Leaving Twilight.....
Just came to something of a realization that I never really gave any words as to why I'm by no means a fan of the current wave of fiction, centering on an ever increasing number of fans, crowding up in masses in order to shell out insane amounts of dwindling capital over pretty young immortals, and their would-be voids for girlfriends. You see, it's bad enough being a guy, but there's just something truly unsavory about the books of Stephenie Meyer that transcends gender that perhaps I had to eventually say something about.
Cue Today:
When thinking about my own hobbies, I eventually came to the realization that even anime & manga have been guilty of catering to an ever increasingly immature fanbase, to great success. one must go where the money is, truly. But to see so many works lose me over some strange leanings toward juvenile predilections for underage girls/petulant, murderous whining/ and even stalking defended as "love", one needs to know where the entertainment ends. It is truly as if the masses are as Kadokawa recently stated "becoming increasingly immature". When I see another angsty teenage character cry out うるさい！just because the elder character is trying to reason with them, I stop and remember why it worked so well in other shows. When it does work, it is easily due to the character being obviously too ill equipped to grasp their situation, but alas I am seeing an ever growing number of shows where we are given no evidence of this inability, no center of gravity for us to see his plight, and must empathize with this character without question. This is where I worry.
It's one thing to look at a character as a case study in mental illness, but to embrace it unironically is actually something else altogether. If the author had in fact wanted us to see this as a portrait of a sexually & emotionally immature person struggling with the challenge of a first relationship, there would be something in the form of a counterbalance in the form of a character somewhere. Something to indicate to readers that this central character is very much in an emotional infancy, lacking in certain gained wisdom beheld by others. Within the pages, it becomes clear that even the author is incapable of conveying the intent if this is the case, leading to some borderline sentiment and defending it. I wonder if this is perhaps the act of reflecting some popular miasma of broken hearts and minds we are witnessing?
Sure, none of this is terribly new. But the popularity of the Twilight series in in many ways a grand expose of this widening gap between modern females. A gap which might find origin in current social & political structures, following the attacks of 911. This isn't gospel at all..but it certainly would explain quite a bit. While Japan had it's shakeups following the recession of the 90s, with the youth increasingly detached from family lives, and even the basic patterns of social interaction, it was no wonder that creations like Evangelion, Lain, & so on became so popular. Phenomenon like this happen within reason, and it enthralled many others outside the nation, which in turn reflected an internal ennui, while not as primed to explode as in Japan, was nearly everywhere, and in varying degrees.
Even Yuu Watase's Fushigi Yuugi has many of it's roots in some of this thinking. (It was the parallel between this and Twilight that led to this post as matter of fact.) To see such a wish-fulfillment fantasy played out alongside the popular male harem series' out there was fine. But to see the lengths to which the lead character, Miaka would disregard herself regardless of her simpler plight to that of her best friend(who was RAPED), was for me, troubling. Alas, we were stuck with her, and as such, I kept looking toward the odious comic relief, and even the tortured antagonist for solace. And also perhaps the medium itself, coupled with Watase's haphazard paneling, left little for her to explore deeper into what makes Miaka tick. Unfortunately, whether it be the mangaka's inability to dig, or personal maturity levels, we are never really given much to work with, which makes the journey that much more arduous to task.
Which is partially why the Twilight books are such a disaster. There's no other way I can express this. If you could transform Meyer's prose into an element, all you'd get is mud. A medium, where one is unrestrained to the power of the word. Something that even yours truly admits to being a relative novice of, can see that it is either Meyer's great prank, created expressly for the young women of the world, exposing them for the vapid carcasses she sees them as, or it's something much more deeply rooted than this.
We're dealing with a story featuring vampires, and yet this is where it really gets scary.
