What’ll you learn? Well, not just about Twilight, not just how our culture thinks, not just how many women think & how trends are changing — there’s even more here. It’s juicy. (And yes, there’s a point or two in here that I — <gasp!> — don’t agree with, maybe we’ll get into in the comments 
)
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Why Twilight Is Not Just Bad, But Dangerous
Disclaimer: I’m basing this article more on having watched the films (All four of them. Twice.) than the novels. I read the first one, and am reasonably confident that the films are faithful to the source material, at least as far as the issues I’m presenting here are concerned. The fourth film has not been released yet, and as I’ve not read Breaking Dawn in its entirety, I am referring to reviews and commentary.
Unless you’ve been living under some kind of rock for the last 7 years, you’ve heard of the Twilight Saga; the novels and films about a young woman and her supernatural suitors.
Undoubtedly the novels and films are popular – popular beyond belief, among teen girls (and younger) and a somewhat surprising mix of other groups. There are some good reasons for that.
Supernatural creatures like vampires and werewolves inherently capture the imagination, and there are rich histories surrounding these mythical creatures. (The whole first nations/werewolves/ imperialism thing is deeply problematic, but is not my focus here.)
Romance, while not a genre I like personally, gives a lot of pleasure to a lot of people, which is a great thing. And the books and movies do capture the feelings of overwhelming emotional intensity I think we can all remember from our teen years.
Turning the archetype of vampires on its head can be annoying to some people, but I don’t think that anyone would question the right of an author to alter myths to suit the worlds and stories they create.
Escapist fiction, where you can easily super-impose yourself over the characters can be fun and exciting.
Even terribly written fiction has its value; this is the story, after all that brings you a hero that once “lay perfectly still in the grass, his shirt open over his sculpted, incandescent chest, his scintillating arms bare," who says things like: "Sleep, my Bella. Dream happy dreams. You are the only one who has ever touched my heart. It will always be yours. Sleep, my only love." Read it out loud. It’s hilarious.
So none of those things are the problem I have with Twilight.
The problem I have with Twilight is that it not just normalizes, but glamourizes abusive relationships, misogyny, archaic, damaging versions of femininity and the demonization of sexuality.
And that isn’t okay for anyone of any age.
***
The Boys
Let’s start by having a wee look at hero number one – the sparkly blood-sucker known as Edward Cullen. Here’s how “one of modern fiction’s best candidates for a restraining order” treats the woman he is, supposedly, in love with:
- He stalks her,
- breaks into her home,
- physically moves her when he doesn’t want her somewhere,
- makes decisions for her,
- doesn’t solicit her opinion, and when she offers it, shuts her down,
- threatens her,
- exposes her to dangerous environments, where she is frequently badly hurt,
- controls her activities and relationships,
- reacts with horror and revulsion to her sexuality (more on this later),
- (until he) coerces her into marriage.
All of which we’re supposed to consider proofs of his great love.
Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you: is that what you would want for your child? Is that what you want them to consider normal, or romantic?
Moving on to love interest number two, the First Nations werewolf, Jacob Black. I’m not going to get into the troubling racist issues here, but they are well worth looking into if you or someone you know is interested in the series. (Here’s a place to start, and there is plenty more out there.)
So, as a love interest, how does Jacob stack up?
At first glance, a little better. They have some shared history, actually talk and do a few things together before going all moon-eyed, and Jacob occasionally asks Bella a question about what she thinks or feels. He also manages to swallow his possessive rage enough to resentfully acknowledge that it might possibly be a good thing if she makes up her own mind.
Sadly, that’s where the good times end.
Jacob is as intent on possessing Bella as Edward, and a little bit more inclined to violence. Convinced that she’s in love with him (or could be, despite her repeated assertions to the contrary) he assaults her, knowing that she lacks the strength to stop him.
And, of course, yet again there’s another person telling this young girl that he’s dangerous but she should be with him anyway. Need an example? Just look at the leader of his pack who brutally mutilated his fiancée in a fit of rage. What a role model.
