User blog comment:Teamedward4eva/Stephenie Meyer vs. J.K. Rowling/@comment-70.185.214.34-20110808113120

This article was NOT written by me. I found this somewhere else as a comment and thought it was great and that it should be shared. Don't give any credit to me. I just copy pasted.

First of all- Harry Potter isn’t just a childish bedtime story. Nor is it shallow. A story based off a single dream has no depth. Twilight fans will never what kind of man James was before he turned vampire. Rowling, however, spent 15 years planning every little detail. She created a world within our own for her witches and wizards. She has based their heritage off of real mythology and history. Their spells are in a dead language and they have organized governments with strict laws. She has followed her characters’ stories from childhood to graduation and many times to their deaths. One of the best things about this series is that you can study these intricate details. The Twilighters can only argue about who Bella will marry. In Harry Potter, there are arguments over everything from Snape’s loyalty, to the cryptic meaning of Trelawney’s prophesies, to petty ship-wars. In Twilight, very few people ask the questions “What does she mean by that?” “Are these two little details supposed to be connected?” “How did she get that idea?” “Does this result differently than we think it will?” To Potter fans, these are common, everyday questions. Like an amusing childhood fairytale, Meyer’s “saga” is to be taken for face value; delving deep within will display its undesirable flaws. The mere fact that Harry Potter makes you think, makes you question Rowling, and causes you to come up with creative theories proves its superiority.

One of the primary arguments presented by Twilighters is that their book is more emotional that Harry Potter. I, however, beg to differ. Let’s delve into the subject of love, after all that is the primary emotion in Twilight. In Twilight, there is only one kind of affection found: an obsessive, oppressive, “without him I become a dull zombie” wet dream. Unlike Twilight, Harry Potter proves that there is incredible power in love, and that love doesn’t always work out. Unfortunately, I have to agree with WhatIsRightOrWhatIsEasy; neither of these books even compare in romance to Jane Austin. In Harry Potter, we have many different kinds of love present: Parental love, romantic love, sibling love, platonic love, childhood crushes, and unrequited love. There are two loves in particular that aren’t present in Twilight: parental love and unrequited love.

The parental love found in Harry Potter is incredibly rich. Molly Weasley and Lilly Potter are perfect examples of motherly love, and display it in their own special ways. Lilly sacrifices her life to protect Harry. The magic that results aids Harry until the Goblet of Fire. Stop and think about THAT for a moment. If a murderer or a kidnapper tried to separate you from your child, would you be willing to die to protect your child? What if you knew that there was only a slim chance of your baby surviving and growing up afterwards? This is one of the most beautiful acts of courage and selflessness in the entire series. The other super-mom, Molly, has an intense love for her children. While she scrambles to make ends meet, she still has plenty of room in her big heart for Harry and Hermione; Harry comes to see her as a second mother. She is also ferociously protective of her children. After Bellatrix attempts to kill Ginny, Molly singlehandedly takes down her daughter’s attacker. In Twilight, you neither see Bella’s mother or Bella displaying this much love and strength for their babies. The lesson: Never EVER mess with a mad mama- you will pay with your life. The Harry Potter men also make better dads. They support, protect, teach, and laugh with their kids; they wouldn’t think twice of dying for them, and will raise and care for their friend’s children. Sirius Black escapes prison and becomes a wanted fugitive to protect Harry, and later Harry raises Teddy Lupin after the Battle of Hogwarts. James Potter goes down fighting to protect his baby boy as does Remus. In the Epilogue of Deathly Hallows, Ron is seen loving on his daughter. Unlike Miss Swan’s father, he refuses to just sit around watching TV and be deceived. Instead, he jokes and encourages his daughter; it’s evident that he’s rightfully proud of her, and he’s going to let the whole world know that. Arthur Weasley is the same way. Love and dedication. It’s obvious that the Cullens stand no chance against that.

What about unrequited love, the most painful emotion ever to exist? All I have to say is one name: Severus Snape. After befriending Lilly as a child, he fell in love with her, only to be denied her love in return. Their original friendship survived house rivalries and Marauder ridicule for five years; even after losing her as a friend, Snape continued to love Lilly and remained fiercely loyal to her long after her death. The most emotional thing about Snape’s love for Lilly is that he felt that he was the cause of her death. He realized that his handful of mistakes lead to a lifetime of regret. He could have begged for death or even committed suicide, but he remained strong and kept all of that, pain, remorse, and love inside. Now that’s passion.