Sure, one can justify all they want about it being just a trashy vamp romance, but therein lies the problem? Where's the romance? I fail to see any here. If she means to hover over another, with the empty hope of claiming another as one's own, condoning behavior tantamount to stalking, then...I...guess? Sure, it ca be said that I am in fact, being unfair to so many by stating these things. But it just stands to reason that after the last ten years. ten years filled with panic, fear & xenophobia, that the expanded social bubble has been shaken to a point where the retreat button has been left flashing red, with so many tempted to push it in the hope of perhaps resetting it.
As much as a part of me would like to remain nostalgic, there really is no turning back.
If love is truly understanding, then perhaps the focus must in fact remain with those in love. To see another as a complimenting reflection is something many of us would long for, however we've seen time and again that in an ever accelerated environment that we are at odds with our own basic natures. We have been bombarded with certain ideologies to the point where it seems simpler to just adhere, rather than explore. To nest, instead of seeking out personal fulfillment.
And on the other, to simply nest may very well be the fulfillment one desires. However, it is often at the cost of another who may change over time. There is no permanence in a dynamic environment, and thus the work involved is considered to be the gamut of love. If this is the case, then those who seek to work together with another with great patience and cooperation is to be commended. However, it must be with the vital truth that no human is the property of another, despite what our egos and securities defy us into thinking. Are we capable of love without attachment? I believe so. Is it easy? Absolutely not.
But therein lies the crux.
The price of love that has value is something that even distance itself cannot mute. Sure, there are always best friends, comfort partners, adopted siblings, lovers, and soforth. But those few souls with whom we couldn't imagine our lives without their intervention, those are the ones most challenging in the greater scheme. After all, stories are about what happen TO US. Sometimes it is as important to know when to let go, as it is to embrace the image of another.
Quoted From An Earlier Discussion on FB:
It's bad enough that Meyer doesn't know what she's subverting, but that she doesn't know a thing about romance. And that's a huge tragedy for the whole thing, because as it stands, Twilight is fine with moping & stalking, and knows nothing of real relationships. Its all just sad.
And that is perhaps the one positive element that can come from the whole thing. It's more a mirror of certain aspects of young life, if not a healthy representation of romantic notions, something a child is naturally not going to instantly be equipped to understand. My problem is that supposedly grown people are creating these things and embracing these notions, unveiling some pretty disquieting things about some folks.When FY was new, I grappled why I had trouble with it, until it hit me...It wasn't just the lead character, it was the author's strange fixations without knowledge. I would rather have followed Yui Hongo for crap's sake.
Perhaps I'm going out on a limb here..but what if Twilight is a reflection of Post 911 trauma, leading to a generation of females terrified at the prospect of making their own marks on the world and longing for the days of codependency & expected vacuousness? Think about the sheer number of children born around and after,unsure of where their place is, and just (even) subconciously hoping that all that completes this emptiness is a mysterious stranger who is afraid of their own power to not merely penetrate, but to own them? Sounds like immature propaganda to me.
That's perhaps the single biggest personal lesson I've learned since leaving the desert. It seems that one of our biggest enemies is our own instinct for nesting, even at the cost of our very own happiness. And Twlight embraces so much that is inherently repellent about it.
It took several relationships, and a lot of heartbreak to finally realize that it isn't another person that completes the journey for you. However, those we hold dear can still claim a substantial part of you even if parsecs away.Most of the people I can say I love the most unreservedly live far away from me and have very different lives. To keep them would be a crime not only to them, but to me and my development as well. So much potential out there, lost...And Meyer's books are capitalizing on that loss without irony, and that scares the hell out of me.
And knowing friends who have indeed ventured beyond, into worlds lesser seen, inspires me to know more about the grander possibilities that lie ahead. In the years since my last prolonged relationship, I can say without hesitation that things have worked out for the better in this area. After all, I can't imagine the embracement of change working as well as it has without those few important ones in my own life. Do I see where this writer, and thus, these enthusiastic masses come from? In a way, yes. But I must also speak in defense of a love without boundaries, jealousy, or possessive tendencies. There are far more important things than merely the kicking and screaming of a child. After all, that child is a potential seed. A seed with more to grant the world than the obvious.
