It's not a shocker that I really, really despise anything remotely in the same realm as Twatlight. I do an awful lot of talking on here about how Edward is a wussy vampire, the homoerotic tendencies of a certain shirtless weremorpher, and Kristen Stewart's inability to deliver a line without appearing constipated, but I've never truly dug deep and exposed Stephanie Meyer for what she truly is. This semester I'm taking a class on Women's Literature and we've been dissecting what it really is to make a feminist novel. I've grown extremely passionate about the subject matter and made a mention of a previous paper I had written for another class about Stephanie Meyer and how she has single handedly pushed back the feminist movement 50 years. A fellow classmate requested a posting of this paper, and I plan on delivering. Now.
A small refresher course is necessary in order for one who has yet to dabble in the
Twilight universe to fully comprehend just how nonsensical Stephenie Meyer and her brainwashing wet dream truly is. The main protagonist, Bella Swann, is your ordinary seventeen-year-old girl. After her mother marries a baseball player, Bella decides to move to a small town in Washington to live with her father. It is there that she meets and falls in love with the devastatingly beautiful vampire, Edward Cullen. After a short stint of being associated with the Cullen boy, she decides that she wants to be turned into a vampire in order to live the rest of her existence as his love.
From just the small plot alone, it is understandable why someone (like myself) could be interested in such a novel. As a horror enthusiast, anything promoting the idea of vampire love tickles my fancy, and the fantasy aspect of the perfect love story would be quite promising to hormonally charged teenage girls. It is however, when the book is completely analyzed that one realizes the truly disturbing and dark facts that surround the life of Ms. Bella Swan. This isn't referencing a torturous and horrific vampire tale, but a highly influential novel that is promoting some of the most frightening social problems as normal and brainwashing young girls around the world.
Bella's actions in the series can only be deemed even more ridiculous if Edward's character is analyzed first. I've said numerous times before, how many fucking times can someone use the description "perfect face" as a means of appearance depiction? It's a proven fact that Meyer describes Cullen OVER 100 TIMES in the first book alone, using phrases like "dazzling", "perfect", "beautiful", and "God-like". To contrast to this, Bella is constantly characterized as being "plain". If this isn't an outright, blatant attempt at showing how inferior the female protagonist is to the male counterpart, I don't know what is. Putting this Edward character on such a pedestal gives girls an unrealistic view on what they should be looking for when it comes to choosing a suitor. Instead of looking for someone with mutual interests, or compatible personalities, it promotes to them the idea that only men of God-like stature are worth your time. This is encouraged in the first book when Bella is approached by a multitude of boys who are interested in her that very well could be better for her as a dating partner. However, she is too intrigued by the God-like vampire boy to ever give another guy a chance. They always did say nice guys finish last. With Bella Swan being the "normal", "plain" teenage girl, it becomes even easier for the average reader to slip themselves into the shell that is her character and in live out her life. Since her character is so easily relatable, it makes it even easier for girls to believe that the only way to find a good relationship is to be as shallow as a shower.
When arguing with Twi-Hards, they always tell me to stop concentrating on that damn "sparkling" thing, and to concentrate more on the "love" story. I use hypothetical quotations because the "love" story is exactly that. It does NOT exist. I took a stand a long time ago that I refuse to make fun of something without giving it a shot. I've read the series in its entirety and I've seen the films. While I now have a greater urge to put hornets in my eardrums whenever I hear "so the lion fell in love with the lamb", I at least can honestly say that I'm one of the few twi-haters who can back up what they're saying. In the entire series as a whole, I don't think I can recall a single conversation between Edward and Bella that wasn't either small talk or discussing how much they love each other. Their relationship is barely two weeks old, if that, when Bella tells Edward she wants to become a vampire. Are you kidding me? You're in high school. HIGH SCHOOL. Most people look back at their high school relationships and LAUGH about how lovestruck they were with their "soulmate", and yet Stephenie Meyer is promoting the idea of sticking with someone based solely on physical attraction that you've met when you're barely past your first period and too young to legally drink at your wedding.
While it may be lovely to discuss how much you love someone in metaphorical stars/moon references, you can't build a relationship based off of sexual tension and the desire to eat someone. Oh yes, let us not forget that the only reason Edward finds Bella so alluring is because HE WANTS TO EAT HER. He doesn't want to fall in love, he doesn't want to fuck her, he wants to suck her blood dry. The two of them are clearly enamored with each other over superficial reasons and this "forbidden love" is nothing more than the equivalent of Hannibal Lector and some chick who finds him attractive.