Another thing that Rowling succeeds in doing that is missed by Meyers is recognizing the reality of adolescence. Not everyone in the world is the popular new girl who manages to snag the hottest guy in school, and Rowling knew this. Where in Twilight do you see the person that everyone teases, turns their backs on, and snubs? They aren’t found in Forks. Who are the oddballs, klutzes, victims, social outcasts, recluses? They don’t exist. In Harry Potter, almost everyone takes these roles at least once, although there are some whose names stand out: Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Snape, even Hermione and Harry. Are there any idiots in Twilight who are likely to fail school? Beyond anyone who finds sparkly vampires attractive, there are no Crabbes or Goyles in that series. What about school bullies? And no, James and his little gang don’t count. Twilight, the utopia where people don’t pick on and torment each other has never existed, doesn’t exist, and until Judgment Day, never will. Just ask Draco. There are dozens of cliques in the teenage world with thousands branches, but Meyers chooses to only portray 3: the popular, ordinary kids, the mysterious “vegetarian” vampires, and a pack of Native American shape-shifting werewolves. In Harry Potter, the cliques can be as broad as the four Houses, or as small as an individual person. There are the Quidditch players, the study-holics, the quirky pariahs, the fan-girls of the current heartthrob, Dumbledore’s Army, Inquisitorial Squad, Slug Club, the pranksters, the Slytheryns, Death Eaters in training, etc.

The most important emotions and themes present in Harry Potter that isn’t even found in Twilight is prejudice. It is only alluded to twice in Twilight- werewolves vs. vampires, and Bella’s hybrid baby. In Harry Potter, it is one of the cornerstone motifs. There is rivalry between houses- especially Gryffindor and Slytheryn. “Pure-Bloods” shun their muggle-born counterparts, who they call “mud-bloods”. Part-blood wizards in Slytheryn are pressured to disown their muggle roots, which leads Snape to call himself the “Half-Blood Prince,” and Tom Riddle to become Lord Voldemort. Whole blood wizards and witches who sympathize with muggle-borns are called “blood-traitors.” In the seventh book, this blood-based discrimination is very pronounced; the Death Eater controlled Ministry of Magic orders a roundup of muggle-born witches and wizards, who get sent to Azakaban. Even Hermione, who manages to dodge court, gets a brutal taste of this intolerance. While captured with Harry and Ron in the Malfoy’s mansion, it is she who is tortured by Bellatrix, primarily for her blood status. That sounds like a real Holocaust to me. Remus, who is a good man and skilled wizard, is forced into permanent unemployment just because he is a werewolf. Dumbledore shows a mercy that looks beyond the common bigotry when he offers him a job as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. When parents find out his secret, they are outraged and force him to resign. Hagrid is even attacked by Umbrige, and it’s barely coincidence that he happens to be half-giant. Prejudice doesn’t even stop among wizards. House elves are reduced to slavery for wealthy wizarding families, and even in their freedom, most have no other occupation but in the kitchens. Goblins are held with mistrust by many wizards after they stage a revolt while seeking equality. Righteously outraged centaurs attack Umbridge after she calls them beasts of sub human intelligence. One of the reasons that Harry managed to win the final battle was that he and his allies managed to put their prejudices aside and unite to fight an evil.

In fact, there are many social issues in Meyer’s “saga” that lack conviction; for one, there is the almost total lack of social class stratification in Twilight. In Harry Potter, there are the incredibly rich Malfoys, the massive inheritance bestowed upon Harry, the middle-class Dursleys and Grangers, and at the bottom, the Weasleys, who survive from paycheck to paycheck (pre Wizardly Wheezes). Foreign influences in vampire world are limited to the Italian Volturi and a few feral vampires. Foreigners in Harry Potter include the French Beauxbatons and the Eastern European Drumstang- which includes the Bulgarian Viktor Krum. There are mentions of Foreign Ministries of Magic and even magical organizations in North America. While Bill worked as a curse-breaker in Egypt, and Charlie was among dragons in Romania, Voldemort laid low in Albania. During the Triwizard Tournament, different breeds of dragons from multiple nations are pitted against the competitors; they include the Hungarian Horntail, the Chinese Fireball, the Swedish Short-Snout, and a Welsh Green.

