Reasoning with Vampires is a tumblr dedicated to tearing apart Twilight. While I generally approve of such enterprises, I am personally stunned by the level of effort demonstrated - every page of every book is lovingly examined for choice nuggets and then turned into an image-macro-esque jpg. The level of detail demands comparison to Slacktivist's equally involved review of the the Left Behind series, which began in 2003 and is still not finished with the second book in the seven-volume series. So what does this mean, these writers putting far more effort into something which they ostensibly despise than most fans put into what they love, and arguably more effort than the writers put into producing the material to begin with?
Both Slacktivist (Fred Clark) and the webmistress of RwV are pursuing their antifandom in the interest of a public good. Clark, a liberal evangelical Christian, frequently describes the series as "the Worst Books Ever Written", referring both to the sluggish pacing, the failure of the characters to behave like human beings, the obvious lack of research and any number of other authorial sins, and the distinctly warped understanding of Christianity they are meant to impart. RwV's Dana (ah, found her name, albeit only a first one) likewise abuses both the numerous and egregious flaws of the writing and the underlying assumptions that drive it, frequently goggling at the, quote, "psychological fuckery" implicit in the text. Both of these sources, then, are decrying bad art in the service of bad ideas. Their focus is markedly different. Clark uses the springboard of discussing Left Behind to discuss the problems which the pre-millenial dispensationalist version of evangelicalism (summarized as "We're ready, you're not, nyah nyah") has wrought and continues to wreak on the American political landscape, the broader world, and even its own adherents. Dana began by limiting herself to "merely" eviscerating the text itself as being badly written, with the rather straightforward goal of teaching good writing through the use of a negative example. As the process of reading and snarking has continued, she has come to insult the underlying ideas of the text as much or more than the writing style, but these are generally limited to broad, snarky joke tags or quick quips, in comparison to the voluminous meditations on evangelism, heroism and the nature of God which Slacktivist derives from Left Behind.
The critical (or antiantifan) response is interesting in its split based on the platforms used. As a "traditional" blogger, Slacktivist is using a medium traditionally frequented by the literate and progressive; his problem lies less in arguing with fans than with preaching to the choir. Reading the comments on these posts, the general angle is not attempting to defend the Left Behind series, but rather trying to use Clark's arguments against the books' versions of Real True Christianity to disabuse him (and other readers) of their own religious beliefs. In comparison, by establishing a presence on Tumblr, a new-media Web2.0 site whose user base leans towards the young and female end of the scale, Reasoning with Vampires is very much in the lion's den. Further, by attacking the books from the angle of quality of writing, Dana establishes herself as a schoolteacher in a back alley, establishing superiority to the fans and criticizing them in turn for their attacks written in the simple argot of the internet. This antagonism is well-exemplified by the trophy room of "favourite" responses provoked from fandom.
Thus, through critical response to these works, there is an attempt to promote either one's own agenda or simply oneself, the rhetoric of superiority as described in the Sheffield & Merlo reading. The dismissal of fans of Left Behind as boorish or simple is one which Clark argues strongly against, but which nevertheless seems inevitable as more and more of the books are thoroughly dissected and found to be badly written. Reasoning with Vampires, meanwhile, makes no bones about how readers of Twilight, and especially writers hoping to base their works on Twilight, are bad and should feel bad. By establishing their superiority to readers and authors alike, these blogs argue that they hope to improve the quality of written work in future, but can enjoy the feeling of privilege here and now.
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