The
boy who lived.
The
girl on fire.
The
girl who did nothing.
Who
cares?
I
have recently joined Pinterest and have been experiencing fandoms like never
before. But, never before have I found such hate and animosity between fandoms.
And none so much as Harry Potter and Twilight fandoms. I’m not trying to call
out the Harry Potter fans, because I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan, but I have
seen too much Twilight hate from the HP fans for my liking. I don’t understand
the hatred. I don’t understand why we can’t like what we like and not fear
criticism for what we like. When has it ever been a bad thing to like a book?
If we start hating on anyone who likes a certain book we don’t like we are
going to turn those people off of reading for eternity because they will fear
no matter what they like they will be criticized for it. Aren’t we supposed to
be bringing readers to books, not turning them away?
Several
times I have seen a quote from Steven King that says, “Harry Potter is about
confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face
of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend.” This
quote sickens me. Especially because it comes from an author. I completely
understand that it is his opinion. I also am a huge advocate of having our own
opinions. However, when you start spouting off your opinions only to bring
people down, that is not right. I have never been a fan of Steven King, merely
because he doesn’t write stories that interest me, however, I’m not about to
bash him or his fans for it. I’m not about to call him out for having a bad message
in his books or for teaching people the wrong things.
Sure,
Harry Potter is about all of those things, but as a writer who doesn’t put
blatant messages in her books, I would like people to read my books and for
people to not attack my readers for liking my books when they don’t have a
message.
Harry
Potter is my favorite series of all time and that will never change. But I also
quite enjoyed the Twilight series. The Twilight series has gotten a lot of flak
for teaching girls they need a man. For teaching girls that if their man leaves
them, they must jump off a cliff. For encouraging teen sex and pregnancy. As
much as I enjoyed the Twilight series, I never once felt the need to follow
them as gospel.
When
did reading change from doing something for enjoyment to doing something to
learn a lesson and learn how we should live our lives? Now, I believe books can
do that, but seriously, why can’t some of us read for enjoyment? Maybe some
people are reading the Twilight series for enjoyment. Maybe some people are
reading the Twilight series not because they want to learn how to find a man
and how to live their lives, but because they like the story?
Tell
me this, when did it ever become wrong to enjoy a book? Because I would like to
know. I may be in the wrong profession if that is so.
Twilight
may not be the best story in the world. They may not be the most well written
books in the world. But its fans should not be harassed merely for enjoying the
story. Please leave these people alone. Let them enjoy their stories without
fearing they need to hide their enjoyment of them. No one should ever have to
hide their love of a book. Twilight, or any book for that matter, may not be
the best book in your opinion. It may teach people the wrong things. It may not
mean anything to you. But please keep your opinion to yourself because it may
mean something to others. It may mean the world to someone. It may have saved
someone’s life. And when you attack that or try to bring it down, you are
invalidating it to that person.
Books
are to be loved, not bashed.
