Twilight.  I have long heard about the success of the movie and the books.  What I had heard most about the series, in all honesty, was the crazed fans.  And as Melissa Click’s article says, it is the fangirls and “Twi-hards” (which I think is a hilarious name by the way) who I have heard about.  I have never watched Twilight, and although I have a younger sister, she has never gotten involved in the series (she is Harry Potter all the way, as am I).  I was excited to finally have an excuse to watch Twilight to see what all the fuss was about.

I did not mind the movie, and can definitely see why it has such a large following.  Click does a great job presenting her evidence and truly convinces the reader that fangirls are wrongly represented in many cases.  I am sure that the classifications of the fans as “ravenous” and “rabid” are a tad exaggerated, but at the same time were most likely not conjured out of thin air.  I have seen fans more or less attacking Robert Pattinson on the red carpet and the like, so it is not completely made up.  But Twilight has its benefits in that it is a series geared directly towards a female audience.  I said I did not mind the first movie, but it is definitely not geared to my age demographic.  Twilight gives young adolescent girls a series to relate to and enjoy.  In addition, it has created a great deal of response from these fangirls, especially on Twitter and in the form of fan fiction.  Because this group has never really been targeted, I think the fact that there has been such a response has surprised and shocked media members.  That shock has made the media over exaggerate the response, and perhaps confuse the popularity for insanity.  Click makes some great points, and I do agree that the media coverage is overblown.

If it is not obvious already, there is a “however” coming.  Click writes, “these comments position girls and women as unexpected and unwelcome media consumers.”  I could not disagree more.  Yes the media coverage is overblown, and perhaps the media is surprised at the mass reaction by young girls because it does not happen all too often.  Claiming they are unwelcomed media consumers is just incorrect I think.  There is no way any consumer is unwelcome.  Be it young, old, male, female, no consumer is ever unwelcome.  More and more projects will be now targeted at this demographic.  A number that will never be unwelcome is 35: in terms of the number of millions earned on Twilight’s first day in theaters.  The media may have been surprised, but I don’t think they were attacking girls and women by any stretch.  They saw crazed young girls infatuated with a series and exaggerated it to sell papers.  Which always happens in the media without fail.  I think the media in general is who Click should target if that is her argument, and not to say these consumers are being unfairly attacked.  I enjoyed Click’s article and agree to a degree, but some of her claims were just too farfetched for me.