Nostalgia Critic Editorial: Twilight

[Deleted]

Is it the WORST thing ever?

(language)

blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/nostalgia-critic-editorial-is-twilight-the-worst-thing-ever-6528461

[andrew8798]

guess this is what's going to be posted on non-review weeks.

[bob]

Feb 12, 2013 22:55:50 GMT -5 @fsinfan said:

Is it the WORST thing ever?

that would be Bucky Larson

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

I really liked it. It was in reality a well thought-out opinion of the Twilight films.

[Deleted]

Needed more rambling impersonations of Michael Sheen and discussion of the making of the Human Spider.

[Bone Daddy]

He just wishes he was Bella

[HMARK Center]

I liked that; when this guy is at his best he's bringing a lot of his education and understanding of film and media to the fore, and he did that here.

I'm all for discussing the in's and out's of a given show, film, series, character, whatever, and readily admit that after the little I was exposed to it, I found myself thinking "If I had a young, impressionable daughter, I'd really not want her reading this stuff" due to the way it seemed to glorify what appeared to me to be destructive, abusive behavior and relationships.

I find myself thinking the same things about some of the stuff I grew up with, stuff that might've emphasized nationalism to the point of being pro-jingoism, for example. Hell, I think some scholars out there could craft some interesting theses or dissertations on such topics with enough sociological research.

But the reality remains that the overdramatic whiners out there really need to get over both it and themselves. Nobody's impressed at the person who posts something from a movie like Twilight, or lyrics by some new pop star, and writes "and people wonder why society is falling apart?!". The whole "smh" movement is, to me, the pinnacle of Internet self-aggrandizing, particularly coming from people who likely don't really seek to educate themselves in truly meaningful ways, and are just complaining that pop media has passed them by.

Dude, stop it. Pop culture is not a root cause of any major societal ills we confront with every generation; it's simply a reflection of the times, or a reflection of what some CEO thinks will bring in the most fan dollars.

Meanwhile, the world strives to confront issues such as hunger and food production, the development of cleaner/alternative energies, improving mass communication, the choices society must make in regards to education, unemployment, military actions...you know, actual issues that actually could tear society apart if not discussed and worked on.

Thing is, most people would say "of course I realize those are REAL problems, and that Twilight/Sex and the City/Transformers/George Lucas/Lady Gaga aren't that important in the grand scheme!". It's the logical response to make, once a person has even a microsecond to mentally stand back and consider the big picture.

But it doesn't change that the attitude that comes from this "</insert pop culture thing here> is the WORST THING EVER" and all the sturm un drang that follows serves little purpose other than to distract people from the major issues of our time, issues that require all of us to be involved on some level. Instead, a lot of us choose to sit and whine about books/movies/music to the point that we almost block out the entire outside world.

Mature, reasonable discussion, even discussion of that nature that is very negative towards something like Twilight, is more than fine, and can be very interesting, but the "Look how much better I am than fans of </whatever>" types need to realize we're all out of high school, and as the Critic says here, most of us "grew up".

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

It's almost creepy how much he echoed my opinions in this one. I also liked the fact he acknowledge that teens are often more clever than we think. It's nice to see someone known for his cynicism have a more complex vision of teenagers than "URGH! You complain about stuff that actually affects you! Go cut yourself, Emo kid!"

I also remember Maven of the Eventide raising a good point: if we can give this franchise one thing, it's that it has encouraged a lot of teenage girls (and let's not kid ourselves, some boys) to read and developed a taste for literature in them that they may not have acquired otherwise. So while their experience with books they actually read voluntarily may start with crap, odds are they will eventually come across better works and they will sharpen their tastes.