Harry Potter vs Twilight thread

[BCamden]

Let's not make this a Harry Potter vs. Twilight thread, you can't compare the two series anyway. You just can't.

Since Lily90x didin't want the other thread to turn into a Harry Potter vs. Twilight thread, I though it appropriate to start one here.
(Have fun! I don't want this to be a religious war!)

To start off, here's the graphic I posted that helped lead to this:

 

[BCamden]

101 Reasons why Harry Potter is Superior to Twilight

Read all 100 here:
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/590 ... o-twilight

Here's the top 10:
1.NO. ONE. GLITTERS.
2.There is a larger variety of characters. It is a plethora of magical folk.
3.J.K. Rowling is a better writer.
4.It is not a sappy love story.
5.Appeals to boys and girls.
6.Appeals to kids and adults.
7.What scares you more LORD VOLDEMORT or James?
8.Rowling created her own world. Meyer used an already existing one.
9.Hermione is an independent, smart young woman, whereas Bella is a clingy, needy child.
10.Richer plot.

And here's a few other similar pages:
http://www.fanpop.com/spots/harry-potte ... n-twilight
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Do-The-M ... 13981.html
http://blog.sendmemobile.com/movies/har ... n-twilight

 

[BCamden]

And it must be true, because there's a video:

http://youtu.be/WVMjGUIJ9rM

 

[Lydia_Deetz]

Harry Potter kicks Twilight's pussy little ass always.
The end.

 

[BCamden]

 

[sxycherrypie]

I love them both but yea Harry Potter kicks Twilight's ass. I wonder if we melded both harry potter and twilight together and have them battle I wonder who would win. Hmmm. They should do that lol.

 

[BCamden]

In an effort to be fair & balanced, I must also include this list:

REASONS WHY TWILIGHT IS BETTER THAN HARRY POTTER~~~! Straight from Twilight fans!
http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/61244302.html

 

[LindseyDoll]

Harry Potter all the way!
Sorry Twilight fans but I can't like vampires that... well.... don't really do vampire stuff.

 

[LilyMarie]

*sigh*
I've been a Harry Potter fan since 2000, and a Twilight fan since February 06, which is when the 1st book came out here.

There's no way to compare both series. >_<
Both are different genres, have different target audiences.

But I feel the need to defend Twilight a little here.
Sure, Twilight isn't high-class literature. It's entertainment, and its plot does involve an unrealistic relationship. But books/movies aren't about everyday life, right? That would be boring. I know the kind of love that's as crazy and all-encompassing as Bella's and Edward's doesn't exist in real life. Still, I like the story and I like the depiction of such an... "absolute" love (and its negative consequences!), even though I know it will never happen to me.


The insane amount of hate that Twilight gets is mainly due to the crazy, crazy fans. If the typical Twilight fan didn't go so completely crazy about everything, haters would have less fun describing exactly why, in their opinion, Twilight sucks so badly and trolling forums and facebook groups. If the fans would react a little less offended and just started ignoring the "omgz he sparkles, he's so GAYYY hahaha" people, then so much wasted space on the internet wouldn't have been wasted and everyone's blood pressure would be a little lower


And if all of you now go to my profile and rate me 1 Star because I enjoy the books, that's okay too

 

[Jaydenrainey]

first off harry potter obviously wins. j.k Rowling is brilliant writer. twilight is crap and there are more reasons than you think.. not only can stephanie meyer not write it seems as if she also pushes a bit of her Mormon agenda in the book as well.. edward controls bella, bella and edward dont have sex til their married because edward considers it sinful.. and bella refuses to abort her child even though its putting her life in danger. it almost seems like its written by a teenage girl for teenage girls. young girls everywhere read that and consider their "intense" read:abusive relationship as a great love story and not as a problem to leave behind. i read all the twilight books at 16 and until the last book came out.. i was maybe 18? and was admittedly a fan of it til i got older and realized its crap. the only part i do like of the series is the fact its one of the few to come out that focus soley on the romance and less on humor and adventure without there being a need for fabio.

