I wrote this a while nakaraan for my English class. We had to write about something we felt strongly about, and I feel very strongly about this, so...

Many people think that I would be an avid Twilight lover and a hater of the Harry Potter books after their first impression. What they see may seem to point to that: I’m a fifteen taon old girl who devours books, is a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic, loves all things vampire related, and I wear a ton of black. In reality, this couldn’t be far from the truth. It is actually the complete opposite. I absolutely despise anything Twilight related and I know just about everything there is to know about the Harry Potter series. Twilight fans say that the reason I hate Twilight is because I’m jealous of Stephenie Meyer because she is such an amazing writer and that I “just don’t understand” everything the Twilight series is really about. However, I have valid reasons as to why I hate the Twilight series and why I pag-ibig the Harry Potter series.


My first point is the writing. J. K. Rowling is, in my opinion, one of; if not the greatest writer the world has seen for years. She is a woman that will go down in history as a writer who changed the world, like Jane Austen and J.R.R. Tolkien. She put so much thought in not only the plot, but the characters’ names as well. For example, Harry’s owl Hedwig’s name. Hedwig is the name of a saint who lived in Germany in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. An order of nuns who organized under her patronage dedicate their lives to helping troubled orphans, like Harry Potter. Hedwig is a pinagmulan of comfort and protects Harry on many occasions, finally giving up her life for her beloved master in the final book. The pacing of the series is amazing as well. Even during slower parts of the books, readers are still pulled into the story in a way where they don’t want to for fear of missing even a small clue, all leading up to the chilling and explosive finale. Not only this, but Ms. Rowling has converted many children from being book haters to loving all things relating to literature. There is a rather touching story of a boy who suffered from severe dyslexia who struggled through the Harry Potter books. He know can’t get his hands on enough books and pagbaba comes much easier to him now.


Stephenie Meyer on the other hand, is a less than adequate author. Her books include many run-on sentences, incomplete thoughts, grammatical errors, and a rather small vocabulary. Throughout the entire series the main character Bella describes how beautiful her immortal boyfriend Edward is. Instead of any type of variation in her describing, she uses the same phrases over and over: how he is like a “Greek god” and his eyes are “a stunning golden” color. “Pixie-like” is the phrase used over and over to describe Alice Cullen, “kind of beautiful” for Jacob Black, and “a big bear” for Emmett Cullen. The ending of the final book, Breaking Dawn, is described even sa pamamagitan ng the most avid Twilight fans as “anti-climactic.” The ending is built up to a huge fight where most won’t get out alive and then all of sudden there is no fight and everyone walks off happy with their ideal person, much like some silly fairytale. I’ve heard many people say that Ms. Meyer ruined vampire books for them because her vampire world is so sickly sweet and innocent.


Then there is the plot itself. Ms. Rowling seems to be an expert at writing, particularly foreshadowing. She hinted at the horcruxes in the segundo book when Harry had to fight the young Voldemort that came out of the old diary Ginny Weasley had come into possession with. Four books later, Harry finds out that a horcrux is the only reason Voldemort is still alive. Ms. Rowling also hints that Harry’s greatest power has nothing to do with his wizarding skills but the fact that he knows how to pag-ibig with is whole puso and is loved in return. Dumbledore first hints at this at the end of the first book, telling Harry his mother’s sacrifice saves his life, then later in the fourth book, Voldemort reiterates this. At the end of the fifth book, Dumbledore tells Harry his greatest power is pag-ibig and in the end, Harry wins because he loves his mga kaibigan and has faith in their abilities. Of course, there is also the romantic back stories between power couple Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley and Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley. Harry and Ginny’s relationship is portrayed as honest, loving, and gentle and anything but lust. Throughout the entire sixth book, Harry battles his feelings for his best friend’s younger sister. Harry is attracted to the red-haired beauty for madami than her looks, loving her because she is headstrong, smart, witty, and almost fearless. Ginny was known to have been in pag-ibig with Harry since she was eleven, but does admit that somewhere along the line it went from being a puppy-love/worship of a hero to the pag-ibig of a close friend. Although Harry does leave Ginny at the end of the 6th book, he tells her he does not want her to be harmed if Voldemort finds out about the two of them and he fears he may not come back alive from the war and does not want her to be tied down to him. Harry and Ginny eventually marry and are seemingly happy with three children.