Towards the end of the series, when Bella is no longer a romantic option, he goes for the next best thing – her infant daughter, imprinting upon her, a process that essentially makes a powerful, independent being the [fill-in-the-blank] slave of the imprintee. Now we’ll never, ever have to worry that Baby will end up single! Every parent’s dream, I’m sure.
So those are the magical hunks.
The Girl
It’s time to look a little bit into the meat of all this, the protagonist: clumsy but loveable Bella Swan.
The argument has been made with some degree of success that Bella is an incredibly strong character in terms of narrative. I agree. Everything that she wants, one way or another – she gets. The entire plot is driven by her various desires. In a very interesting article, about the feminist implications of the saga, Sarah Seltzer writes:
“There’s a reason teenage girls are obsessed with this story, after all, and it’s not because they’re shallow consumers of pop trash: over the course of four books and five movies, Bella’s needs, wants and impulses are by the strongest power manifested–stronger than the vampires and werewolves combined. Her inmost wishes are the steady heartbeat that propels the action forward to an absurd degree.”
So it falls to me to examine what she wants, and how her desire is enforced.
What does Bella want? She wants to be with Edward, she wants to become a vampire, she wants to carry her pregnancy to term. Okay, no real problems here; nothing particularly ground-breaking, but nothing particularly offensive on its face. One woman writes: “Bella’s desires are not revolutionary, they are the desires of a person trying to get the most power they can within an unjust system.”
So let’s look at things a little more closely.
She wants to be with Edward although he’s, as I discussed earlier, an absolutely abominable person. And she wants to be with Edward to a really scary extent. Causing her parents worry and pain, completely ignoring and taking for granted her other friends, losing interest in school and activities, completely forgoing further education, or anything other than being with Edward. Any aspects to her personality that might have been developed within the series are completely blacked out by her obsession with getting to be with the vamp prince now. The message this sends is very clear: nothing is as important as your romantic interest in someone. Everything else is insignificant.
When Edward leaves is when it really becomes dark. Months of depression, risky behavior, social isolation, suicide attempts. Which is a totally rational reaction to being dumped, right? Take note, parents: next time your child has relationship trouble, give them the keys to a motorcycle and directions to the nearest cliff. It’s one thing to express the pain you feel at a major emotional event in your life – and it can totally feel like the end of the world when (especially your first) love ends – but the kind of behavior Bella exhibited isn’t romantic longing. It’s dangerous, unhealthy obsession.
She also wants to have sex with him. Unsurprising – mid-late teen years are, I’m sure you remember, a time for exploring and experimenting – or at least wanting to! But that’s not going to happen in this series. Oh no. Eventually she gets to, but at a pretty hefty cost. More on this below.
She wants to be a Vampire. This is an interesting one. She wants the same power that Edward and his family have – she wants to be strong and fast and immortal. Of course she does! As a “normal” girl she gets pushed around, beaten up, stalked and sexually assaulted. And if she doesn’t become a vampire, she’s going to get older. Since Edward is trapped in the body of a seventeen year old, this idea is simply appalling. Women shouldn’t be old! It’s disgusting. Particularly if their partner looks younger then them, despite an 80-odd year age gap.
She wants to carry her pregnancy to term. The pregnancy that advances at an unprecedented rate, destroys her health, has an unknown outcome and eventually kills her. In the same situation, I’d encourage anyone to seek termination, but Bella didn’t, despite the warnings from a doctor and the pressures of her family. Her body, her choice – so that’s all good. There are aspects of it that I think are incredibly negative, and I’ll get to those in the next section.
So how does she get these things that she wants?
Mostly through deception. Every relationship Bella is shown to have is based on, or at least initiated with subterfuge and lies. Bella is never open about what she feels or why, instead, getting what she wants through deception. From lying about why she doesn’t want to go to a dance, to sneaking out of her father’s home to run away. Bella never expresses her desires in straight terms, finding it better, I suppose, to maintain illusions of being the perfect daughter, or unassuming female than actually speaking her mind.
If she’s not deceiving her way into what she wants – she’s suffering for it:
Lover leaves? Torture yourself till he comes back.
Want to have sex? Give up your hopes, dreams, family and future to wed at 18.
Want to have a baby? Grow emaciated and resort to cannibalism. (Bella drinks human blood to nourish the fetus and regain some strength.)
