“Kwop kilawtley.”

December 26. 2009, under Blogr with 2 Comments

“Stay with me forever.” said Jacob to Bella in the Quileute language as they were about to kiss in a scene from the New Moon movie. I read a post on Livejournal that talks about the abusive anti-feminist relationships in the Twilight series. Being a fan myself, it did make me pause and think about it.

First of all, it’s important for everyone to realize the difference between fact and fiction and also look into where the story comes from. I remember a few years ago I had a discussion with a woman from church that was complaining about the Harry Potter franchise. The woman claimed that it was a bad influence because it teaches kids all sort of diabolical things. Dealing with ignorant people is a dangerous thing so I did my best to give her a different perspective while keeping her faith in check. “Harry does what he can to battle the forces of evil with the help of his friends same as Christians do in church.” The woman liked my approach but still disapproved of the movies so I told her that the Bible is far more violent and sexual. She agreed and that was that.

Now, what does this have to do with the Twilight saga? Edward Cullen is a fictional character written by a Mormon soccer mom. Edward was human in a time of greater female oppresion and lives as a vampire over and over again posing as a teenager/young adult. Time passes by differently for a vampire but he’s still a pedophile for falling in love with Bella. Just like in Buffy the vampire slayer when Angel falls for Buffy. You might as well date a mummy, right?

The reality behind the fantasy is harsh but that’s the beauty of fantasy. Ancient psycho killers can be sexy given the situation. I remember falling for Lestat in my teenage years. Humans are animals and vampires are more animal like than human. There are times when a person feels attracted to wild and savage instincts. Look at Edward, he’s the dark and brooding hottie. He’s beautiful and dangerous. Typical bad boy. And Jacob well, you can’t get more animal than being a wolf in a human body. this is where the difference lies between domestic violence and natural animal instincts. If you ever had a furry pet, you know that loving it might not always be easy. Humans aren’t that different from other animals. But we like to pretend to be.

Edward Cullen is a vampire, a natural predator. Bella is human, she is prey. Jacob Black is a shapeshifting wolf. Humans aren’t at the top of the food chain and Bella is the clumsy and stupid type. The way I view the relationships in the Twilight saga is like that of animals. Our sense of civilized behaviour can sometimes cloud judgement. Sometimes we wish to tap into our more animalistic instincts but don’t in fear of society’s rules. It’s fun to be emotional and reckless but that doesn’t mean it’s right. I suppose that’s what’s so attractive about Twilight. But it’s not a great role model for young girls. It’s the responsability of the parents or legal guardian to teach their kids values and distinction of real world life vs fantasy.

Fiction books are just like TV. You can’t rely on them as role models. I watch tons of cartoons myself since I was little but my mom took the time to tell me that love is never like in the movies or TV. I can see that from her marriage and my own love life.

So Bella is weak and stupid and falls for dangerous guys. Guess what? So are many women, at least Bella redeems herself in Breaking Dawn where she and Alice save the day. There’s some girl power here and there in the books. It’s not all ‘damsel in distress’. Besides, fairy tales are just that, fairy tales. I pity the girl that believes that life is just like in the tales of princesses that always end in happily ever after.