 

[LailaBaise]

I know the kind of love that's as crazy and all-encompassing as Bella's and Edward's doesn't exist in real life.

Yes it does.

 

[Rosemary]

I put on my wizard robe and hat...
and then judge you

I am on team Harry Potter! I don't do romance. Ew. Fucking cooties all up in that shit.

I can't comment on the writing or any of that crap because it's a matter of preference. I prefer HP over Twilight 10/10 times.

 

[CommonAnomaly]

I've never read a word of the Harry Potter books and I've only seen two movies. I wanted to wait until both were done before I got too deep into it. I also waited until Lost was over before watching an episode. To see what the fuss was about I picked up Twilight. I got halfway through it and threw it in the compactor at work.

I'm not going to mock the Glampire aspect of it or the age difference. I've watched enough Buffy and Angel in my time that certain modifications to the vampire mythos don't bother me. And if youre going to get upset about a 100 year old dude and a teenager then you've never seen The Lion King or Sleeping Beauty. Simba and Nala are brother and sister and the prince kissing the sleeping girl is technically sexual assault. It's fiction, get over it.

I'm sorry, but the insistence that its about romance is flat out offensive. If you want real romance then I have two words for you. Westley. Buttercup. End of story.

Before even talking to her Edward sneaks into Bella's room to watch her sleep. That's not love. It's a violation of Megan's Law. When Bella starts thinking hes a vampire and could be responsible for the murders she goes out into the woods in the middle of nowhere ALONE with him. Bella completely devoid of survival instincts.

In my opinion, under no circumstances should any teenage girl, which is the target audience here, be exposed to this kind of female characterization. Girls that grow up worshipping characters like Bella are going to think that abusive, brooding boyfriends that might lose control and murder you one day is a good thing. The "oh he will never hurt ME" attitude is responsible for thousands of domestic abuse cases, and that is the biggest issue with these books. Yeah, let's encourage women to stay with their vioent boyfriend because he says he loves her. Even if it were written well, which its fucking not, this series would still be a plague on the female empowerment. Stephenie Meyer tried to set positive characterization for females back to the stone age and everyone willing to read the books and advocate them to others is perpetuating that.

Read The Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks. What exists between Kylar and Elene is far more profound than Edward and Bella. Their love also makes sense.

Read The Belgariad by David Eddings. The two main women in those books are among the most positive characterizations of women in the fantasy genre. One of them is even my favorite literary character of all time.

 

[LilyMarie]

I don't understand where people get the whole "abusive" thing from. He saves her life more than once. He puts her well-being before his own.
Jacob, on the other hand, is being a manipulative jerk throughout most of the books.

 

[ChaosBeauty]

I don't understand where people get the whole "abusive" thing from.

Edward FORBIDS Bella from seeing Jake, more than a few times throughout the book. I can understand knowing someone is bad news and saying "Hey, you have to watch out for him/around him", but to try to take away free will is going too far. Edward is more abusive in a subtle way, which is said to be the way that the vampires in the books seem to work, and fans say that this give Edward and excuse for the way he is. Being manipulative, whether subtle or not, is never excusable. Its like saying "Oh he is from a different culture where they hit women all the time." NO. You are not their culture, therefore you do not have to put up with their cultural norms.

I have a whole rant about the Twilight series, and all of its short comings, but I do not want to waste space in this thread nor offend any Twilight fans. I have read all the Harry Potter books also, they are definitely better than Twilight, but they still have their own short comings. (Almost all books do...in some respect or another.)

But in this case.... Team Harry Potter.

 

[MadisonLeigh]

Harry Potter is clearly the winner. I read the first Twilight book and laughed all the way through it because the writing was so atrocious. Harry Potter is interesting, well written, and well rounded. Can't say any of that about Twilight. It's pretty much just "vampires and romance". Not my jam. I hate romance stories...so boring.

(Also, I just realized I've been a Harry Potter fan for 14 years :? I'm old.)

 

[LadyLuna]

Common Anomaly said something that I'm about to twist:

Princess Bride > Harry Potter > Twilight

for the books

For the movies, I actually think Twilight did a better job than Harry Potter, but I don't like either movies.

