Foreign Friday: I'm not telling you who

A couple of years ago, I turned in a book report. It was a book that no one had really of head of up until then; when people asked me what I'd done, I laughed uncomfortably and tried to find a way not to answer. Instead of a poster or some such, I'd written journal entries from the point of view from a character no one had heard of. It worked out well. I still have the entries, with a pretty 100% drawn in blue ink. Also there? I'll have to check this out.

That character? His name was Edward.
And that book? Twilight.

I liked it. It was prettily written and had a concept no one had heard of before. This was before we thought the quiet girl called Bella was a push over

Germany

and before Stephanie Meyer's popularity had clouded people's view of the lovers that captivated the world.

Korea

We still thought the Lion and the Lamb line was romantic. That sparkly was still cool.

Norway

 That falling asleep in a vamp's arms, right after he'd told you that in another life, you totally would have been heroin was gooey and lovely.

Thailand

This book inspired at least four girls I know to read. One of them is probably reading this entry right now. (-waves- You know who you are. Hi!)
This book isn't full of perfect characters, because we aren't perfect. And maybe you don't like it. But do you not like it because you honestly have an issue with it? I can think of someone who has articulated fair arguments against it. That's fine. But people who just want to call it 'stupid'?
Come on.
Bashing popularity just because it's popular is just as annoying as being infatuated with something because everyone else is. The literary community tends to be built of strong willed, very intelligent people. But we are also, often, cynical. We don't want to be part of the masses, because, hello, the masses kind of suck sometimes.
Sometimes, they get it wrong.

Like Russia. Um. Her eyes aren't really blue.

Maybe it isn't perfect. Certainly, the movies aren't. (Taylor Lautner tries. He does. But...the first two? Not so good.)

He is remarkably cute.

Lately, there's been a lot of Twilight hate. I get it. I do. We like to hate the popular. I've made some snide  comments about the phenom as well. I've laughed at the commercials for Vampires Suck. And yeah, there are some things about Twilight that can be bashed. (Two movies? Really? Truly? Not needed.) If someone asked me now if I liked Stephanie Meyers work, I probably wouldn't want to admit it. What if they thought I was obsessed?
Look. I'm sure some of you are going to flame me.  Normally, I wouldn't even go there, but with all the Mockingjay comparisons I've seen this week, all the snide comments about Twilight, a facebook group dedicated to hating Bella -- but, dude, they know her birthday, so obviously they've read them relatively closely -- I'm starting to get annoyed. A lot of us liked those books. A lot of us still do, but won't admit it. I would be hard pressed to.
But there's a book report and a grade in bright blue ink that tells me I wasn't always so cynical. Stephanie Meyer smashed open the doors to YA, even as they started to close after Harry Potter. Paranormal will never be the same. Even if you hate the books, it's hard to hate that.
More later