Twilightisms

[mothwentbad]

Of course the paradox is that the more Meyer sexualizes abstinence, the more we want Bella and Edward to actually have sex. This paradox becomes extra-convoluted when we find out, in a moment that for some is titillating, for others creepy, that sex could literally equal death for Bella. In one scene in Twilight, Bella asks Edward in a roundabout

Comments

[cdk]

I made it about a page in in via the Amazon "look inside this book" feature before giving up in disgust. I believe the exact paragraph that did me in was "But I could see the sacrifice in her eyes behind the promise."

[colubra]

I made it a bit further, but not much.

Really, these books seem to be so bad they're bad for you.

[mothwentbad]

Don't bite until you see the sacrifice in their eyes, men!

[vee_ecks]

The only way the author of the piece you've linked is off is she won't go near the M-word. Edward and Bella's relationship is not only all about not doing it, when they finally go get married and have sex, this provides a reason Edward has to step in and turn her into a vampire, so they are, essentially, sealed together forever in marriage.

[theswede]

A friend on my LJ dissected the first book in a series of posts. The quotes she provided were beyond wooden, and the motivations and internal dialogue of the characters was beyond appalling.

I decided I have better things to spend my time on, and I'd rather not have to wash my eyeballs out with lye again, so I skipped reading any of it myself.

[bec_87rb]

It's about fear of sex, specifically adult sexuality and all it entails. That is pretty much what all vampire stories are about, at least when the sweet young female is the one getting bit.

I have NOT read the stories, but have read a certain amount of the nattering on about them, and I don't see where it departs from that formula.

[mothwentbad]

Yeah. I don't know, they could have, like, a kinky vampire who's into rough sex and stuff, but one who uses safewords and checks to see how you're doing instead of brooding about how he doesn't know if he can stop himself from fucking you so hard that your ovaries come out your eye sockets, and how it's so hard being a man when women are so inherently delicate and stuff, but that's what sacrifice is for. Or something.

Sex looks scary at first

[bec_87rb]

Well, that's what your vampire novel would look like. ;p

Re: Sex looks scary at first

[mothwentbad]

These are good points. I think I just draw the line at romanticizing this state of affairs rather than trying to do something less blind and controlling with it.

I haven't read Dracula. There's a good chance that I'd find things fucked up about it. I only got 20 pages into Mallory's King Arthur before I was just about vomitty to the max:

"Remember how that one time you thought you were having sex in the middle of the night with your husband, but it couldn't have been him because he was dead? You know, the guy who impersonated your husband and statutorily raped you a few months ago? That was me! Your new husband, the one you didn't want to ever find out about your horrible secret!"
"I'm not a whore! Oh, I'm so happy!" *hugs, kisses, weeping*

...and thus King Arthur was conceived, thanks to the wise counsel of Merlin.

[cov]

Wow, that article was much more well-written and in-depth than the series deserves.