Want to become a vampire? Prove your worth first through a debilitating pregnancy and birth ending in mutilation and death.
Great.
The Sex and its Consequences
When I was consuming the saga, after I got over my revulsion at the abuse = love motif, I was greatly bothered by the treatment of sex and sexuality.
To sum it up quickly: Sex is bad, and women wanting to have sex are worse.
Bella, being a healthy (at least physically) young woman wants to have sex with her partner. Her partner will have none of that slutty bullshit. “No sex before marriage, miss! Because I love and respect you, and come from a different time. Remember when women were property and value was measured with virginity? Yeah, back then, so down girl.”
To be fair, human-on-vampire sex is painted as very dangerous, so dangerous that it’s too unsafe to contemplate. Unless you’re married. Even if it’s still human/vampire sex. I don’t understand this at all, but apparently it totally makes a difference.
So they get married, and run off to a Brazillian Island, where newly-wed sex leaves Bella happy, and bruised.
And pregnant.
This is a dangerous pregnancy that defies nature as known for humans and absolutely wastes her body, and, as she is frequently told, could cost her life. Scary, unsought pregnancies are pretty common in our media culture, and they’re usually played out in about the same way. Briefly – when a woman is made pregnant as a plot device she’s being reduced to her biological functions as a means to carry the story forward, and her personhood is overlooked or diminished. There are lots of reasons this is troubling, and the person who explains it best is, I think Anita Sarkeesian. Here’s her video on “Mystical Pregnancy.”
So, in any case, Bella decides to try and keep the baby, and while many reading or watching think this is monumentally stupid, that’s her call (or the author’s, anyway) to make.
And it actually turns out really well for her, because after the emaciation, pain, broken bones, cannibalism, surgery while conscious, and mutilation after – she delivers a healthy baby and proves her worth as a female, earning herself a reward. In this case, being turned into a vampire by her husband .
Did you get all that?
- The ideal man owns you, or wants to.
- Sex before marriage will kill you (or as good as).
- Sex after marriage (if you desire it) is dangerous, and the consequences are dire.
- The life of your fetus comes first, no matter the risk to yourself.
- Female power comes through men.
The Author
Researching and writing this, I started to think “who could possibly be responsible for this? What kind of person comes up with this?” A woman named Stephenie Meyer.
Even after seeing the films and reading one of the books, I didn’t think that Stephenie Meyer, and the directors/producers/actors/whoever deliberately set out to create something so offensive to women (and people who don’t hate women).
I thought it was probably a touch of ignorance coupled with a whole lot of laziness, and I still think that, at least about the team responsible for making the movies.
But Stephenie Meyer is a slightly different story. I think that she genuinely wanted to create a strong feminist character, but that her idea of what that means is so terribly warped that the execution was positively regressive.
You see, Ms. Meyer is a member of a very, very conservative church, known for having quite firm ideas about the distinct roles of men and women and, shall we say, restrictive attitudes towards sex. She has been quoted as saying that while she did not consciously inject her religious views into her work, it is likely that her work is shaped by her values. (Which is, of course, completely fair – all writing is shaped, in one way or another, by the values and beliefs of the author.)
Now, I never wanted to get into issues of religion with this piece, at least not in a pointing-fingers kind of way, and I’m not going to do it now. Simply put, what we believe in our real lives influences the work we create. That Twilight is misogynist and anti-sex is undeniable – what that says about the author and the world she (and we) live in I’ll leave for you to decide.
The Entertainment Machine
I can say, however, that the movie and marketing and publishing machine that took an abhorrent story of abuse and misogyny and made it a household name should be well and truly ashamed of themselves. Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating censorship, people should be allowed to tell pretty much any story they want to, but I also think that we all have a responsibility for what we say and who we say it to. And telling young girls and women (not to mention young men!) that their sexuality is evil, that true love means effacement of self, and abusive behavior is acceptable in relationships is wrong. Billions of dollars earned in the box office don’t make it okay.
In my more optimistic moments, I like to believe that there has been a change below sea level in how women are seen onscreen and in real life. And I think that to some extent this is true. Certainly there are more female characters who demonstrate qualities I’m happy to look up to, and set as role models for the younger generation.
