"Everyone knows about it and I don't"

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Everyone at school was talking about how awesome this Twilight thing was, and how I couldn't miss it yada yada. So, I ended up checking out the damn book. I didn't go past the first 10 pages, I got bored, and thought it was crap. Then my brother is like "Let's go see the movies!". So, we went. My brother got pissed off at me due to me covering my eyes when there were kissing scenes, and sighing due to how bored I was. However, my mother and father liked them along with my brother. Guess that maybe some aspies don't like it due to being a "romantic" novel, and we don't do too well with emotions? Besides, it gives a wole different insight to vampires, where we don't like change too much. At the very least I think that applies to me.

There's no accounting for taste. I recently heard someone with a doctorate in chemical engineering go on and on about how funny Garfield the Cat was.

I've just read a very interesting book called Our Vampires, Ourselves. The evolution of vampire stories over time is fascinating. Sadly, it was written before Buffy (though I suspect Joss Whedon went through it cover to cover) and Twilight, but it devotes a fair bit to Anne Rice's books. The commentary on Queen of the Damned was something like "and by this stage in the series, the vampire characters are left in the same situation as the human characters at the start, impotent observers of a larger power play" or words to that effect.

I found Twiglet dull, very badly written and populated entirely by unsympathetic characters, but clearly Stephenie Meyer has managed to tap into a rich vein of youth cash. Er, culture.

Into each generation a Vampire is born...

Good for you for not following the herd.

Popular does not equal good.

Another example: Dan Brown! OMG the guy can't write! He can't!! ! Awful awful writer, and yet his books became a HUGE success. UGH!

It can be awkward being the only person in a group who didn't see a certain movie/TV show or read a certain book or listen to a certain song. I sometimes feel like the only middle aged woman in America who didn't watch "Sex In The City". But there's nothing wrong with saying, "I've heard of that but I never saw it." (Which is true, you had heard of "Twilight"). You are under no social obligation to look up every pop culture thing that becomes popular. Nobody expects everybody to be up on everything. It may seem like they do, but it isn't actually that weird to have not seen whatever. It can be considered weird to be unaware that something or other even exists even if you hadven't seen it. If you were unaware that there is currently a vampire movie craze it would imply that you never talked to people or even bought groceries (I know about such things because they are always in my peripheral vision in the checkoout line.)

So people will consider it odd if you are completely unaware something exists even though it is surrounding you at all times ("Twilight" ads). But nobody will find it odd if you haven't actually seen it because it is accepted that everybody has different taste. Utter obliviousness to your surroundings is considered odd (and currently the surroundings of all Americans who live anywhere but deep woods is total "Twilight" ad immersion). But not being into something or other isn't considered odd.



They do have busy lives. They don't find out these things through internet searches. If they are aware of the plot of "Twilight" without having seen it, they probably got it through conversations with other people or through ads. Sometimes, it can be difficult to not be aware of things. I have no interest in any of the stars of Twilight but I feel like I know too much about them anyway. I buy groceries and have peripheral vision and that alone has kept me unwantedly informed of all the goings-on of the cast.

That kind of thing happens to me all the time. It doesn't seem to matter if they're talking about something I know about or not, I don't talk much anyway. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, jc6chan. It's quite an accomplishment to have missed Twilight. Good job.

I miss anything that doesn't have to do with world news, autism, current country stats (demographics), the latest police chase videos, etc...

oops

wow, and I thought I was pop culturally aloof

Good for you, for being your own person.

Ouch. My heart. It has been burned with the fire of one hundred blast-ended skrewts.

twilight aside, I see what you mean.

Its not just because you have "good taste" or whatever excuse other people gave in here.

The reason people know about things is because they watch the TV, Read gossip magazines, talk to their gossipy friends and co-workers, in the know family etc.

I don't think its anything to be ashamed of at all not knowing about the latest trends right away. Just ask "What is Eclipse?" Because i'm sure a lot of people do.

Anyway, good luck

Don't worry, dear one!

Not the same exactly, but many years ago, I agreed to watch Pulp Fiction(Quentin Tarantino). I am a movie fanatic and had heard amazing things about this film, so I got it out. I found it to be the most banal exchange of words ever produced in a film. The dialogue was quasi philosophical, typical and lacking imagination. I only got through half of it before I turned the rubbish off.

My sincere apologies to anyone who liked it. I do not mean to offend.

Upon telling people of my disgust at the film, I was treated with stares of incredulity and sometimes, downright hostility. Never understood the attraction and still don't, despite people best efforts to persuade me otherwise.

I did like Kill Bill though only becuase I like Uma Thurman, samurai swords, motorbike racing gear and choregraphed fight scenes.

Vampires happen to be one of my singular long term interests.......so, yes, I have watched the Twilight series. I only liked the part where they change into wolves, but there was no bloodshed so my interest was short-lived

Take care,

Mics

Don't feel bad. The last vampire I really liked was Barnabas Collins.

No, really.

Don' let it get to ya: half the folks I have as friends on Facebook couldn't stop talking about the final season of Lost.

I've never watched Lost, nor do I have any real desire to.

I remember back when I lived in NJ, no one could stop talking about the Sopranos; I've officially seen 5 minutes of the show.

There're a lot of popular shows and trends that I cannot for the life of me fathom how they become popular, but in some cases I check it out just to see what's so great, and what's up with them.

In a few cases, I'm actually mighty impressed. The majority of the time, I'm left asking "um.....ok, what exactly was so great about this?"

I confess...I have to be a little bit up on pop culture myself, not only because I'm a fanatic for the entertainment industry, but also because I love cultural history...and because I own my own retail website selling toys, and of course people want what's hot...so I kinda have to know.

But again....most of the "big things" I just don't see what's so great about as it is.

I don't think you're missing anywhere near as much as you happen to think you are.

You obviously have your own interests and enjoyments; I recommend continuing to pursue those rather than trying to engulf yourself in other peoples' worlds, only to wonder why you did in the first place...

I must say, I've never read a book from any of those three authors, however I'm positive Ann Rice is an excellent author, regardless of the subject matter, for two reasons.

1. Her books are in the "Literature" sections at bookshops. Not "Romance", not "Young Adult", not "Fantasy"...."Literature" in the vicinity of Steinbeck and Hemingway.

2. My father has read every single one of her books, and my father does not read crap.