So, up until about a week ago, I had completely avoided the Twilight phenomenon. I hadn’t read a single book, nor seen a single film. Oh sure, I participated in the widespread hatred of the franchise: I watched YouTube parodies, supported the hatred exuded by my fellow English majors, and laughed at the thought of vampires that sparkle. Yes, I admit that having not read a book or seen I film I had no right to be a part of this movement of parody and frustration.
Well, now I do have that right.
Since I didn’t have any required classes to take during my last semester of college, I went for classes that looked fun and/or interesting. Falling under both of these categories was Introduction to Imaginative Literature, an lower-division general English class, being taught by my absolute favorite professor at SUU, Kyle Bishop. Each semester, the specific topic of this class changes: some semesters it’s been science fiction, in the fall it was superheroes, and this semester was, you guessed it, vampires. Which meant that the class reading list included all the movers and shakers of the vampire genre: Dracula, Carmilla, I Am Legend (I don’t care what the Will Smith film says, in the book they are called vampires), Interview with the Vampire, even a couple of episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. To round out our list, of course we had to include the most popular incarnation of vampires of recent years if not of all time, Stephenie Meyer’s original that started the craze, Twilight.
And Ms. Meyer, I have a bone to pick with you. Because while I figured I wouldn’t like it, turns out I actually hate it even more than I expected. Now, before I begin with my greatest issues with this story that has inexplicably captivated so many, I would like to point out one important matter. While I do not think Twilight is a good book by any stretch of the imagination, it is an important book. Why? The same reason anything as popular as Twilight has been is important in the discourse of literature: it provides insight into the mind of the society that produced and received it. Obviously with millions of adoring fans, something in Twilight resonates with people. I shudder to think of what that might be, but by uncovering it, perhaps we can understand a little bit more about who we are as people. So, just to review, I am not attempting to discredit the opinions of those who like this book as invalid. You are entitled to your opinion as much as I am.
Now on to my opinion. (And by the way, I’m only talking about the one piece of this phenomenon I’ve actually experienced: the first novel, the one actually called Twilight. We’re not even talking about the movie here). My issues with this book can be summed up in three simple elements: the character of Bella, the character of Edward, and the utterly dysfunctional relationshiop between them.
First up, Bella. I’m not sure where Meyer was going with this. My guess is that “Bella Swan” was meant to be some take on “The Ugly Duckling,” and, of course, there’s the clear connection to Beauty and the Beast. Here’s the largest problem with Bella, though: she could quite possibly be the most narcissistic character I have ever encountered in a book. What’s more, she’s unapologetically narcissistic. Literature is full of these kinds of characters; best example I can think of is Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby. However, Daisy’s vapid and self-centered ways are not presented in a good light. She’s presented as someone who recklessly smashes up lives and people and gives no thought to picking up the pieces. Since Twilight is presented in the first-person perspective of Bella, we as readers have to accept that persona, which at times is flat-out nauseating: “I have to move to Forks, even though my mom said it was my choice; I’m so self-sacrificial like that. And I hate Forks, even though everyone here is really nice to me, especially my dad, who’s a really nice guy, he bought me a truck, but our relationship is hopelessly awkward regardless. And I’m so worried that no one will like me at school, but actually almost everyone does, including three boys who are falling over themselves for me. But still, I hate living here–oh wait, there’s a boy who seems to hate me…I’m in love with him.”
