EW in Hot Water For Trashing Breaking Dawn
I have received my fair share of hate mail from Twi-hards after bashing Twilight, lots of it. But nowhere near the amount that Entertainment Weekly is getting after one of their writers trashed the hell out of Breaking Dawn Part 1. The biggest entertainment news source hating on one of the most popular franchises is definitely going to stir up some trouble.
So what exactly did EW do? Well, they put Breaking Dawn on their 2011 Worst Movies list. That’s right, one of the top grossing films of the year has been thoroughly dissed by Lisa Schwarzbaum over at Entertainment Weekly, and if that wasn’t bad enough, she also put it in her Top 5 Worst Movies of 2011 list.
She totally ripped the film to shreds and, like most everyone, harped on Kristen Stewart’s acting skills, calling her dull and uninteresting. Here’s what she had to say:
“That does it. I am so over Bella Swan, especially with Kristen Stewart drooping through the role. The dullest girl ever to be loved by a vampire. (She looks pained on an average day; here, during marriage, honeymoon, and the world’s most hideous birth experience, she looks tortured.)”
But that wasn’t all she had to say, she ranted more saying, “I’m over this credulous, dutifully reverent, drawn-out movie adaptation of such an insipid fantasy. I said it before and I’ll say it again: You who love The Twilight Saga deserve a much better saga to love!”
Ok, I’m not a Twilight fan, as I have made clear on several counts, but even I’m not that passionately hateful. Damn woman, relax.
The comments left on Lisa’s lil’ rant range from pure rage from Twi-hards to cheers from the haters – no shock there. One commenter even asked if she could be fired for saying such things. I am a bit surprised that EW published the rant, seeing how Twilight has graced their magazine cover many MANY times, which makes them money. Hmm…
What do you guys think of EW’s Lisa? Did the film let you down too?
- Moonlight
I still haven’t been to see Breaking Dawn yet (I know – sacrilege hey?), so will reserve my opinion to such a time that I have seen it. That being said, I must say that even in the books, I found Bella Swan wearisome. It’s probably the reason I enjoy the movies more than the books because I don’t feel like a prisoner inside an incessantly whiny teenage girl’s mind. Plus, the movies gave us Taylor Lautner as Jacob and I really enjoyed Alice, Emmett and the vampire family (barring Edward, who I’m not a big fan of).
I think I would have enjoyed the books so much more had they been told from the viewpoint of multiple characters. Eg, if we’d spent some time seeing things from Edward’s POV, and from Alice’s. I really enjoyed seeing things from Jacob’s point of view in the last book. Does anyone else think the books suffered from being stuck with Bella as the main character? Could they have been better if they’d been written multi POV
Saw the movie. Enjoyed it. Not a great piece of cinema but a fairly well-done depiction of an above-average example of the “Christian Vampire Romance” genre. The only acting that doesn’t impress me is Taylor Lautner. I’ve enjoyed all of Kristen Stewart’s performances that I’ve seen.
Well and truly believe that while some just don’t like *her* others cannot separate their feelings for TWILIGHT well enough to accurately judge anything about the film adaptations. That it stirs up such passions actually argues pretty well for its quality, at least in my opinion. Isn’t the final word on the subject, not at all. Methinks that is up to time. Interestingly, during the 1820s and 30s similar complaints were made about Jane Austen. Would be silly to claim Meyer and Austen have that much to do with one another but I’m convinced the fervid over-reactions on both sides have little to do with any kind of final opinion of the book.
Me, I think reviewers should state their opinions. And if people disagree, then they should state their opinions as well.
Like or dislike Twilight – or any other franchise – it’s just movies and books, not politics or theology. On the other hand…
“You who love The Twilight Saga deserve a much better saga to love!”
Patronize much? That approach could be applied to any fandom. Instead of the infantile Transformers, try the Iron Giant instead. Star Wars fans should grow up and graduate to Firefly. Sounds like a stupid argument, right? Well, yes.
And it’s just her opinion. Anything can be condescendingly trashed.
Alec Guinness on Star Wars: “a fantasy world of secondhand, childish banalities.”
Literary critic Harold Bloom on Harry Potter: “Rowling’s mind is so governed by cliches and dead metaphors that she has no other style of writing.”
Should fans of Star Wars and Harry Potter sheepishly defer to the judgment of a great actor and acclaimed scholar? No. That’s just their opinion.
Does anyone else think the books suffered from being stuck with Bella as the main character? Could they have been better if they’d been written multi-POV?
“Hell, yeah!” on both counts!
Some people think I should write my story entirely from the main character’s POV.
The “Twilight” books are the reason why I chose multi-character POV instead.
Even if your main character isn’t constantly obsessing over a love interest, the limitations of sticking to one point of view (for an entire novel) become clear the moment you start typing.
PS: I hate to say it, but “Breaking Dawn Part 1″ as a stand-alone movie is better than “Deathly Hallows Part 1″.
As infinitely superior as Rowling’s writing is to Meyer’s, there are some important storyline events shown onscreen in “Breaking Dawn Part 1″, whereas “Deathly Hallows Part 1″ can only be described as two+ hours of pure setup for “Part 2′s” (awesome!) two+ hours of payoff.
Imagine playing the disc of “Deathly, Pt. 1.” to someone who had never read a Harry Potter book or seen a H.P. movie. They’d be scratching their heads.
i disagree i think just the opposite. Twilight was way rushed so Much skipped and made up. it felt rushed and i agree she did looked Bored & Pained through the whole dang Movie im not a fan but i have seen her other work.
The Books yes i think they suffered a lot by one POV. Now that Stephany Meyer is going to Finally write Her final Book From Edwards POV i think it’s way past that point now that the movies have come out…well Pointless as a Fan of the Books.
At one point in Time i thought The Twilight Series was one of the Best Series out there YA wise. well that was before i read more YA Series.
So yeah i have to say it was one of the Most Crappy Movies so far in the series and now that I’ve seen Part 1 im really not at all excited to see Part 2.
I’m so sick of all things Twilight. Why can’t it just go away……Forever?