I think of Hermione from Harry Potter – smart and brave and loyal.
I think of Katniss from the Hunger Games – troubled and dedicated and powerful.
I think of Lyra from the His Dark Materials – creative and bright and determined.
And mostly, I think of another young woman who dealt with Vampires on a day-to-day basis. Buffy.
Buffy was the embodiment of a positive female lead; powerful, loving, brave, funny, questioning and flawed. Buffy didn’t always win – but she always tried again. Buffy fell in and out of love and had diverse relationships with family, friends and lovers; she struggled to discover and maintain her sense of self, tried to live up to her responsibilities and generally, be a good person.
In short – she was a whole person, with interests and skills, successes and failures, shining moments, and moments to be ashamed of.
So when I was pouring over Edward and Bella, I kept thinking: “What would Buffy do?”
Somebody got there first. (Thank you internet!)
This is critic’s (absolutely spot-on) imagining of what Twilight would have been like if the heroine were Buffy instead of Bella:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZwM3GvaTRM
What’s interesting about this video is that it demonstrates the stark contrast between the attitudes and actions of two very prominent female characters. What changed in the years between the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the beginning of Bella the Vampire Wannabe? What does it mean for people who look (consciously or not) to media for examples?
I grew up with Buffy. I watched her struggle with her emotions, develop relationships, overcome obstacles, grow as a person and kick ass on a daily basis. While I certainly don’t credit a television series with the entirety of my growth and development as a human being – the lessons and ideas that I absorbed from it did contribute to the shaping my view of the world, and the possibilities for my role within it.
My little cousins, among a legion of young people are growing up with Bella, watching her be abused, behave abominably to her family and friends, and efface herself totally to her romantic interest before finally giving up her personhood altogether to be with her partner. I can only hope that the children idolizing the Twilight empire have other stories to which they give equal or greater weight.
As consumers of media, we have the right, and I believe also, the obligation to demand that we’re given strong, independent, creative and otherwise admirable women to watch and adore. Women who are whole people and that have feelings and interests and passions and skills outside of their gender and their relationships to men.
Of course, the solution is not to ban or banish the Twilight franchise. I don’t imagine there’s anything that would make a 14 year old MORE inclined to read it. But I think it’s absolutely vital that there be discussion and communication about the messages that this book is delivering.
What happens someday when the girl who loved Twilight as a 12 year old starts dating? If she has the misfortune to start seeing a boy who threatens or tries to control her, is her reaction going to be “ummm, hell no!” or “wow, he really cares about me.”
Stories have a huge impact on how we see the world, and I think that children (because remember, this book is marketed to children, although the readers span a broad demographic) need to see myth and magic and relationships and love and pain and terror – being exposed to those feelings and ideas in stories helps us handle them in real life.
But there is nothing good when a young girl internalizes that no means yes and stalking means I love you, or that an appropriate, even noble reaction to the end of a relationship is months of depression, night terrors and stupid, life endangering risk taking.
When we let this kind of thing go by, when we brush it off as “just a teen craze,” we’re doing a grave disservice to ourselves and to the young people who we want to grow up into happy, healthy people.
Not convinced? Visit Twilight fan board and look into the comments. People are obsessed, refusing to date at all because they can’t find someone enough “like Edward.” Comments about how he’s so strong and romantic, how this is really what true love must be like.
As a feminist, it offends me. As a future parent, it horrifies me. As a woman, it disgusts me. As a proponent of sex-positivity, it saddens me.
Normalizing abuse in popular media does just that – makes it seem normal. And when we tolerate it, when we let it go by without comment– that’s tacit approval.
So, Ryze readers, congratulations if you’ve made it this far. I’ve said my say, and now I’d love to hear what you think. What do you think of Bella as a role model? Do you think characters in books, movies and television influence people? Do you think I’ve got the whole thing complete wrong? Let’s talk.