Do you see my problem here? Now, I know what you’re going to say. “But Blake, this is the mind of seventeen-year-old girl.” First of all, if that’s true, I weep for the future. If any teenage girls are reading this, please do not accept this as the standard by which your age group is judged. Do me a favor and work to change it. Second, a key element of Young Adult literature (which this is, all you 30-40 something women who are obsessed) is a concept known as bildungsroman, which is just a fancy German word for coming-of-age, which is a term people throw around a lot, but don’t seem to understand. The whole point of coming-of-age is that the character moves from childhood to adulthood by losing some of their more childish characteristics and becoming a mature adult. Is there even a hint of Bella progressing as a character? Does she gain any new knowledge, grow as individual, or get over her limited adolescent perspective? Not really. “But Blake!” you might be screaming, “she puts her own life at risk for another person!” Right, and who is that person she does this for? Which brings me to problem number 2:
Edward. Marble statue, greek god, Adonis, wonder boy. My biggest problem with this guy is that while Bella goes on and on about his every perfection (to the point of ridicule, in fact. She quips if there’s anything he’s not perfect at), she seems to be perfectly content with some of the more disturbing tendencies he exudes. First, he seems incapable of remaining on a single emotion for longer than five minutes. He’s angry, he’s charming, he’s brooding, he’s murderous, he’s funny, he’s protective, he’s arrogant, he’s mopey…all in the space of a single page. Second, he’s both controlling and manipulative. The moment the book went too far with me on this point was when Bella tries to drive herself home and he literally drags her to his car. Oh yeah, real romantic. Third is his addictive personality. For those of you who aren’t aware, vampires have basically always been an analogy for sex. Think about it (and I’m trying to be as non-graphic as possible)–the teeth of a vampire penetrate the flesh of another, and an exchange of bodily fluids occurs. So while everyone thinks it’s all noble of the Cullens to be so-called “vegetarians,” the underlying idea is that they’re sexually repressed. This is further complicated when Edward tells Bella he used to feed on humans, and he’s never wanted a human as badly as he wants Bella. So, if we’re extending the analogy, that means that Edward is a recovering sex addict being tempted by Bella. Even if you don’t agree with the sex analogy, Edward flat out says that Bella is like his heroin, and he’s a recovering addict. Why do people find this romantic? Of course, Bella is more than willing to overlook all these flaws. Why? Because he’s gorgeous. I challenge anyone to find anything in Twilight that suggests any other excuse Bella has for why she can disregard Edward’s flaws. In fact, I challenge anyone to find anything that suggests she recognizes these flaws. That’s right girls: if you find a man who’s beautiful and rich, latch onto him because those two things can make-up for any issues, however dangerous, that he might have. Even better, don’t even look for his flaws, or ignore them–they’re not important because remember, he’s gorgeous.
Thus we come to the relationship, which we’ve already talked about a little. So, Bella is first attracted to Edward because he’s gorgeous. Edward is first attracted to Bella because he wants to drain her blood more than anyone he’s ever met. Oh yeah, this is a match made in heaven. So the over-a-century-old Edward, who by now must have gained a lot of wisdom in his long life, or at least been taught a lot by his pseudo-father Carlisle, would know he should probably not go near this girl at all. But no…he saves her from a car accident–not because he didn’t want to see her hurt, but because if she had bled, he wouldn’t have been able to resist lapping up her blood. Again, so romantic. And even if he had to save her, he perhaps could have given her the cold shoulder or been a jerk to her so she’d stay away…wait, that is what he did. I forgot, Bella is a masochist who is obsessed with causing herself pain and chasing after people who are awful to her while shunning people who love and care about her. Of course, that doesn’t stop Edward from telling her (in essence) “Stay away from me, I’m dangerous…but don’t. because I think you’re fascinating.” Meanwhile, Bella, who seems unable to distinguish between hormonal attraction and actual affection, is convinced she is in love with Edward. Again, why? Because he’s gorgeous. So she’ll continue to flat-out lie to her father, her friends, and anyone else who displays any genuine concern for her, all in the name of a boy she’s known for less than three months.
Honestly, I could go on, but I’m almost at 2,000 words, so I’ll stop. The point is, if this had been a cautionary tale to young teenage girls (Hey girls! See this relationship? Don’t be like this!), then I could give it a bit more credit. But it’s not. Young girls idolize Edward, and many young men want to be Edward…something is definitely wrong here. The only question left for me is if I can possibly gut it up to read through the others so I can be fully capable of ranting about what I consider to be a highly suspect and disturbing book.
-Blake
[Awkward Pause] 