I saw this thread and brought up Twilight with DD2 (DD1 refused to read the books). DD2 isn't obsessed with the books, but went to the midnight opening of the last book with some friends (and would've gone to the movie if it wasn't a school night) and I asked her about them. We talked about what a 'pain' Edward was, (her words, not mine) and how she would never
ever want to date a possessive, clingy guy like him. (Those were reasons that she broke up with her boyfriend.) Also, (in her offended, "really mom?" voice) she can fight her own battles thankyouverymuch.
But that doesn't mean it isn't fun for her to talk about how "fun it would be to live forever and have a guy that loves you a lot. It's cool that he'd do anything for her, but would she really want a stalker?" No. Would anyone? That's why its fun for her to pretend and giggle with her friends. DD2 is more likely to watch one of her DVD's of Buffy then to watch Twilight again. She just sent me this in an email.
Mom -
Talked about Twilight with you today. Weird, but whatever. You would
hate the books. Already told you that. C wrote this and posted it as a note on facebook a while ago for APLIT (she's the one who made the video about not forcing kids to chose religion and gay rights) thought you might find it interesting.
Love ya,
J
Its a long essay, but I found it interesting and thought some of you might agree with what this girl has to say. (This isn't my essay, DD2 didn't write it - one of her friends did. And it was an essay for school. I have no idea what she got on it.)
Don't you twi-lighters bite me!
I just want you to be independent ladies for the rest of your days (which might be quite a few days if you find that special vampire
whoot! )
Hot Topic, here I come. Gift card in hand I approached the looming doors and was given a cheery welcome by a nice, young lady with florescent, algae green hair and screws sprouting out of her neck.. Screamo was blasting inside, as usual, and as usual, I felt rather bad ass, surrounded by t-shirts displaying bands I didn’t know, underwear with skulls on them, chains to hook onto any one of the thirteen safety pins you have sticking out of your oversized pants. I stopped though, not because of the enormous cashier scrutinizing me through cat-eyed colored contacts. There were two, petite middle school students complete with straightened hair and Ugg boots hovering around the shelves. I was almost going to alert them that Claire’s was, in fact, a few stores down when I saw it. They were surveying the new merchandise. And so, the Lion fell in love with the Lamb stretched across a tote bag. Support of Team Edward was boldly declared on a hoodie. The “Twilight” series was clearly doing well, selling shirts that quote Edward Cullen (“What if I’m not the hero, what if I’m the bad guy?”) for $24.00. I had seen that book it in my cousin’s purse, on the desk of my college counselor, in the leathery hands of my piano teacher, and now Hot Topic. I had seen it in the excited grip of enough intelligent people in my life to consider reading it. Being the ravenous reader I am, now that the Potter series had come to a close and “Twilight” posters had replaced the Gryffindor scarves…it was time to get a copy.
Stephanie Meyer’s “Breaking Dawn” was released on August 2nd this past summer and on August 2nd alone it sold over 1.3 million copies. The movie based off of “Twilight”, the first book in the series, sat pretty on the 70.6 million dollars it grossed over its debut weekend. Clearly, Ms. Meyer did something right. She wrote the novel, she says, because of a dream she had involving a vampire and a young girl. “Twilight” tells the tale of Isabella (Bella) Swan, a plain looking girl (who’s description in the book could be used to describe Stephanie Meyer in one of the biographies of her that are sure to hit the shelves soon) who moves to Washington and immediately attracts the attentions of the “sparkly” Edward Cullen. He turns out to be a vampire (no worries, he only drinks animal blood). They fall in love. The protagonists are flawless, at least Edward’s hair is and Bella’s demeanor isn’t far from perfect either. Edward is bitter and tells Bella that “sometimes [he] has a problem with his temper”. But the ladies love him, so does Bella. Who, alas, has a tragic flaw (just one.), her clumsiness (which is actually rather endearing). Teenage readers like it because they feel like they can relate to Bella. Why? I don’t know very many girls who are flawed only in that they’re bad at hiking and clumsy on the dance floor and I’m glad. I was surprised, for all the squeals about Bella Swan I over hear at lunch, that she isn’t more interesting. If teenage “Twilight” readers swoon over Edward and can relate to Bella, how hard might they feel they have to work to iron out their flaws and get the guy of their dreams?