The downpour of ideas is growing ever louder in it's call for recognition. In a world, careening ever faster toward grand transformation, can love still truly be necessary? I believe so, but perhaps it is also the maps of love that require new cartographers.
Cue Today:
When thinking about my own hobbies, I eventually came to the realization that even anime & manga have been guilty of catering to an ever increasingly immature fanbase, to great success. one must go where the money is, truly. But to see so many works lose me over some strange leanings toward juvenile predilections for underage girls/petulant, murderous whining/ and even stalking defended as "love", one needs to know where the entertainment ends. It is truly as if the masses are as Kadokawa recently stated "becoming increasingly immature". When I see another angsty teenage character cry out うるさい！just because the elder character is trying to reason with them, I stop and remember why it worked so well in other shows. When it does work, it is easily due to the character being obviously too ill equipped to grasp their situation, but alas I am seeing an ever growing number of shows where we are given no evidence of this inability, no center of gravity for us to see his plight, and must empathize with this character without question. This is where I worry.
It's one thing to look at a character as a case study in mental illness, but to embrace it unironically is actually something else altogether. If the author had in fact wanted us to see this as a portrait of a sexually & emotionally immature person struggling with the challenge of a first relationship, there would be something in the form of a counterbalance in the form of a character somewhere. Something to indicate to readers that this central character is very much in an emotional infancy, lacking in certain gained wisdom beheld by others. Within the pages, it becomes clear that even the author is incapable of conveying the intent if this is the case, leading to some borderline sentiment and defending it. I wonder if this is perhaps the act of reflecting some popular miasma of broken hearts and minds we are witnessing?
Sure, none of this is terribly new. But the popularity of the Twilight series in in many ways a grand expose of this widening gap between modern females. A gap which might find origin in current social & political structures, following the attacks of 911. This isn't gospel at all..but it certainly would explain quite a bit. While Japan had it's shakeups following the recession of the 90s, with the youth increasingly detached from family lives, and even the basic patterns of social interaction, it was no wonder that creations like Evangelion, Lain, & so on became so popular. Phenomenon like this happen within reason, and it enthralled many others outside the nation, which in turn reflected an internal ennui, while not as primed to explode as in Japan, was nearly everywhere, and in varying degrees.
Even Yuu Watase's Fushigi Yuugi has many of it's roots in some of this thinking. (It was the parallel between this and Twilight that led to this post as matter of fact.) To see such a wish-fulfillment fantasy played out alongside the popular male harem series' out there was fine. But to see the lengths to which the lead character, Miaka would disregard herself regardless of her simpler plight to that of her best friend(who was RAPED), was for me, troubling. Alas, we were stuck with her, and as such, I kept looking toward the odious comic relief, and even the tortured antagonist for solace. And also perhaps the medium itself, coupled with Watase's haphazard paneling, left little for her to explore deeper into what makes Miaka tick. Unfortunately, whether it be the mangaka's inability to dig, or personal maturity levels, we are never really given much to work with, which makes the journey that much more arduous to task.
Which is partially why the Twilight books are such a disaster. There's no other way I can express this. If you could transform Meyer's prose into an element, all you'd get is mud. A medium, where one is unrestrained to the power of the word. Something that even yours truly admits to being a relative novice of, can see that it is either Meyer's great prank, created expressly for the young women of the world, exposing them for the vapid carcasses she sees them as, or it's something much more deeply rooted than this.
We're dealing with a story featuring vampires, and yet this is where it really gets scary.
Sure, one can justify all they want about it being just a trashy vamp romance, but therein lies the problem? Where's the romance? I fail to see any here. If she means to hover over another, with the empty hope of claiming another as one's own, condoning behavior tantamount to stalking, then...I...guess? Sure, it ca be said that I am in fact, being unfair to so many by stating these things. But it just stands to reason that after the last ten years. ten years filled with panic, fear & xenophobia, that the expanded social bubble has been shaken to a point where the retreat button has been left flashing red, with so many tempted to push it in the hope of perhaps resetting it.
