It's the end of western civilization as we know it!
Is Twilight more popular than Star Trek?
- Thread starter SFRabid
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Saw a few cougars did ya?
Right now yes it is more popular. Preteen a teen girls make and break some movies, but once they are in their 20's, the stars they drooled over are older men, no longer look cute and nonthreatening, and are past over. Then the new generation of preteen and teen girls will find a new face or book or movie. Like The Jonas Brothers, who I expect to hear about for about 5 more years. And once the youngest brother is in his 20's, they'll be over. Or go indie like Hanson.
I work as both a reference librarian in a medium-sized public library, and a bookseller at Barnes & Noble, and at this point, Twilight has moved beyond its intended target audience. I started to notice it last fall, when a lot of women in their late 30s/early 40s came in asking for the book, and specifically said it was for themselves. Then, in October, one woman requested a copy, because she needed it for her book club. I had an 80-year-old woman at the library complain about the waiting list for our copies of Breaking Dawn (the fourth & final book).
The audience definitely skews female, though; most of the men I know who've read it are either booksellers or librarians, and they mostly read it because they felt obligated to keep current with what the kids are reading these days.
These things always have an ebb and flow to them; Trek has certainly had its ups and downs in popularity over the decades. I doubt very many people here would have thought back in May 2005 that just four years later, a Star Trek movie would have been one of the biggest hits of the year. It'll be interesting to see whether the Twilight series has any sort of staying power, and becomes popular again 15-20 years after the current hype dies down. I'm kind of doubtful, if only because the writing is so crappy.
American society has only ever had good taste (As a whole, that is. Individuals vary, as always) in sporadic spurts. Not very surprising for a society that's as often anti-intellectual as this one. Modern media culture only exacerbated the problem, it didn't create it.
My sister and I (I being male) both liked "Star Trek" instantly upon encountering it at around age 11. The stereotype that the Trek fan is usually or overwhelmingly male has never held up to scrutiny in my experience.
As for the "teenage girls = Twilight" idea, hmmm, that's rather interesting. My sister for one would never have had the slightest interest in something as (sadly I must say this) unsophisticated and ill-thought out as "Twilight". Everyone to their own of course, but it's a shame if that's what holds so many children's interest. I found "Twilight" to be (again, apologies to those who like it) distinctly unintelligent.
Unless it's the DS9-relaunch novel of the same name.
If only it were that which had so many teen's attention...
I really don't think we can compare the two. Twilight can not and does not appeal to a cross section of society the way Trek does. I beg to differ about Trek struggling with the under age 16 crowd. We all got into TOS at a very young age so it's just a matter of exposure. Most kids who watch Trek end up liking it...it trancends the decades.
When The Ugly Couch Show (www.uglycouchshow.com) gets its footage from last year's Comic-Con International back up, check out the segment where Barry offers $20 to any woman (and yes, the line mostly looks like it's made up of soccer moms) who would get out of the "Twilight" preview line and stay out. No takers.
As many have pointed out, I doubt "Twilight" will have the pop culture legs that ST has had and continues to have. TOS has made it into the American zeitgeist in a way that not even the arguably superior TNG was able to match. The popularity of the new movie seems to bear this out. Kirk/Spock/McCoy have entered Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Tarzan, et al, territory now.
As many have pointed out, I doubt "Twilight" will have the pop culture legs that ST has had and continues to have. TOS has made it into the American zeitgeist in a way that not even the arguably superior TNG was able to match. The popularity of the new movie seems to bear this out. Kirk/Spock/McCoy have entered Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Tarzan, et al, territory now.
The Twilight popularity seems similar to what Interview with the Vampire had what, oh 15 or so years ago. The book had been around forever and had a huge cult following, both male and female, and the movie seemed to start an entire vampire craze. There were numerous movies that followed, shortly there after, but it seemed to only last a year or two. I know this is geared towards a younger audience,but it seems to be the same type of hype.
I think trek will, ultimately, be much more successful in the long run. Additionally, once the movie is out on DVD and the sequel comes around, it will probably gain even more steam. I can't say for the novelizations of trek, in terms of popularity, but the whole Twilight thing started as books and evolved to the big screen.
I think trek will, ultimately, be much more successful in the long run. Additionally, once the movie is out on DVD and the sequel comes around, it will probably gain even more steam. I can't say for the novelizations of trek, in terms of popularity, but the whole Twilight thing started as books and evolved to the big screen.
Unless you are a female tween with not much intelligence and/or you are into effeminate
male(?) vampires, then No Twilight isn't more popular than Trek,it's not more popular than Harry Potter,heck, it's not even more popular than the latest Disney film out.As soon as these films and the horribly written books they are based off of have run their course, they will be quickly forgotten about, forever.If you don't believe it, wait and see.
Trek has been around 40+ years,has spawned 6 series(counting animated TOS),11 movies,dozens of novels and non-fiction,hundreds of toys,dozens of conventions held EVERY year WORLDwide,etc..It's easy to predict Twilight will never reach anywhere near the type of fandom Trek has inspired.
male(?) vampires, then No Twilight isn't more popular than Trek,it's not more popular than Harry Potter,heck, it's not even more popular than the latest Disney film out.As soon as these films and the horribly written books they are based off of have run their course, they will be quickly forgotten about, forever.If you don't believe it, wait and see.
Trek has been around 40+ years,has spawned 6 series(counting animated TOS),11 movies,dozens of novels and non-fiction,hundreds of toys,dozens of conventions held EVERY year WORLDwide,etc..It's easy to predict Twilight will never reach anywhere near the type of fandom Trek has inspired.
I'd say Twilight has a slightly larger following with the young girls crowd, but Trek has a wider range of appeal, going from the old-timers who were around during TOS and then going back to some of those young girls who love Twilight.
get back to me in 40 years.
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