Though most of his salivating fans online will eloquently define him with great detail and intelligence as soooooo HOTTT!11, Bella Swan describes Edward Cullen with a few more words in “Twilight”. “He grinned his crooked smile at me, stopping my breath and my heart. I couldn’t imagine how an angel could be any more glorious. There was nothing about him that could be improved upon.” Really, Ms. Swan? Quite a few things that need some improvement. From what I’ve read, “Twilights” leading man is a gorgeous, obsessive, over protective, and dare I say sexist, old world gentleman. He protects Bella…all the time… (whether that’s by forbidding her to see friends or ripping out the radio in her car). When he isn’t rescuing her, some other burly handsome fellow does the job. ? Bella can’t fight vampires so Edward does. I was disappointed when I realized that Bella never made a decision that didn’t end in ruin. Edward was consistently right. Whenever she ignored his suggestions or instructions, she got bitten by some nasty vampire or got into a grand mess with a group of werewolves (from which she is saved by Edward…again). Isn’t it romantic for a lady to be torn out of the grip of terrible villains by the man of her dreams? It’s been considered romantic for centuries. From “Beauty and the Beast” to “West Side Story” the men are more aggressive and certainly the protectors. Edward and Bella are just gender stereotypes. But, why is modern literature reinforcing long dead gender roles? More importantly, why are independent women all over America buying a book that glorifies a lady like Isabella Swan and her relationship with Edward Cullen? If the empowered American woman is intelligent enough to recognize the sexism laced through the book, why not move on to something less, oh, I don’t know…degrading?
Do female readers confident enough in their sexuality and their right to equality in America that reading “Twilight” is no problem for their self esteem? With the dreamy cast of immortal characters in Meyer’s works, who are challenging the Orlando Blooms and Johnny Depps in the “nonfictional world”, it’s not hard to pin “Twilight” as female escapist fantasy, especially when Stephanie Meyer writes in first person and is a woman herself. In “Twilight”, although Bella plays the typical part of the damsel in distress, she differs from Rapunzel and Andromeda. Bella Swan’s lust for Edward is a driving force in the books. Female desire isn’t blatantly highlighted in classic literature or modern literature all that often. If women want a book that is comfortable with female sexuality, “Twilight” is a good read. However, Bella’s lust ends up leaving her a bit battered.
Yes, yes, he’s a lovely fellow, but no matter how super SEXAY a vampire or (more importantly and more relevantly) a human is, I would not be eager him to BUST my headboard, BITE my pillows, or BRUISE my body any day, as some fan made t-shirts request of the dreamy Edward Cullen. When I saw that t-shirt a few times on zazzle.com I was first confused by why fans were making them. I did my research, I read the excerpts, and apparently Edward refuses to turn Bella into a vampire for fear that she would endure all the pain that he has to (i.e. drinking blood, not going out in the sun, etc.). Kind of him? Sure. But when Bella is feeling romantic on their wedding night she convinces him to “make love” to her. He tries to tell her again that it’s far too dangerous as seeing that he, being a vampire, is a great deal more powerful than her and might even kill her if he isn’t able to control himself. Bella ignores this. The next morning, she’s bruised, the headboard of the bed is busted, and Edward, in his excitement tore into a pillow with those pesky fangs of his. Bella, naturally, begs to do it all over again. Now, fans responding to this positively shocked me even more than the passages I read. Bella, throughout the novel endures serious pain for her decisions. In “Breaking Dawn”, she insists on having a baby opposed to getting an abortion (something Edward recommends because their child would be half vampire and enduring pregnancy as a human might kill Bella). So Stephanie Meyer is conservative. That’s fine. What irked me is when Bella experiences near back breaking labor, making the birth of the Cullen’s baby one of the vampire series’ bloodiest scenes.
Are women devolving in their thinking to enjoy this series and support the relationship between the two characters? Both of their lives revolve solely around each other. Edward gets “distracted all weekend” worrying about Bella in Twilight, they’re anxious without each other. It seems almost sweet until in “New Moon” Bella tries to get herself into dangerous situations to hear Edward’s voice (which, indeed, happens after he leaves her in order to protect her…once again). She’s depressed for months and completely ignores her own life, though that’s not so different from when she’s with Edward (excluding the depression, of course). Her motivation to live seems to be the aspiration she has of marrying Edward and starting a family. Though this is a legitimate choice for a woman to make, all of the women in the novel are obsessed with having children. Esme, another vampire, has to “make do” with adopted children. There is hardly any occupational motivation to be seen and very little female independence. Even the fiery haired villainess, Victoria, is galvanized, really, by the demise of her partner, James, not by her own ambitions.
The reinforcement of gender roles (back from the grave) and therefore sexism, along with a dangerously unhealthy portrayal of women by a woman can be found in Stephanie Meyer’s books that are flying off the shelves. Edward Cullen (his face on a t-shirt now on sale at Hot Topic) lures Intelligent, independent, young American women are lured into the pages with “sparkly” sex appeal and damaging chivalry and they can enjoy every paragraph of Bella’s life being controlled by gorgeous gentlemen, something they’ve always fantasized about. Maybe Edward was onto something in the movie. Stephanie Meyer’s “heroes” really do look like the “bad guys” after the dynamics of their romance is exposed.
stupid to have a relationship like that.
