"Down once more to the dungeon of my black despair!"
Some thoughts on Twilight:
Twilight creeps me out. Like, seriously. I knew basically nothing about the phenomenon when I watched the first movie; I had seen the books in bookstores and thought they had very dramatic-looking covers, and I had seen posters for the movie all around London and thought the tagline was adorably ridiculous. I knew it had something to do with vampires and looked really cheesy, so I watched it with my mother when she came to visit me one day. We found it entertainingly silly - so much drama! - but I was entirely unaware of the whole romanticizing-abusive-stalkerish-behaviour theme or how it was so incredibly popular or anything about it, really. So you can imagine my shock when I'm expecting to see a silly teen romance and instead get a boy sneaking in to a girl's room and watching her sleep at night.
Since then, I have sought out all news articles, feminist/social-justice-oriented blog entries, academic works, and really any discourse I can find on Twilight - from both positive and negative perspectives - although I can't bring myself to actually read the books or watch any of the other movies. I've thought far more than is good for me about many Twilight-related issues: the often-crossed line between hating Twilight for its reactionary politics and hating Twilight because it's a series liked by young girls (and of course we couldn't possibly take girls' desires seriously), or about the way it is marketed as dark and edgy, or the way it comprises a transnational "media mix" text similar to the Japanese ones I am studying, or how anyone could possibly find Robert Pattinson attractive. But the issues that come up most frequently, and honestly are the most interesting, are discussions about the disturbing romance between Bella and Edward and the question of why Twilight is popular when it glorifies such a disturbing relationship. How can girls who have been brought up to value equality and anti-sexist ideals find a relationship like Bella and Edward's romantic? Is it a backlash against those ideals? Is it a loud wake-up call that we in fact never did bring up girls to value those ideals in the first place?
But then I remember what appealed to me as a girl in my early teens. Some of the things I loved I continue to think were awesome; Cynthia Voigt's book 'Elske' was maybe my favourite, and I still think it has one of the most sophisticated presentations of feminist thought of any fictional book I have come across. I loved Susan Cooper's 'The Dark is Rising' sequence, which I found rather dull upon a rereading a couple years ago, but was certainly well-written and had some awesome moments. I loved Robin McKinley's 'The Blue Sword', which I seem to remember was a fascinating book. I didn't really watch TV and I wasn't a huge movie person at that time, so it was mostly young adult fantasy books that had my attention.
Oh, and Phantom of the Opera.
I was completely, totally, over-the-top addicted to the musical of Phantom of the Opera. Like nothing you would believe (except those of you who knew me at the time). Back when I had a tape player, it was for quite awhile my only tape, and I would listen to the entire soundtrack all the way through at least three times a day. I thought the music was beautiful, and I thought it was the most romantic story I had ever heard.
Honestly, I still love Phantom. I'm listening to it now, and the music moves me in a way very few other albums can. I saw it in London last year with Jonathon, and I was completely blown away. The moment I have enough money, I intend to see it in London again. Nothing has quite the same romantic gothic drama as Phantom, and obviously nothing else has the same personal nostalgic value to me.
But in terms of creepy romance? Yeah. The Phantom has Edward Cullen beat by a long shot, I think. Maybe he's not secretly dying to eat Christine, but when we're talking creepy stalkerish abusive behaviour, there is no question that the Phantom qualifies. But my younger self did not really register the seriously problematic elements here; I saw the story as a deep, passionate romance between Christine and the Phantom, with that annoying Raoul always getting in the way of their true love. The fact that the Phantom kidnaps Christine and regularly threatens her so that she feels unsafe wherever she goes didn't really seem like much of a problem to me. That I saw it that way freaks me out immensely now that I look back on it, but it really just didn't even come to my mind at the time.
Comparing the two stories is kind of interesting to me; on one hand, Phantom seems a lot worse than Twilight, because Christine actually is *not* in love with the Phantom, making my whole 'oh but they should really be together!' sentiments doubly creepy because they are lacking that crucial element of consent. And the Phantom is genuinely unmistakably abusive and cruel, as opposed to bordering on being those things, as I understand Edward to be. On the other hand, you could interpret it the other way around; while Twilight is unquestionably portraying a romance between Edward and Bella, Phantom ultimately has Christine go off with a man who loves her and is not creepy and abusive, and the Phantom's behaviour is obviously wrong, if romantically tragic.
But I suppose what really gets me is the similarity between the two romances. And what disturbs me is not only that young girls today are considering unhealthy relationships to be romantic (too often a sentiment that falls into an overly paternalistic attitude towards fans), but that *I myself* felt the same way when I was in that age group. It's easy to accuse Stephanie Meyer of glorifying unhealthy relationships, and I think there is value in that; if people wouldn't write irresponsible shit, people wouldn't read it. But I also wonder why so many young girls turn to stories like these. I don't think Twilight really represents anything new (except perhaps in areas such as young female internet-based fandom); I think it is an exaggerated example of a current that has existed for awhile. And I wonder what young girls are going through that makes this resonate with them. I feel that there must be something in our society that drives us to this messed up sense of romance during our teenage years, but I don't know what it is, or how I got from thinking the Phantom and Christine had the most beautiful love story ever to thinking it's a story about a fucked up man and the person he stalks set to really, really pretty music.
I guess what I'm saying is, I would like to hear more talk about why this disturbing relationship model is popular, rather than why Twilight in particular is popular, or how Twilight portrays a disturbing relationship model. I don't have any answers, these are just some of my thoughts on this cold wintry day!