Once the two of them finally do "unite", Bella completely abandons everything she has known in order to keep this newly found 4 day old relationship afloat. She abandons her family, she stops hanging out with her friends, and her every move is controlled by her infatuation with Edward. My friends, this isn't love, this is unhealthy obsession. This is when an intervention would take place with Dr. Drew, not something to plaster on a T-Shirt. Even before they become a couple, Edward's obsession with Bella and her alluring scent takes place...without her knowledge. He would break into her window and watch her sleep. When Katie got out of bed and stared at Micah for 3 hours in the middle of the night during
Paranormal Activity, teenagers shit their pants in fear. When Edward Cullen breaks into Bella's window to watch her sleep, teenagers swooned over how "romantic" it all was. The next time a girl tells me how romantic the relationship between Bella and Edward is, I'm going to hire someone to break into their house and watch them sleep. Tell me how romantic that is then, darling. This isn't romantic, this is stalking. This is the sort of thing Sting writes songs about. Not to mention, Edward becomes even MORE of a stalker when he uses his ability to read minds by eavesdropping on the conversations and thoughts of her friends. Even better.
The disgusting thing is that Bella finds this sort of thing wonderful and falls even more in love with him. Sweetheart, this is where a restraining order would be handy. She becomes 100% submissive to Edward and allows him to control just about every aspect of her life. He even goes as far as taking the engine out of her car so she can't see her best friend. Instead of lashing out or I don't know, breaking up with the guy, she instead continues to tell herself "it's because he loves me". Everything she says comes straight out of a Domestic Violence prevention pamphlet and yet girls all over the world are eating this shit up and praying that their "Edward" will come. This is the message Stephenie Meyer is trying to send to young girls, to wait around for your Prince Charming and do everything in your power to devote your life to him. Not only is Bella incapable of doing anything to protect herself without the aide of a man, but she refers to herself as "incomplete" without a man in her life. At one point, she is almost attacked by a group of creepy men while out one night with some friends, but does not attempt to run, scream for help, or even try to fight back. The thought does pass her mind, but wouldn't you know it, she's a girl. She couldn't POSSIBLY do any of these things because as a girl, she has zero power when being attacked. However, if her precious Edward was there, she knows she would be safe.
In the second installment, after a 5 or so month relationship, Edward determines their relationship to be dangerous after his brother tries to eat her. Instead of handling the breakup like a normal person, Bella loses her mind. She becomes so depressed that she sits alone for months at a time (when not acting like a zombie at school) staring out the window, she cannot remember anything she does, and when she does dream of him, she screams like that of Kate Gosselin in labor without an epidural. Once again, Stephenie Meyer is sending a message that girls are only valuable with their boyfriend in their lives and without them, they have no purpose. When she discovers she can "see" him when receiving an adrenaline rush, she starts to pick up unhealthy habits like riding motorcycles on cliffs in order to get a vision of him saying "stop". Meyer just keeps rolling with the punches on this one, buy telling girls it's okay to act like a fucking maniac if it helps you see the man of your dreams again.
I'm also convinced that Meyer has the inability to write a female character with a personality. Each of the other "main" female characters in the series seem to have a stereotypical persona which may be easily identifiable for young girls, but also extremely sexist towards women. Rosalie is your typical vain, materialistic bitch, Esme is the "mother" figure, Leah is that annoying obsessed type, and Jessica is the boy-crazy ditz. None of these women exude any slight, accidental qualities of being strong or anything more than a vagina with legs. In the first book, Alice is seen as independent and willing to break the mold and reach out to protect Bella, but it later revealed shortly after to be obsessed with shopping and partying. Meyer, you were close with this one, but after the character development light turned off in your head, you went straight for stereotyping...again. To make matters worse, EVERY SINGLE female character in these books has a boyfriend. This isn't to say there haven't been times in my life when every girl I associated with was taken in some way/shape/form, but the way the men are all depicted is the real issue. Every boyfriend is seen as being stronger, smarter, funnier, more attractive, or more interesting than their female counterpart. Meyer claims that the book is full of strong, capable female characters, but I just don't see it. All of the women in these books are always shown as inferior to men and it's downright disgusting.
I guess all I'm trying to say is that I'm worried about the future women of the world.
Twilight has a massive influence on these girls and if its take over of everything from clothing to music to fast food hasn't proved it to anyone, you're clearly living under a rock. It just feels that Stephenie Meyer has undone every attempt at bettering the roles of women in the media, and with how many girls have been blinded by the idea of a perfect relationship, it scares me to see what will become of the Twi-generation.
