutziness, but guys would have seen her at times other than the dances, and she hasn't proved to be very klutzy at all. I find it hard to believe that no one asked her, especially the ways she looks and the fact that she doesn't appear to be a complete and total social idiot. I'm sure she had friends back in Phoenix, even if she's too self-centered to mention them.
However, by not having the boyfriend, by not having the previous relationship experience it'll make what she has with Edward, supposedly, that much more special. But for me, how can you know if something is the best in the world, if you've never tried anything else?
To move on, it seems like Tyler is telling everyone that Bella is going to the dance with him.
And this is why Lauren, designated bitch queen, doesn't like Bella. Once this is cleared up, I'm certain that Lauren will come to team Bella.
Bella manages to ask if the Cullen's go camping often. Angela says that they do whenever the weather is nice. This must be their convenient excuse of how come they're not out and about town when it's sunny out. Of course, it still doesn't make sense because what about the summer or you know partly cloudy days? Or if it is cloudy and then all of a sudden, it becomes sunny? And then cloudy... and then.. well, you know... act like weather?
But as this is not my reality, I'm sure this isn't a problem.
Finally, Bella and the other two girls separate, Bella saying she needs to go to find a book store. This is the Convenient Excuse for what happens next.
See, Bella goes off into the wrong part of town. She realizes that she's headed in the wrong place and instead of back tracking decides to go around the block. This allows her to get into trouble when four guys surround her. But before anything can happen, Bella is rescued when she darts out to stop a car. The car's owner does a James Bond maneuver and lets her into the passenger seat.
The car's owner is unsurprisingly, Edward.
Edward angry.
Edward wish to smash.
Edward suddenly is wearing purple pants and has turned green.
Somehow that's a more interesting picture than what he's been described as earlier.
ANYWAY, Bella is in no way surprised that Edward has rescued her. It could, however, be the shock from almost being attacked and then having to distract Edward from being so angry that he almost kills something.
He then takes her to dinner.
No. Really.
Once he gets calmed down enough he magically knows where Angela and Jessica were supposed to meet Bella. And they are conveniently finished eating. Edward mind-whammies them into saying that it's okay and that Edward can take Bella home.
I'm suddenly struck by the lack of cell phones. Jessica and Angela are relieved to see Bella, but they never tried to call her on the phone. No one has mentioned cell phones at all. I mean, calling would have made things so much easier. It would have ruined the story somewhat, but it would have been more realistic.
Still, her friends instead of looking for her apparently ate dinner. Nice friends they are. Eating instead of waiting or calling to make sure she's okay when she doesn't show up on time. They just let Edward whiz her away as if nothing had happened.
More later. This is a good break.
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-02 01:42 pm (UTC)Poor Eric. I'd choose an overly-friendly, "chess club type" (is that a new way of saying "nerd"?) over some creepy potential vampire that pops up everywhere any day.
And congratulations on your essay!
no subject
Date: 2008-08-02 02:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-02 02:35 pm (UTC)I don't understand how teenaged minds work. Never mind that I am one of them. How on earth could someone in their right minds be obsessed over something like Twilight? (Although, admittedly, I've read much, much worse.)
I think I'm going to avoid buying any more of those types of books. I already made the mistake of buying Eragon in French a few years back, because I was hoping reading it in my second language would make it confusing enough to cancel out the confusion I had with the English version. It didn't work. The first sentence threw me off.
Thanks for letting me know, though. And your icon is very cute.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-02 04:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-03 03:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-02 02:35 pm (UTC)Oh, the things wrong with this book. I would count the ways, but I doubt you want a three page list. I'll just give what I was thinking as reading this.
1. James Bond manuever? I keep thinking of that scene in Wanted since I never saw James Bond (I'm a bad person, I know). Now, if it was anything like that, then a) Edward should be a stunt driver and b) they hit the bad guys and left them there to die.
Way to go Edward.
2. You're not the only one who noticed the lack of cell phones. Bella, I can understand, though. She's a country bumpkin in this glittering city world. However, Jessica, Angela and Edward should have cell phones and no more need for mind whammies. Honestly, it would have been more believable if, panicking, Jessica or Angela started making calls and got Edward, mentioning that they lost Bella. He says, "Oh, I see her now" and rescues her. End of story.
Heck, two year olds have cell phones these days.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-02 06:04 pm (UTC)Except she's not. She moved to Forks from Phoenix. This is more of the "did not do the research." (I know, like the rest of us, you were trying desperately to make it make sense.)
Then again, I'm begining to think the author has never had friends, either, given the way she portrays them. "Oh, our friend never came back from the bookstore. Oh well. Let's eat." Bwuh?
no subject
Date: 2008-08-03 03:08 am (UTC)I know! That's so... weird.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-02 06:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-02 07:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-03 03:07 am (UTC)But, see, Edward can't kill or hurt them because he's better than that. He's just going to be very upset. Besides this was just an opportunity for him to show how Speshully Awesome he is, by rescuing her like that.
2. Never knew Phoenix = the country. XD But yes, you're exactly right.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-03 09:30 am (UTC)As for the mobile phone issue, I wasn't surprised. I mean, Bella has a friggin' CD player and no firewall on her PC. This book is set in Meyer's childhood- she obviously has no idea what teenagers today do and like and are like at all.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-04 04:08 am (UTC)This book is set in Meyer's childhood- she obviously has no idea what teenagers today do and like and are like at all.
And yet she has kids. But point. That doesn't mean anything.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-04 11:18 pm (UTC)But WOW those are some craptastic friends if they don't even give a damn that she up and went missing. And Bella is quite the moron if she REALIZES she's in a dangerous area and doesn't try to LEAVE by going back the way she came, which would presumably be the shortest way.
Also, Edward seems like a bit of an asshole. He just wanders up, rescues Bella from contrived situations, and then mind whammies innocent bystanders. Perfect guy my ass...