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MEGAN DOUGHERTY is a writer, blogger and marketer working out of of Montreal, Quebec. When not helping out at Firepole Marketing, Megan plays board games with her husband, watches Doctor Who with her cats, and writes letters to her Member of Parliament. Always interested in a discussion, Megan will be watching the comments for questions, criticisms, ideas and counterarguments. You can find out more about her over at Megan-Dougherty.com. |
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About 
Megan, thanks so much pouring so much energy into this super-detailed fresh look at Twilight. I know I learned a lot
I also like that it’s got a different voice from the usual on Ryze. People might actually have to look up a word or something
Anyway, I also have a different “Ryze Perspective” on a couple points, but like I said before, it’s probably more of a 1-to-1 coffee discussion rather than a public blog dealy.
Either way, I totally appreciate you. Great stuff! I’m psyched to see what others have to say and think, especially some of my passionate female readers, because they’re not your average women
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Megan,
I like your bold and unapologetic voice, laced with a sense of humor.
I especially appreciated your description of Edward as the “sparkly bloodsucker” and your “read it out loud” line. ☺
When I read the series, I too noticed right away how Bella’s sexual desires were disregarded. I felt like there was a missed opportunity in the story to take a different approach… to show young women that sex is natural and beautiful… and share a message about self-love and respect. I also had real problems with her being pressured to get married so young just so that she could have all that she wanted from the relationship.
However I do think that describing it all as “misogynist” may be taking it a bit too far…. And perhaps some of the things you outline are really more of a result of the fantastical essence of the story and characters. You do bring up some disturbing points though.
Do I think Bella is a role model? No, but one of the things that Stephenie (the author) did that I liked was to use the vampire and wolf personas as a means to demonstrate that we each have our own special talents and abilities. In the end, Bella went through a ‘change’ and discovered her own gift, and then fine-tuned it, and ended up saving them all with it…. so in that regard I think she is admirable.
Overall, I thought you did a thorough job in supporting your view and brought up some comparisons that I hadn’t considered… and definitely worth discussing with my daughter should she choose to read it when she’s old enough.
p.s. Jason I LOVE the art !:D
In case you missed it, Jen, Megan replied to you below.
P.S. Thanks for the art props! I swiped a couple photos off the net and snazzed ‘em up a bit, glad it had an effect.
Ohhhh… I should so speak up on this topic.
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Thanks for the comment and the kind words Jennifer!
I agree wholeheartedly that the opportunity to talk about sex in a positive way was missed.
I’m interested in why you think misogynist goes too far – how do you define it? I’d also like to hear more about how the different categories of character demonstrate that we each have special talents and abilities – I didn’t read that into the book or films, and I’d love to know your viewpoint on it.
Do you think it makes a difference that Bella’s change came from outside, and not from within? For me that was a sticking point, but you have more knowledge than I do of the end of the series, and I’d like to learn more.
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[grin]
Hi again Megan!
(lol… Jason, do you have anything else in common with the sparkly bloodsucker that you’d like to share??)
I’ve always thought of “misogynist” as a complete hatred towards women in general…. Even finding the gender repulsive and maybe ugly. To apply the word towards mistreatment or even abuse towards women alone without this sort of detest… well, to me, just doesn’t fit. And I didn’t feel this sort of hatred towards women from the characters (or author) in the Twilight series.
In regards to special abilities… I’m referring to how, for example, Edward can read thoughts, Alice can see the future, Jasper can manipulate emotions, etc. Most of the vampire characters in the books have some such skill. The wolves mainly all share the telepathy ability and other skills with the ‘pack’ (admittedly, they aren’t really individualized as are the vampire abilities). In particular, Bella’s special skill of her ‘mental shield’ (if you remember Edward couldn’t read her thoughts, and the Voltori couldn’t exert pain telepathically), existed when she was human… and it was just magnified after she went through the ‘change.’ So, that’s why I felt there was an intended connotation to us all having special gifts that we can develop further.
I have to admit, I hadn’t considered how Bella’s change came externally rather than from within… however I will say there was emphasis in the story on how Bella was still so much like herself afterwards… that, again, skills that she already had were just intensified… and the Cullen vampire family worked together to help her sharpen them. Maybe we could compare this to a success coach who can help us identify and develop talents that we already have?
Ahh… this is some of the best discussion of Twilight I’ve come across!
Thanks Megan + Jen!