As much as a part of me would like to remain nostalgic, there really is no turning back.
If love is truly understanding, then perhaps the focus must in fact remain with those in love. To see another as a complimenting reflection is something many of us would long for, however we've seen time and again that in an ever accelerated environment that we are at odds with our own basic natures. We have been bombarded with certain ideologies to the point where it seems simpler to just adhere, rather than explore. To nest, instead of seeking out personal fulfillment.
And on the other, to simply nest may very well be the fulfillment one desires. However, it is often at the cost of another who may change over time. There is no permanence in a dynamic environment, and thus the work involved is considered to be the gamut of love. If this is the case, then those who seek to work together with another with great patience and cooperation is to be commended. However, it must be with the vital truth that no human is the property of another, despite what our egos and securities defy us into thinking. Are we capable of love without attachment? I believe so. Is it easy? Absolutely not.
But therein lies the crux.
The price of love that has value is something that even distance itself cannot mute. Sure, there are always best friends, comfort partners, adopted siblings, lovers, and soforth. But those few souls with whom we couldn't imagine our lives without their intervention, those are the ones most challenging in the greater scheme. After all, stories are about what happen TO US. Sometimes it is as important to know when to let go, as it is to embrace the image of another.
Quoted From An Earlier Discussion on FB:
It's bad enough that Meyer doesn't know what she's subverting, but that she doesn't know a thing about romance. And that's a huge tragedy for the whole thing, because as it stands, Twilight is fine with moping & stalking, and knows nothing of real relationships. Its all just sad.
And that is perhaps the one positive element that can come from the whole thing. It's more a mirror of certain aspects of young life, if not a healthy representation of romantic notions, something a child is naturally not going to instantly be equipped to understand. My problem is that supposedly grown people are creating these things and embracing these notions, unveiling some pretty disquieting things about some folks.When FY was new, I grappled why I had trouble with it, until it hit me...It wasn't just the lead character, it was the author's strange fixations without knowledge. I would rather have followed Yui Hongo for crap's sake.
Perhaps I'm going out on a limb here..but what if Twilight is a reflection of Post 911 trauma, leading to a generation of females terrified at the prospect of making their own marks on the world and longing for the days of codependency & expected vacuousness? Think about the sheer number of children born around and after,unsure of where their place is, and just (even) subconciously hoping that all that completes this emptiness is a mysterious stranger who is afraid of their own power to not merely penetrate, but to own them? Sounds like immature propaganda to me.
That's perhaps the single biggest personal lesson I've learned since leaving the desert. It seems that one of our biggest enemies is our own instinct for nesting, even at the cost of our very own happiness. And Twlight embraces so much that is inherently repellent about it.
It took several relationships, and a lot of heartbreak to finally realize that it isn't another person that completes the journey for you. However, those we hold dear can still claim a substantial part of you even if parsecs away.Most of the people I can say I love the most unreservedly live far away from me and have very different lives. To keep them would be a crime not only to them, but to me and my development as well. So much potential out there, lost...And Meyer's books are capitalizing on that loss without irony, and that scares the hell out of me.
And knowing friends who have indeed ventured beyond, into worlds lesser seen, inspires me to know more about the grander possibilities that lie ahead. In the years since my last prolonged relationship, I can say without hesitation that things have worked out for the better in this area. After all, I can't imagine the embracement of change working as well as it has without those few important ones in my own life. Do I see where this writer, and thus, these enthusiastic masses come from? In a way, yes. But I must also speak in defense of a love without boundaries, jealousy, or possessive tendencies. There are far more important things than merely the kicking and screaming of a child. After all, that child is a potential seed. A seed with more to grant the world than the obvious.
The downpour of ideas is growing ever louder in it's call for recognition. In a world, careening ever faster toward grand transformation, can love still truly be necessary? I believe so, but perhaps it is also the maps of love that require new cartographers.
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