To the 'Twilight' haters: lighten up

So, if you all haven't heard by now a young woman by the name of Stephenie Meyer has written a book series about teenage vampires in love that have sold over 25 million copies and has thus sparked a movie deal where the second installment has (I believe) just finished filming.

No?

Oh wait, Edward Cullen?

Yeah, you know what I'm talking about now, right? ;)

There isn't a person on the planet left who hasn't at least heard of the phenomenon known as Twilight and I'm sure that every one in five people on the planet knows someone who has the hots for the series' main character, everyone's favorite emo vampire: Edward Cullen.

Now, I'm a Twi-fan. I won't lie. After I saw the movie trailer for the first time I had to know what all the fuss was about. I finished the series in a week and saw the movie on New Year's Day. I wear the "Alice choker" daily and I stare at the Cullens who are hanging on my door before I go to sleep every night.

Obsessed?

Maybe.

But, I'm ok with that. :)

What I'm not ok with are what I'm going to refer to as the "Twi-haters".

Twi-haters are people (who more often than not have never given the books or the movie a chance and just hate on it for the idea itself) who just hate on Twilight because of reasons like "it's gay", "it's lame", or "those aren't real vampires."

"Those aren't real vampires" is my absolute favorite!

"Sooo....vampires are real?"

Come ON, people!

Stephenie Meyer wrote her interpretation of vampires with the target audience being 12-17 year old girls and BANKED.

Bottom line.

Anne Rice did hers. Bram Stoker did his. Etc. Etc.

And these 12-17 year old Twi-fans of today will take an interest in vampire stories and read what we consider "cool" or "real" vampires when they are older.

Am I the only one who sees it for what it is?

A book series? A very (in my opinion) well-written narrative?

(*side note: Granted, I did get a little bored with being in Bella's head through the ENTIRE series but that's another post....*)

I may be a little biased and not because I'm a Twi-fan but because I'm a kids fiction fan in general.

Yes, like Whitney Houston, I do believe that children are our future and the messages in kids fiction (especially those in the young adult category) are excellent and many authors are pushing boundaries and actually writing about reality in these books to give our kids a better world view and understanding.

It's great.

Let's break down Twilight for what it actually is, shall we?

Picture yourself as a 14 year old girl.

You're a new student. You're kind of clumsy and awkward.

The hottest boy in school who no one can get to date them seems to want to date you but you're not sure because he acts so weird around you.

You like him a lot and can't stop thinking about him.

Weird things start happening in your town.

People are getting hurt.

You're worried about your parents and often times you feel like you're the parent.

You nearly get hit by a car.

See?

Take these issues....serious issues that are tough for ANYONE to face....and throw in something dangerous and exciting to captivate their attention: forbidden love and vampires.

BAM!

Stephenie Meyer = genius who has a lot of money right now :)

(Well, maybe not genius but do you see my point?)

She had an idea. She went with it and is extremely successful doing what we all love.

I congratulate her.

And I thank her because I actually enjoy the series. :)

So, yeah....Twi-Haters, it is what it is.

And it's ok to get your little sister that Edward Cullen action figure if she really wants it.