Although Twilight is mainly a romance story, the main couple is anything but romantic. It seems that the two are drawn together not sa pamamagitan ng their personalities or not even sa pamamagitan ng some otherworldly force known very well between star-crossed lovers, but sa pamamagitan ng their physical appearances. Bella feels Edward is the most beautiful being she has ever seen and Edward is attracted to her scent. Edward is shown to be a controlling monster, going so far as to remove the engine from her car and making his sister take her hostage so Bella cannot go visit her best friend Jacob Black. Edward stalks Bella quite a lot, watching her in her sleep and following her when she goes on outings with her friends. Then of course, there is the controversial break-up. Many, myself included, believe this scene to be heartless on Edward’s part. He tells Bella he doesn’t pag-ibig her and never did and they can’t be together. Now, why his reasons may be noble, and much like Harry’s reasons for breaking up with Ginny – Edward doesn’t want a vampire threatening Bella’s life again – Edward lies and brutally breaks Bella’s heart. Yet another unhealthy aspect of their relationship comes into play when Bella becomes zombie-like because Edward leaves. This shows not only is she too dependent on him but also has no other mga kaibigan outside of him to lean on, unlike Ginny, who knew that somewhere Harry was missing her just as much and she had mga kaibigan to lean on like best mga kaibigan Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom.


Lastly is the two series’ portrayal of women. Hermione Granger is the smartest character in the series, constantly explaining plot points and coming up with ideas. She stands on her own just fine, ipinapakita herself to be an amazing fighter and quick thinker. Hermione is constantly referred to as “the brightest witch of our generation” and extremely bookish. Unlike many “know-it-alls” though, Hermione does also have a social life, social skills, and a charming personality. She dates an internationally renowned Quidditch player named Viktor Krum for about a year, is pursued sa pamamagitan ng a boy named Cormac McLaggen, and is the object of Ron Weasley’s desire for most of the series. Hermione is described as a plain Jane, which implies that she won over all three boys because of her kind personality, which is demonstrated on many accounts. Hermione fights for equal rights for all beings including house elves, werewolves, muggleborns, and goblins. She starts an activist group called S.P.E.W. for the freedom of house elves in her fourth taon and sticks to it for the entire series. Hermione is regarded as one of the best female characters in modern literature.


Bella sisne is the complete opposite of Hermione Granger. Bella does everything for a man: she cooks and cleans for her father, she goes to school to see Edward, she talks to other people to please her father, she calls Jacob so he doesn’t feel left out, she pretends she didn’t call Jacob to keep Edward happy, among other things. She lets Edward control her, as stated in the fifth paragraph, even though Edward displays the warning signs of a wife abuser and does abuse Bella mentally constantly. Bella has no goals set in her life, besides marrying Edward. Bella gives up any chance she ever had at a future when she decides to keep her and Edward’s baby, even though having this baby could kill her. Bella never makes her own decision, but instead lets Edward make her decisions. Bella is useless in fighting, instead being forced to stay back while everyone else risks their lives.


In summary, while Harry Potter is amazingly written, has a magnificent plot line and admirable characters, Twilight is written as poorly as a fourth grader’s essay, has a flimsy – at best – plotline with detestable and unlikeable characters. I am not jealous of Stephenie Meyer because I believe that I am a better writer, and I don’t even think my work is good enough to be published at this point in my life. I understand the story just perfectly – Edward is an abusive boyfriend and Bella is an anti-feminist and their controlling and harmful relationship is what passes for pag-ibig nowadays instead of the relationship of equals and pag-ibig that Harry and Ginny seem to have. I hope this essay lets the reader know not only the real story behind Twilight, but also lets the reader know that I am not just some stupid teenager hating on a book, but an educated young adult arguing my case respectfully and with facts.