Tuesday, June 29, 2010

On Fandom and Twilight

A woman's marriage nearly ends in divorce because she became obsessed with Twilight.

"I found poems my husband had written in his journal about how I had fallen for a 'golden-eyed vampire,' " says Johnson, a 31-year-old accountant from Mesa, Ariz., who became so enthralled by the blockbuster series of young adult novels and movies that she found herself staying up all night, re-reading juicy chapters and chatting about casting news and the are-they-or-aren't-they romance between the stars of the films, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

" 'Twilight' was always on my mind, to the point where I couldn't function," Johnson says.

At what point in your life does an obsession to a movie series, or a book saga, begin to completely grab hold of your entire life? Especially to a shitty, piss-poor excuse for a vampire-werewolf romantic drama like Twilight? I know we're facing rough times as a country, but is your life really that boring if you're going on a binge for everything that's related to R-Patz, K-Stew and T-Lat? Was the hubby not giving you the attention or love you needed in that marriage that you had to dive into a awful book about a shallow, clingy woman, her jerk of vampire boyfriend, and her friendship with a pussy-whipped werewolf that slowly reaches stalker status thought the course of the novels? Star Wars dorks think that losing yourself in the Twilight-craze is weak.

Look, I can proudly say that i'm a nerd for the Harry Potter saga. I love the books, and when I have kids, some of the first books i'm going to steer them toward is the epic tale of The Boy Who Lived. I've been to midnight showings for Goblet of Fire and Half-Blood Prince and will for The Deathly Hallows Parts I & II. I'm not obsessed with the franchise to the point where I spend hours a day, hitting up the online message boards, discussing the books, and talking about the movies. I'm not going to stand in line for 5+ hours to watch a Harry Potter movie, unless the theater management strongly suggests that I arrive an hour and a half in advance because there will be a long line of people waiting to see it. The bottom line: I'm a dork for the movies and books, but I keep my dork in check -- I don't let the series, as brilliant as it is, get the better of me.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That makes me feel better about my purchases of James Bond Comi...err...Graphic Novels.

et said...

Your statement on "keeping the dork in check" is just the right balance, Jonathan. I'm an admitted Star Wars dork - the odds in favor of that being approximately 3,720 to one! - but it doesn't inform every waking moment of my day. I don't answer the phone with "May the Force be with you."

I can see how taking it to extremes would strain a marriage. On the other hand, wouldn't the taking-it-to-extremes be obvious to the other party, going in?

Meh.

Total Pageviews