Twilight. not for me

I feel bad for anyone who ends up reading the “Twilight” Saga. It may seem like I had an already preconceived opinion of the book based on word of mouth, which is partly true, but I tried my best to go into this read with a completely open mind. I honestly was looking for the phenomenon to sweep me up and carry me off into a world of Edward vs. Jacob graphic tees, mythical creatures and pre-teen obsessions. Sadly I'm still here in the real world with a paperback copy that I wished I only had borrowed.
The reason I feel bad for anyone who reads this book is because I think this book takes advantage of the universal insecurities that come along with being a teenager. Insecurities such as, not being comfortable in your own skin, feeling like you are ordinary (cookie cutter complex), being the new kid in school, not being able to dance, being clumsy, and gym; everybody hates gym. Then after all the adolescent problems there are some adult problems that everyone looks forward to such as love triangles and deciding whether you will be killed anytime soon. Be it by some drifter or your boyfriend; both being equally likely.
Stephanie Meyer takes these common insecurities and then exploits them in our protagonist, Bella, to make us feel all warm inside. She uses Edward Cullen to make all her dreams come true. Bella thinks that she is not pretty. She describes herself as a person that is lean but soft, not athletic and constantly is in awe at how Edward Cullen was attracted to her and not someone else, because of how normal and ordinary she is. Like any gentleman trying to get into a ladies pants, Edward Cullen proceeds to insist that she is amazingly beautiful and proves it by stating that he read every boy in schools mind her first day there and they all had crushes on her. If only I was a post pubescent teen girl, my heart would be melting. He counters her cookie cutter complex by letting her know that she is the only person that he has ever come across that he cannot read their mind. This just tickles her to death. He ends the book just like they do in any teen movie, by romantically putting her feet on his and waltzing through prom. If you’ve ever watched all those high school movies that came out in the late ‘90’s and early ‘00’s, especially football movies, you will notice that they usually don’t end at graduation, which is where high school truly ends. Most teen movies end at prom. So even though they were only juniors, they naturally had to end up at prom.
All of these tear jerking moments pale in comparison to the love interest of the book. Edward Cullen is simply gorgeous; almost divine in his angel like beauty. Not to mention he’s the modern day bad boy, leather jackets to go along with his high speed driving and charm; a James Dean incarnate. Nothing like a sensitive guy with a dark side to get any woman’s engine revving. The one flaw that he has is does nothing but make him an even more attractive character. Edward Cullen’s dark side is what seals the deal for anyone. Not much can make a person attractive like being a “fixer upper.” I cannot understand the ambience of meeting someone who is “broken,” and trying to change them. No one would be turned on by an environmentalist who works a 9-5 as a lumberjack, especially if they were pouting about it 24 hours a day.
All in all, the book was a pretty easy read, and minus some contradicting views within the book, it wasn’t terrible. I can’t see why these books have taken the post Harry potter world by storm; the real meat of the story must take place in one of the later installments because I am definitely not hooked yet and I have no intentions of reading the rest of the saga anytime soon. Stephanie Meyer must be doing something right because simply put the Twilight Saga is a Phenomenon. Just the rights to all the merchandise from the books is more money than I could fathom. The movies are doing extremely well at the box office and are bringing more fans to the original books every day.