Twilight creeps me out. Like, seriously. I knew basically nothing about the phenomenon when I watched the first movie; I had seen the books in bookstores and thought they had very dramatic-looking covers, and I had seen posters for the movie all around London and thought the tagline was adorably ridiculous. I knew it had something to do with vampires and looked really cheesy, so I watched it with my mother when she came to visit me one day. We found it entertainingly silly - so much drama! - but I was entirely unaware of the whole romanticizing-abusive-stalkerish-behaviour theme or how it was so incredibly popular or anything about it, really. So you can imagine my shock when I'm expecting to see a silly teen romance and instead get a boy sneaking in to a girl's room and watching her sleep at night.
Since then, I have sought out all news articles, feminist/social-justice-oriented blog entries, academic works, and really any discourse I can find on Twilight - from both positive and negative perspectives - although I can't bring myself to actually read the books or watch any of the other movies. I've thought far more than is good for me about many Twilight-related issues: the often-crossed line between hating Twilight for its reactionary politics and hating Twilight because it's a series liked by young girls (and of course we couldn't possibly take girls' desires seriously), or about the way it is marketed as dark and edgy, or the way it comprises a transnational "media mix" text similar to the Japanese ones I am studying, or how anyone could possibly find Robert Pattinson attractive. But the issues that come up most frequently, and honestly are the most interesting, are discussions about the disturbing romance between Bella and Edward and the question of why Twilight is popular when it glorifies such a disturbing relationship. How can girls who have been brought up to value equality and anti-sexist ideals find a relationship like Bella and Edward's romantic? Is it a backlash against those ideals? Is it a loud wake-up call that we in fact never did bring up girls to value those ideals in the first place?
But then I remember what appealed to me as a girl in my early teens. Some of the things I loved I continue to think were awesome; Cynthia Voigt's book 'Elske' was maybe my favourite, and I still think it has one of the most sophisticated presentations of feminist thought of any fictional book I have come across. I loved Susan Cooper's 'The Dark is Rising' sequence, which I found rather dull upon a rereading a couple years ago, but was certainly well-written and had some awesome moments. I loved Robin McKinley's 'The Blue Sword', which I seem to remember was a fascinating book. I didn't really watch TV and I wasn't a huge movie person at that time, so it was mostly young adult fantasy books that had my attention.
Oh, and Phantom of the Opera.
I was completely, totally, over-the-top addicted to the musical of Phantom of the Opera. Like nothing you would believe (except those of you who knew me at the time). Back when I had a tape player, it was for quite awhile my only tape, and I would listen to the entire soundtrack all the way through at least three times a day. I thought the music was beautiful, and I thought it was the most romantic story I had ever heard.
Honestly, I still love Phantom. I'm listening to it now, and the music moves me in a way very few other albums can. I saw it in London last year with Jonathon, and I was completely blown away. The moment I have enough money, I intend to see it in London again. Nothing has quite the same romantic gothic drama as Phantom, and obviously nothing else has the same personal nostalgic value to me.
But in terms of creepy romance? Yeah. The Phantom has Edward Cullen beat by a long shot, I think. Maybe he's not secretly dying to eat Christine, but when we're talking creepy stalkerish abusive behaviour, there is no question that the Phantom qualifies. But my younger self did not really register the seriously problematic elements here; I saw the story as a deep, passionate romance between Christine and the Phantom, with that annoying Raoul always getting in the way of their true love. The fact that the Phantom kidnaps Christine and regularly threatens her so that she feels unsafe wherever she goes didn't really seem like much of a problem to me. That I saw it that way freaks me out immensely now that I look back on it, but it really just didn't even come to my mind at the time.
Comparing the two stories is kind of interesting to me; on one hand, Phantom seems a lot worse than Twilight, because Christine actually is *not* in love with the Phantom, making my whole 'oh but they should really be together!' sentiments doubly creepy because they are lacking that crucial element of consent. And the Phantom is genuinely unmistakably abusive and cruel, as opposed to bordering on being those things, as I understand Edward to be. On the other hand, you could interpret it the other way around; while Twilight is unquestionably portraying a romance between Edward and Bella, Phantom ultimately has Christine go off with a man who loves her and is not creepy and abusive, and the Phantom's behaviour is obviously wrong, if romantically tragic.
But I suppose what really gets me is the similarity between the two romances. And what disturbs me is not only that young girls today are considering unhealthy relationships to be romantic (too often a sentiment that falls into an overly paternalistic attitude towards fans), but that *I myself* felt the same way when I was in that age group. It's easy to accuse Stephanie Meyer of glorifying unhealthy relationships, and I think there is value in that; if people wouldn't write irresponsible shit, people wouldn't read it. But I also wonder why so many young girls turn to stories like these. I don't think Twilight really represents anything new (except perhaps in areas such as young female internet-based fandom); I think it is an exaggerated example of a current that has existed for awhile. And I wonder what young girls are going through that makes this resonate with them. I feel that there must be something in our society that drives us to this messed up sense of romance during our teenage years, but I don't know what it is, or how I got from thinking the Phantom and Christine had the most beautiful love story ever to thinking it's a story about a fucked up man and the person he stalks set to really, really pretty music.
I guess what I'm saying is, I would like to hear more talk about why this disturbing relationship model is popular, rather than why Twilight in particular is popular, or how Twilight portrays a disturbing relationship model. I don't have any answers, these are just some of my thoughts on this cold wintry day!