What does being a rebel mean? | Teen Ink

What does being a rebel mean?

June 18, 2009
By vivian78 GOLD, San Jose, California
vivian78 GOLD, San Jose, California
10 articles 0 photos 12 comments

A few days ago, I saw a poster of Twilight with Edward Cullen in the very center. I was immediately struck by the sheer beauty of his face and immediately posted as my Facebook status: "I believe that such gorgeousness as seen in Edward Cullen's face ought to be outlawed."

In less than a day, there were several people commenting, saying things like "Not you, too" and "Aww, I never knew you were obsessed as well." One girl asked me the next day, "You too?" with what I imagined to be a tragic "Et tu, Brute?" expression.

The people who commented on my status were all girls. Now, I know they were half-joking, but with every joke there is a grain of truth. But what struck me as most strange is that nowadays, the moment someone, especially a girl, says, "I like Twilight" there are various assumptions made within half a second.
1.) You must be obsessed with Twilight.
2.) You are obsessed because it is a romance story and all teen girls are obssessed with romance stories.
3.) You probably watched the movie as well, and only watched it because you think Edward Cullen is handsome.
4.) You have a poster of Edward Cullen in your room, and you spend a lot of time drooling over it.

And all because I said three simple words: "I like Twilight." People claim they are tired of the fuss people make over Twilight. Well guess what? I'm tired of the fuss people make over the fuss people make over Twilight. Try to figure that out :)

But I wasn't all that surprised with the response to Twilight. Many of us are so anxious to not be accused of being obsessed fans that we swing to the other extreme. We become haters. We join Facebook groups like "The group that hates Miley Cyrus." We make a disgusted face whenever Britney Spears' name is mentioned.

But is all that really necessary? We are so determined to prove we don't follow every "typical trend" that we have actually made a "typical trend" of our own: the hate-the-popular-people trend. However, that backfires. In the attempt to prove we DON'T care about those things we prove we DO care. Why else would we go to such lengths to prove that we don't care?

The worst way you could treat someone is with apathy. If we love someone, we care about them deeply. If we hate someone, we also care about them deeply. Love and hate are both deep feelings, after all; that is what makes them so close and so similar. So actually, to prove that we are "not like that," we should just let people who love Twilight love it without bashing them and making all these crazy and ridiculous assumptions.

I remember me finally getting fed up one day and saying, "I think Edward Cullen is hot and I'm going to think he's hot as much as I please." I also remember a girl telling me (and not in any mean way, of course), "Well, that's just lame." And I laughed. I laughed because I thought it was lame that she thought she could bring me down by saying that I was lame.

So this just brings me to think, "What exactly does rebel mean?" In my opinion, and my opinion only, a rebel is someone who just let's people talk, who doesn't become a hater or laugh at people who like something that happens to be popular at the moment.

I am a nerd who thinks Edward Cullen is hot, who thinks Miley Cyrus is a good singer, and who still respects Britney Spears. I am a dork who believes that getting good grades doesn't prevent me from admiring beautiful boys and admitting that I think they're amazing looking. Thinking a guy is hot doesn't mean I'm being superficial. It just means I'm being a girl.

And I don't see anything wrong with what I do and don't admire.

So let's not become a hater of Twilight. To prove you don't care, let people love, and let people hate. It's ironic but true.
And as for the title of this entry – what does being a rebel mean? A true rebel is so respectful and courteous that they don’t turn people off, and a true rebel never says no for the sake of saying no. Sometimes a true rebel has to say yes.


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This article has 48 comments.


on Aug. 17 2010 at 7:22 pm
Hollywog. PLATINUM, Mole Creek, Other
21 articles 23 photos 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all..

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind - Ghandi

I absolutely, completely agree with you in every single aspect of this piece of writing!

I have the same problem you do - the minute I admit to someone that I like Twilight - okay, I will even go so far as to say I love it - I am met with disbelieving stares, snorts and cries of "are you serious!?"

And they, too, believe that because I like it, I must be obsessed. And that I must only watch the movies because of Rob Pattinson. And that I am pathetic.

But seriously - I have been a fan of Twilight before the movies were even thought about. I loyally read the books about seventy times over, simply because I think they're amazing!

Hmm, I could go on for ages, but I won't. All I'll say it, congrats for standing up for what you believe in and writing such an awesome piece.

Thank you!