Also, Princess Bride is one of the few cases in which the movie is better than the book. Don't believe me? Read the book sometime. It's a good book, but the movie was better.

I don't understand where people get the whole "abusive" thing from. He saves her life more than once. He puts her well-being before his own.

This is exactly where the problem is... I'll try to explain. Edward's views on how the relationship should work is 17th century. He's in charge. Bella must listen to him, or her life will be over. And Bella just goes along with it, not caring that he could waver at any moment. He even TELLS her that her scent is intoxicating in the way that makes him want to KILL her. And she stays with him? Not a good message for a teen to read.

Way back in early 2010, someone wandered into my room while the discussion was on Twilight for some unknown reason. I think I had finally read the book just to see what it was, and was saying how horrible it was and how hard it was to finish. I had at the time his permission to post his quote with his name, I will put it here:

clitsrule: twilight...a young girl's adventures with necrophillia (vampire) and beastiality (wearwolf)

 

[LilyMarie]

(...)He even TELLS her that her scent is intoxicating in the way that makes him want to KILL her. And she stays with him? Not a good message for a teen to read.

Why do people always assume that teens who read certain books / play games / watch movies will automatically act the same way that the hero/heroine does? When I was a teen, I know I didn't imitate every character in every book I read. In fact, I didn't feel like imitating any of them, because.. they were characters from books. They weren't real. I'm sure every kid with a brain will be able to tell that a relationship like the one in Twilight isn't applicable to real life, that it's just a story. (Also, Edward quickly notices that his love for Bella is stronger than his wanting to kill her.)

twilight...a young girl's adventures with necrophillia (vampire) and beastiality (wearwolf)

Ugh, I've read that sentence sooo many times.... of course such a phrase seems funny to those who haven't thought about it, but it's plain wrong. Edward is not a dead body and Jacob is not an animal.

 

[LadyLuna]

In an effort to be fair & balanced, I must also include this list:

REASONS WHY TWILIGHT IS BETTER THAN HARRY POTTER~~~! Straight from Twilight fans!
http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/61244302.html

I finally read this... ROFL!

I love how they try to claim that Rowling stole the idea for Sirius Black from Jacob Black... because Twilight was TOTALLY written before the third Harry Potter book came out :roll:

(...)He even TELLS her that her scent is intoxicating in the way that makes him want to KILL her. And she stays with him? Not a good message for a teen to read.

Why do people always assume that teens who read certain books / play games / watch movies will automatically act the same way that the hero/heroine does?

We don't assume that they will automatically act the same way that the hero/heroine does. But it has been proven that when MULTIPLE sources start praising an idea that was already attractive to the kid, they start to think the idea has merit. Since multiple sources are praising Twilight, they will think the ideas in Twilight are appropriate.

Vampires are most definitely dead. They don't have a heartbeat and are cold as the grave. Can't feel anything (I mean physically feel, not emotionally, not gonna go there).

Werewolves, well, you're almost right. They're only a beast when there's a full moon.

 

[AnnieAlleyCat]

Oh, Twilight and Harry Potter. Two genres that should never be compared, constantly are.

Before I start this post, I've watched all of their movies, and read all of their books. I was paid $500 to read the Twilights, and I started reading Harry Potter when my second or third grade English teacher started reading the first book in story time.

So, let's start with plot. Twilight centers around a teenaged girl that falls madly in love with a 107 year old vampire. The series is centered around their love, and how people from both of their worlds try to tear them apart. Honestly, that sounds a lot like Romeo and Juliet to me (which I personally enjoyed a lot more). Harry Potter's plot is about a boy that survived a curse from the most evil wizard to exist, and his ultimate quest to destroy said evil wizard with help from a range of characters (his best friends, their families, and many others who pledged their lives to helping defeat the wizard).

