“Do you like Twilight?”

“Of course not!”

“Thank you! I don’t understand it. My boyfriend and all his friends love it and I thought I was the only sane person left in the world because I can’t stand it. I tried it, but isn’t it for kids?”

“Exactly.”

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I have a little theory that the Harry Potter books and movies gave adults (especially women) the permission to enjoy kids’ books and movies. Since the Twilight series is a combination of what every woman secretly lusts for (Vampires and dangerous romance in books that can be read in a day or two), women across the US have seemingly lost their collective minds over Twilight.  

In a vigorous defense of Twihards, Salon claims that the women who love the Twilight books and films love to love them together, just as a stadium full of rabid fans loves to love a football game together or a teenager loves an XBox game just because others love them.

With all due respect to the Salon writer, I think that the writer is missing the point here. While the love and rampant spread of Twilight and everything associated with the entire franchise are partially due to a Borg-like mindset, being a Twilight fan is quite a bit different from being a sports fan or video game fan in that it is a fad that will fade in a year or two. When the final film is in the theaters, there is nothing left to hold onto for the fans.

Again, I think the popularity of Twilight has more to do with Harry Potter making it ok for adults to like books that are easier as opposed to hiding Danielle Steele books secretly in their dresser drawers. The Twilight books are some of the few (relatively bad- sorry) books that are permissible for women to not only read in public, but to actually talk about. In the age of Oprah and Good Morning America book clubs, everyone is expected to read so-called “weightier” books that the readers are then forced to discuss. Not everyone is interested in reading harder books, and not everyone is interested in talking about the hidden ramifications in say a Jodi Picoult novel or whatever book happens to land on Oprah’s desk for that month. Twilight gives frequent readers a very quick read and those who don’t read a chance to join the rest of us in the reading world.