Love and Sunshine,

Holly!

xoxo


on Aug. 6 2010 at 8:11 am
Treefiddy BRONZE, Tarzana, California
1 article 0 photos 158 comments
Being a rebel means wearing a shirt with Che Guevara on it, while not knowing what a murderous thung he was. La Revolution!

on Jun. 1 2010 at 12:30 am
i totally understand. you just justin bieber? well every girl at my school (i got to an all girls school, so i guess it's everyone lol) hates his guts. except me =) i say, be proud of who and what you like. it doesnt matter what other people think. follow popular trends and let haters be haters.

datdude said...
on Apr. 28 2010 at 2:27 pm
Edward Cullen isn't the perfect guy he just plays the perfect guy in the move don't forget that and it's the same deal with all the actors/actresses.

datdude said...
on Apr. 28 2010 at 2:24 pm
You people shouldn't be making such a big deal about what people say or thing about you because if you give a sign that you do care they are going to keep saying it so the best thing to do is keep you mouth shut and stop drooling over celebrities, thank you.

indigo said...
on Apr. 28 2010 at 2:19 pm
wow when i first read your post  though you were a homosexual because only homosexuals like those pop star prettyboys

Salimity said...
on Mar. 16 2010 at 9:50 am
Very well written article and I know where you're coming from, even though I have to disagree. Then again, I'm a lover of the obscure and unknown.

on Mar. 5 2010 at 9:05 pm
magic-esi PLATINUM, Hyde Park, New York
27 articles 0 photos 231 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one."
"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light."

That is true, he's ugly. The rest of the article is good though.

on Mar. 5 2010 at 9:04 pm
magic-esi PLATINUM, Hyde Park, New York
27 articles 0 photos 231 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one."
"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light."

This article is very well written and unique and it's true. It makes me think back on how many times I've spent hours composing articles on how much I hate Twilight. Of course, I don't do this to prove that I don't like it- I do it because it just bugs me that people like Harry Potter better than it and I want to teach them. However, I despise Justin Bieber and I don't go on and on about it. I just go, "Yeah, Justin Bieber sings like a girl" and get on with life. You make a very good point and I was surprised not to see that listen 'Published in Teen Ink Magazine' symbol at the bottom of your article. :)

on Jan. 20 2010 at 6:07 pm
alwayssunshine PLATINUM, Charlotte, North Carolina
24 articles 5 photos 147 comments
What a twist on what people think! Great ideas, and so right! You were saying how people have to go to more trouble to act like they don't like something. There are two posters in my English teacher's room, one says "how to succeed", the other says, " how to fail." The whole poster on "how to fail" is full of tiny print while the " how to succeed" poster has just a few simple points. That just goes to show that you have to put in a lot of work to make it seem like you didn't do any work.

on Dec. 29 2009 at 11:32 pm
krhinesly BRONZE, Southaven, Mississippi
2 articles 3 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
I'm pretty but I'm not beautiful. I'm good but I'm not angel. I sin but I'm not the devil. -Marilyn Monroe

ha, ain't that the truth.

TabbyKat said...
on Dec. 29 2009 at 7:47 pm
True, it would be nice though!

on Dec. 29 2009 at 7:33 pm
krhinesly BRONZE, Southaven, Mississippi
2 articles 3 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
I'm pretty but I'm not beautiful. I'm good but I'm not angel. I sin but I'm not the devil. -Marilyn Monroe

yes, but there is no perfect guy out there.

on Dec. 29 2009 at 12:55 pm
toxic.monkey SILVER, Tashkent, Other
6 articles 0 photos 210 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Homo homini lupus"

it's so well written you've forced me to agree that saying no for the sake of saying no is really kinda dumb :P

on Dec. 7 2009 at 5:41 pm
koolkat101love SILVER, Palm Bay, Florida
7 articles 0 photos 15 comments

Favorite Quote:
"My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations."

I loved this article. I agree with all of its points, I just don't like Miley Cyrus or Brittany Spears. But I agree with you. I love Twilight. My best friend is against. Almost every day, she askes how I can like it. I just tell her, "Sorry, it's not your fault. It's just who I am. People can like what they want." I don't really say anything more than that. I respect that she doesn't like Twilight though, so I don't talk about it when I am around her. I don't like to talk about things my friends don't like to talk about when I am around them. I like to respect their opinions. They respect mine too. That is one thing I learned from this article, people should respect others opinions and likes and dislikes.

TabbyKat said...
on Dec. 2 2009 at 9:14 am
I am totally obsessed with Twilight and Edward Cullen. And there are so many ways that I can everyone else could like him. Just look at him, doesn't every girl need a perfect guy?

on Nov. 15 2009 at 9:52 pm
CaseyLeigh PLATINUM, Moraga, California
31 articles 6 photos 137 comments

Favorite Quote:
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to.

I absolutely love everything this article embodies. I agree with every word. Amazing!

Wordgasm GOLD said...
on Oct. 24 2009 at 1:55 pm
Wordgasm GOLD, Kingfield, Maine
12 articles 0 photos 45 comments

Favorite Quote:
If it was a unicorn it would have gored you.

my brain hurts now

on Oct. 13 2009 at 2:16 pm
ApathyEyes SILVER, Tallahassee, Florida
8 articles 0 photos 7 comments
no offence every single person reading this, but i honestly dont see how u could view edward as cute. he looks kind of too perfect and model-esque to me to be handsome. really he just looks weird.

on Oct. 2 2009 at 5:41 pm
SilverAngel SILVER, West Carollton, Ohio
8 articles 0 photos 63 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life is an open book, we take the journey until the end." ~Me

I like Miley Cyrus, Twilight, and Britney Spears songs. I agree, I just wish all of the people in my school could realize this too and learn something. Rock on!