Let's focus on the female characters. The main female character in Twilight, Bella Swan, seems to be like an average chick. Not particularly attractive, not particularly interesting. She does, however, seem to be inexplicably attractive to Eric (a random geek that talked to her on the first day, that she then treated like shit), Mike (a jock that her "friend" had a huge crush on), Jacob Black (who turns out to be a werewolf, and falls in love with her newborn baby girl) and of course, Edward Cullen (only because of how she smelled, and that he couldn't read her mind). After Edward doesn't show up for a while, and then returns to classes, she starts to almost obsess about him. Jacob tells her of a legend that his people know, and Bella proceeds to research vampires. Edward then confronts her, in the middle of the woods alone, and then they both share that they secretly love each other. For the next three novels, almost every paragraph somehow refers to how amazingly perfect Edward is, and when he dumps her at the beginning of New Moon, she is in a catatonic state for three months. Eventually getting married to Edward and dying in the process of giving birth to their child, Bella is reborn as a vampire and helps resolve a conflict between the Vultori and Edward's adoptive family.

Hermione Granger, the main female character of Harry Potter, is described originally as being mousy, bossy, and extremely intelligent. From her introduction, it was only after Harry and Ron had saved her from a troll that she became their friend, helping them intensely when they needed anything from rule breaking to their homework. Third year, where the awkward stage of teenagers just starting to realize the opposite sex is attractive, brings about all sorts of conflicts between Harry, Ron and Hermione. Hermione's pet cat, Crookshanks, attacks and "kills" Ron's pet rat, Scabbers, only to be later found out that Scabbers was a wizard in disguise and Crookshanks had known all along, being part kneazle. Their friendships all stay the same, even through the trying times. Hermione and Ron seem to awkwardly fall into a sort of love-hate relationship, and it breaks Hermione's heart when Ron starts dating Lavender Brown, after she had helped him become Gryffindor's Keeper. Previously agreeing to go with Hermione to the Slug Club's Christmas party (a club created by Horace Slughorn, professor of potions for their sixth year), Hermione takes the guy she believes would have pissed Ron off the most, Cormac McLaggen (it doesn't work too well). Pretty soon, Ron's and Lavender's relationship fails, to Hermione's and Ron's delight. Seventh year, after seven years of friendship, fighting side by side to help Harry defeat Lord Voldemort, Ron and Hermione share their first kiss after killing a Horcrux. In the epilogue, it is revealed that they had gotten married, and have two magical children.

Yup, huge post, but I personally think that Harry Potter is written much better than Twilight, and gives a better image for girls of all ages to look up to. Twilight concerns me with how most of the readers are girls and may possibly believe that Edward is a good model for their boyfriends. Harry Potter at least shows girls that being smart and fun are easily achieved, and may even lead to find the love of your life.

 

[Shaun__]

I have read both series and think they are both good books to start younger readers off with, or an older reader that just wants to have a light fun read. However the Diskworld books whoop the hell out of the both of them using a sock with half a brick innit.

 

[LilyMarie]

@LadyLuna
Well yeah, they're "dead" if you want to call everyone without a beating heart dead. But since vampires don't exist, one can only speculate over the meanings of the words dead/alive here
They speak, move around and are able to feel everything.
When I think of necrophilia, I think of people having sex with corpses, with decomposing human bodies. Compared to corpses, vampires look and act just like humans.
Regarding Jacob - Bella is only attracted to him when he's in his human form. She's not attracted to the wolf at all, so there's no beastiality there.

Jacob Black (who turns out to be a werewolf, and falls in love with her newborn baby girl)

This is what so many people get wrong. Just to clear that up, Jacob imprints on Renesmee, Bella's child - he doesn't fall in love with her. Imprinting is something that happens to some werewolves, it basically means that you become that person's soulmate, that you'll be their protector and serve as a brother/friend. It doesn't necessarily involve a romantic relationship and of course there are no romantic feelings at all as long as she's still a child.

 

[Lydia_Deetz]

Hehehe

 

[AnnieAlleyCat]

Jacob Black (who turns out to be a werewolf, and falls in love with her newborn baby girl)

This is what so many people get wrong. Just to clear that up, Jacob imprints on Renesmee, Bella's child - he doesn't fall in love with her. Imprinting is something that happens to some werewolves, it basically means that you become that person's soulmate, that you'll be their protector and serve as a brother/friend. It doesn't necessarily involve a romantic relationship and of course there are no romantic feelings at all as long as she's still a child.

