By Adalyn Burke

In the course of the last 10 years, a single book series has skyrocketed in popularity. That franchise is Twilight, written by Stephenie Meyer. While the series does a good job at promoting the fleeting interest in reading, it idealizes the idea of love in such a condescending fashion that it reads as purely superficial. Meyer reported early on that Twilight was inspired by a dream. Perhaps that’s where she should have left the fantasy.

Twilight centers on a teenage girl, Bella Swan, who falls in love with a ‘humane’ vampire, Edward Cullen. It has been hailed as ‘epic’ by Meyer’s crusaders, it has climbed to the top of best-sellers lists, and it has inspired a very successful – at least commercially – film franchise. However, Twilight lacks substance. It waters down realistic situations so as to be considered ‘age appropriate.’ It also fails to inspire its audience; yes, the book is a fantasy, and that’s fine, but as Stephen King put it, “Fiction is a lie, and good fiction is the truth inside the lie.” The reality is that there is no truth in Meyer’s series. It’s purely an idealized fantasy – that’s all. Honestly, if the values in fiction do not coincide with reality, then the story is utterly pointless.

Meyer’s crusaders will disagree with even the slightest indication of disapproval. The common belief is that the series promotes true love and feminine independence. If this were true, however, the leading protagonist would not have fallen to her knees in agony when her so-called ‘true love’ left her. She would not have had to make such a difficult choice between her furry friend and her shimmery boyfriend. Bella Swan is the epitome of a damsel. If anything, the series promotes the idea that females should be vain and care about ‘good looks’ before giving consideration to personality traits.

Twilight is a superficial look at the romance that often plagues teenagers, but does not read as a sincere portrait of what true love entails. For the teenage girls looking for a more sophisticated portrayal of a tumultuous romance in which family, society, and individual concerns play heavily into the conflict, they should search out the holy grail of romance stories: Pride & Prejudice. Jane Austen’s masterpiece will knock the wind out of Meyer’s Twilight every time.