| Top 10 Reasons Why Harry Potter is better than Twilight |
| Commentary - Featured |
| Written by Casey Pilkenton |
| Thursday, 09 July 2009 05:03 |
 
As Harry Potter week begins here on the ol' Bean, I'd like to take a moment to remind you why this week is so much more exciting than that week in November when that movie about vampires and teens premiered. Here is your list. Learn it.
10- Twilight is marketed towards the "cool kids" You know the guy who makes it his mission to shove the heads of high school nerds into toilets and lockers? Yeah, that dude's girlfriend probably reads the Twilight series. And she loves it! Much like she loves a boy who takes it upon himself to prove his manhood to his generation's future Web wizards. Whereas the hardcore fans of Harry Potter embrace what has been called "geekdom", the fans of Twilight are simply latching onto the next hot thing, i.e. Robert Pattinson.
As a general rule, girls who read Twilight versus girls who read Harry Potter-- Twilight girls are higher maintenance, more sexually active, and pay too much money to have their nails done. Harry Potter fans on the other hand, well, let's just say that a lot of them are probably theater kids who work at Renaissance fairs. What's not to love?
9- Stephenie Meyer has bastardized the idea of vampires Let's get down to serious business here. It's no mistake that J.K. Rowling did not invent magical, mythical creatures. She didn't invent the centaur, she wasn't the first to write about the unicorn, and witches have had a common place in literature for years. However, there is something that Rowling stuck to her guns about, and that was the true idea behind her magical creatures. Werewolves change form at the full moon. Done. Vampires, they drink blood. End of story. Stephenie Meyer, in an attempt to be clever, turned the whole idea of being a vampire on its ear...and it sucks. First of all, they want blood, but they are too humane to drink it. Well, that's been done before, Meyer, but don't act like this isn't the real reason why Edward wants to smell Bella constantly. No one, in human to human relationships, simply wants to sniff someone out of feelings of overwhelming love. And, if they did, gross. Secondly, vampires can't go into the sun, because it kills them. Meyer's vampires can't go into the sun because they sparkle like disco balls. Ridiculous.  8- Harry Potter deals with an expansive, creative, and original world. What Rowling did with her story is impressive. An entire universe that exists parallel to modern-day society. Harry, who grows up with Muggle relatives, learns that he is a wizard at age 11. A child's dream come true on the surface. Dig underneath, and there's a wealth of detail and wonder that makes this place--the Wizarding world--believable and real. You could almost reach out and touch it, if you weren't a muggle and, therefore, completely oblivious to the out-of-the-ordinary things that go on around you. Meyer's vampires and werewolves co-exist with American high school students. So did I. Big deal. The only rich and exciting thing about American high school is probably pizza day in the cafeteria. The only thing expansive is the gym coach's high quarters. 'Nuff said.  7-Two words: Alan Rickman. Please visit the following link: http://www.imdb.com/name/6- Harry Potter is re-readable, Twilight is virtually UNreadable. As this writer has read all of the books in each series, I can honestly say that my Twilight books are my greatest collectors of dust. While reading them, I was rabid for the next, because I kept waiting for the action. (And, I'll be addressing this topic more later on.) I can even admit to maybe liking the first one, or at least not hating it. After reading the books once, though, I was done. I needed (nor wanted) no more of this little tart and her Vamp lover. Harry Potter on the other hand keeps me coming back for more. There are so many little details sprinkled throughout the series that it is nearly impossible to latch onto all of them during the first read...the second...the third...the seventh. Everything that occurs in the plot of Twilight seems very artificial and one-dimensional. There is no reason to dig deeper, to re-think anything, or to re-read. You got it all the first time, and it wasn't that great. Why, oh why, would you want to re-live it? Harry Potter is like your first love...everytime you see that person, even if it's been years, you fall in love all over again.  <---eek.5-The films are actually good. The hype surrounding the Twilight film was a bit insane. I can admit to falling for it. It was equal parts intrigue and needing to fill a fantasy void in my life. It didn't do the trick. To put it quite plainly, the film was terrible, overhyped. Comparing it to the Potter franchise...there is absolutely no contest. For starters, Harry Potter has been cast with some of Britain's finest actors, and the newcomers get better with each film. Twilight has made it their point to cast young, "talent" including the douchey boyfriend from the movie Can't Hardly Wait as a vampire dad. The one Potter/Twilight crossover, Robert Pattinson, is nothing more than someone to look at, and even that is debatable. He was great as Potter's Cedric Diggory, but that could be due to the fact that his screen time was minimal and he had a decent plot to play with. Twilight, as far as I could tell, has not even made an attempt to not look like a joke. The acting is terrible, the effects laughable, and the author of the series actually had a Shyamalan-esque cameo in the first film. You'll never see Rowling pull that! The Harry Potter films grow increasingly darker, better, and more interesting. Dakota Fanning has been cast in the next installment of the Twilight saga. Yikes.  4-Harry Potter characters have depth. The female characters in the HP series definitely have substance. Hermione is known for her smarts, Ginny is a fiery, tomboy with an athletic streak, and Luna Lovegood is a dreamer, even for the Wizarding world, with a heart of gold. Twilight's female lead is a sex/potential edible object with wishy-washy emotions and the ability to drive any reader crazy...and not in a good way. Harry Potter has Albus Dumbledore, an old wizard with a childlike likability and a colored past; Severus Snape who is arguably one of the most fascinating, complex, and surprising characters in modern literature; Neville Longbottom, a quiet, forgetful, loveable, and cursed young wizard who could have his very own series; Sirius Black, Hagrid, each and every Weasley...I could go on for ages. Even Harry's horrible aunt and uncle carry weight in the series. Twilight has mean vampires and nice vampires and, other than their physical appearance, very little is known about them as individuals. Other than Alice Cullen is sweet and floats like a pixie, there's really nothing else to explore. Give me characters I actually care about any day. It makes for a better plot. Period.
3-Things actually happen. Speaking of plot, this may actually be my biggest pet peeve with the Twilight series as a whole and, if you're in the middle of reading it, you should stop right now. I'm going to save you a world of hurt. Nothing happens. Absolutely nothing happens. It's a cheesy, teen romance masquerading as a fantasy novel. There is no action. There's build up, but no release. Honestly, readers, who doesn't want a release? The battle at Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows could almost rival Tolkien's epic Lord of the Rings carnage. (Relax, Tolkien fans. I said almost.) Rowling's story has an arc--there are ups, there are downs. Meyer's plot is filled with a lot of "oh, I wonder if" followed by a resounding, "Oh, I guess not."
 2-Plot plays to intelligence, not hormones. The story of Harry Potter and his quest to destroy Voldemort is a smart one. Some naysayers would call it a "children's series" making it a very complex piece of children's literature. At heart, it is the battle of good versus evil, but to explain or sum up the series would take you ages. Cliffs notes version? I think not. Hence the Harry Potter Lexicon--a website with an A-Z listing of every character, every place, every thing mentioned in the series, because very few of these are just throw away references. Rowling planted seeds all throughout her series that grew to be substantial and important plot points, keeping readers guessing and theorizing for a decade. Twilight, at its core, is a story of teen romance and hormones. Seriously, if you replaced the vampires with humans, boring, boring, boring. 1- Harry Potter is universal. You can share Harry Potter with your kids, your grandma, or your boyfriend. It's fanbase stretches far and wide and touches nearly every demographic. Twilight plays primarily to teenaged girls. Try and convince your hubby to sit down with a copy of that book and make it all the way through. Not gonna happen, ladies! At least the main guy in your life will take a stab at Potter ...if he's cool.
So, as it is, Potter is superior to Twilight in so many ways. Though I will admit to being biased, I assume that I have every right to be. I cannot be swayed, I cannot be convinced otherwise. I tried to get sucked into Twilight, but when it comes down to it, Harry Potter will withstand the test of time.I am Harry's girl through and through.
(**Honorable mention** Reason why Harry Potter is better than Twilight: "It just is.")
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HARRY POTTER IS WAYYYYYYYY BETTER THAN TWI-WHATEVER...
I PERSONALLY THINK TWILIGHT IS STUPID, VAMPIRES ARE COOL BUT WHAT THE HELL THOSE AREN'T EVEN VAMPIRES! THEY COME OUT IN THE SUN AND "sparkle like disco balls. Ridiculous." THEY DON'T EVEN ACT LIKE VAMPIRES AND THE ONES THAT DO ARE EVIL, THEY ARE FREAKIN' VAMPIRES!
BELLA SWAN
,
July 21, 2009
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