I admit, I had forgotten about that, but I do remember being creeped out because of the whole imprinting thing on babies. But still, it's almost the same. Jacob is in love with her because of the imprint, and Renesmee is still a baby.

 

[LilyMarie]

Jacob Black (who turns out to be a werewolf, and falls in love with her newborn baby girl)

This is what so many people get wrong. Just to clear that up, Jacob imprints on Renesmee, Bella's child - he doesn't fall in love with her. Imprinting is something that happens to some werewolves, it basically means that you become that person's soulmate, that you'll be their protector and serve as a brother/friend. It doesn't necessarily involve a romantic relationship and of course there are no romantic feelings at all as long as she's still a child.

I admit, I had forgotten about that, but I do remember being creeped out because of the whole imprinting thing on babies. But still, it's almost the same. Jacob is in love with her because of the imprint, and Renesmee is still a baby.

No, he's not in love with her while she's a baby/child/teen.. That's not what imprinting is. There's a "magical connection" between them because of the imprint, that makes him want to protect her and be there for her all the time. It's likely that he'll fall in love with her when she's a grownup. But not before.

It took me a while to grasp the concept, I was totally creeped out when I first read that, too.

 

[Neudiin]

Also, Princess Bride is one of the few cases in which the movie is better than the book. Don't believe me? Read the book sometime. It's a good book, but the movie was better.

This book is the one the movie is based on.

Inigo Montoya - In the book you get his background, in the movie you get "I studied for 20 years..." in the book you get most all of the people he trained with. When Count Rugen stabs Inigo in the lower gut there is a reason his hand is inside his shirt and he stands back up that goes beyond revenge, you get it in the book.

Fezzik - the back ground on him is worth reading the book

Prince Humperdinck - if you are telling me you've read the book and liked the movie version better, you need meds. The book version was far more evil, the line Buttercup says about "...he can track a falcon on a cloudy day.." because its talked about, his hunting trips. You leave a man like that alive and what do you think would happen? He's going to let Westley and Buttercup go?

Westley - he is tortured for weeks in the pit, which is actually a zoo of sorts, until the "machine" is finished.

Sorry the book is so much better.

Oh and Twilight sucks. It has nothing to do with it being better than Harry Potter, cause I think you are comparing apples and oranges, it just sucks.

 

[sxycherrypie]

Since I like them both I will highlight what I think are good about the two.
In harry Potter you learn that being a coward or a fake does not get you anywhere. But bravery and friendship gets you to high places.

The twilight: I learned that love is a very important thing and a very powerful thing and you will do whatever it takes to keep it and your freedom to love whomever.

 

[Rosemary]

Everything is offensive. Always and forever, it will never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever change. The Lion King is offensive, Star Trek is offensive, The Princess Bride (though awesome due to the over-the-top cheesy romance) is offensive. Everything is offensive. Name one thing and I will find an offensive suggestion in it. I dare you.

Didn't mean to be offensive, but what I said above is also probably offensive because everything is offensive. I just can't wrap my head around it, sorry! I highly doubt that teenagers are going to start flooding into abusive relationships because of a book. I always thought it had more to do with upbringing through years/moments of abuse and psychological disorders. I will never, ever understand the line of thought that suggests books will corrupt the innocent. It's just offensive to think about.

:lol:

I'm sorry, I can't stop laughing! It's too funny. Harry Potter for the win. I believe a girl from our very forum dressed as Luna Lovegood for Halloween! That is EPIC. I wish I coulda seen it

 

[Nordling]

The book is "better" because it's more detailed? Because characters are more fully developed?

Maybe.

Myself, I don't compare movies and books because silly arguments ensue. To me, the "better" one is the one I enjoyed the most. And that's completely valid and apparently what Lady Luna means.

 

[LadyLuna]

To me, the "better" one is the one I enjoyed the most. And that's completely valid and apparently what Lady Luna means.

Exactly!