And don’t even get me started on the topic of feminism. Twilight is full of gender role stereotypes that ARE vampires- these sexist notions should have been dead decades ago, but instead continue to haunt this world and suffocate women of what they truly deserve. Here are some of the chauvinistic concepts present: Bella happily cooks dinner and cleans house for her father as he cleans his gun, drinks a beer, and watches football on TV. Like some housewife from the 1950’s, she acts like belongs in the kitchen. This is the 21st century, where guys can cook too! Despite Edward’s urging her to get an education and encourages her to hope and dream, she decides to stay at home, cook, and care for the family. Although I have no problems with a stay at home mom, something is definitely wrong when every woman in the series shares the same occupation. Methinks Meyers’ women enjoy staying home hiding behind their husbands. Then Edward decides to begin dictating who she may be friends with, going to the point of removing the tires from her truck. ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP ALERT!! Bella also completely falls apart when Edward leaves her, and only recovers when she begins spending time with Jacob. What’s with the constant need for a man in her life? Whenever she is exposed to peril, Jacob or Edward must come to the rescue. Bella isn’t even seen fighting side-by-side with Edward; usually she’s hiding somewhere behind him as he goes in for the kill. After discovering that Forks is in western Washington, I was even more surprised by this sexist point of view because Washington is usually pretty liberal.

This is much different than the Trio; Harry and Ron’s survival is quite dependent on Hermione’s intelligence, quick wit, and guidance. At one point, in the Chamber of Secrets, Ron ends up admitting “Where’s Hermione when you need her?” Compared to Twilight, there is no dearth of equality for women in Harry’s world. Here women can be feminine without being submissive. In the rough game of Quidditch, there are many talented female players: Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Ginny and Cho. The Holyhead Harpies is a professional all women’s team in the sport. Women also rise to prominent positions in government. Umbridge-no matter how corrupt she is- had a high standing position in the Ministry of Magic; later we learn that Hermione rises through the ranks in the same government and leads reforms that undo centuries of prejudice. They had their first woman Minister of Magic in the 1750’s! The muggle world was still being dominated by guys at that time. The females in Harry Potter truly kick ***! In the Battle of Hogwarts, students and alumni of all genders and ages unite to defend their school. Formidable female fighters on both sides include Bellatrix Lastrange, Ginny, Professor McGonnagal, Mrs. Weasley, and Tonks. Even Luna is a strong, quirky character who manages to hold her own.

And to everyone saying that the vampires of Twilight are fitter, sexier, and tougher than our wizards, I’ve got some news for you. You people really have your attraction priorities messed up. From what I’ve read of Twilight, I assume that by fitter you mean more muscular. Too many muscles on a guy is as bad as no muscles at all. In New Moon, Bella got pretty bruised up, if you know what I mean. You see, in Quidditch, the players get toned, flexible, and quick. Holding and navigating a broom probably requires strong thigh and hip muscles- when a guy has those, it’s hottest thing ever. Quidditch players also have to make quick swerves to dodge bludgers, twist their bodies to catch quaffles, reach just a little farther than their opponent to grab the snitch, and need strong arms to hurl quaffles and hit bludgers. Also, we Harry Potter fans know that brains equal beauty. A person can be the fittest hunk in the universe, but if they don’t have brains or wits, they are hideous. I’m sure that there are Harry Potter fans here in this blog who think that the Weasley twins’ witty pranks, Hermione’s intense knowledge, and any other genius, sharp-tongue, or Ravenclaw is a turn-on. Harry Potter’s characters earn their sexiness. Only the luckiest have genes on their side. In the terms of physical and mental attraction, I think that’s hotter than anything Twilight could offer- undead beings whose bodies automatically become glittery, super-strong, and super fast when they turn into vampires. So keep your “perfect” vamps; we have hot Quidditch players and gorgeous brainaics- the best of BOTH worlds.

I don’t think Meyers knows much about animals- either that or the fictional residents of Forks are incredibly stupid. In New Moon, these civilians describe the werewolves as looking like bears. Seriously, Forks is in Washington- they should know a bear when they see one! This detail is one of my pet peeves with Twilight because I volunteer at a zoo that has two Timberwolves, a Siberian Grizzly, and a pair of Black Bears. To set Meyers straight, bears and wolves are drastically anatomically and socially different. The closest they come to being related is that they both belong to the Suborder Caniformia.