As for similarities to Edward…
We could start with I’m magnetically charismatic
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Hi Jennifer,
I see where you’re coming from with that usage of misogyny. The only difference is that I see “misogyny = hatred of women,” as more of a translation than a definition of how it is commonly used. To be fair, it is used differently by different groups and differently again by the individual people within those groups. There is loads of room for interpretation on this word. I personally don’t feel that “hatred of women” encompasses everything that misogyny means. I think misogyny can also be applied to situations when, in this case the author/characters treat women with contempt, disgust or distrust. I feel that Bella was treated with contempt, disgust and distrust not because of who she was was a person (because as a person – there wasn’t much to her, at least to my viewing/reading) but because she’s the female love interest. The story couldn’t have happened to (an individual born in the body of ) a male, so I have to assume that Bella was written in such a way deliberately. If the protagonist was male, I’d be equally comfortable calling it misandry.
I think it’s particularly relevant to the male-on-female abuse in this story because, well – you can’t abuse someone you feel is your equal. The abusee is considered/treated as less valuable, important, worthy, deserving, capable etc. than the abuser considers themselves, and the abuse is their way of exercising power, and maintaining the position of superiority.
I can see what you’re saying about the different skills the vampires possessed. I couldn’t get past the other bit you touched on though – the difference between the Vampires and the Werewolves. That differentiation sticks in my throat in a really big way. Vampires (rich, white, from a good family…*) get unique individual skills and powers. The werewolves, on the other hand, coming from a Native community, all got animalistic savagery, brute strength, collective telepathy and the ability to become a perpetual slave. To me, that’s just absolutely sickening.
As for Bella’s maintaining and developing who she was before the change – it’s good to hear that that happened towards the end, and her character maintained a sense of self. But from my reading/watching (and I could easily be missing things, please let me know!) she didn’t do much or have any interests or any notable characteristics other than being clumsy and obsessive before the change, so it’s hard for me to imagine them being developed and expanded upon afterwards. But that’s on me for not having read the final instalment. (I’m sorry in advance: I’m waiting for the movie. I need a Twilight breather.)
Thank you, Jennifer, so much for your thoughtful commenting! You’ve gotten my brain going this morning.
*Laurent was only black in the movies.
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Thanks for the insight Megan… this is great discussion!
I haven’t read it either yet… but it’s been sitting on my nightstand for months… waiting for me.
I certainly would not claim to be an expert in the definition of misogynist or the application of the word over history. Absolutely lots of room for various interpretations… and yours may be more commonly accepted. I personally still think of it, though, as a word that would be used to describe a situation where there is a definite abhorrence of the female gender. There is a fine line here though, and you’ve certainly made me wonder if there’s much of a difference (and I realize others may say there is none).
And to your next point… I guess that’s the crux here for me… I’m not sure I really agree that, for the most part, Bella was treated as though she was less valuable, capable, worthy, or deserving by her “magical hunks” (loved that term too)…. she just didn’t have the same super-powers as Edward and Jacob! It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that she was female; it was because she wasn’t a vampire or a wolf. I felt that most of the “abuse” that Bella suffered was self-inflicted.
As far as some of her more positive qualities? Well, it’s been a while since I’ve read the series… but the first to my mind include her fearlessness, loyalty, quick wit, intelligence and perseverance.
(Also to note, I agree the racist correlations are troubling… and while that’s a different subject than the main point of your post here, those additional implications did occur to me as I was typing my earlier reply.)
Thank YOU Megan, you got my brain going as well! I hope you enjoy your break from the series until the final movie is released…. 50 Shades of Grey might be a nice alternative (I noticed your comments below)
Okay Jen… invitation accepted, I wrote a mini blog post at the bottom of the comments, with my thoughts and feelings – lol.
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Ahhaha, Jason! Love it.
Love your thoughtful eloquent questioning. Love it that you bring new discovery. Love that you brought it back to DESIRE.
Love it that you couldn’t help yourself.
[grins]
Well, thank you, Jen
And even Megan herself made note that Bella’s desires – “unhealthy” or not – were front in center in the book, and it’s empowering for chicks to see a chick get what she wants (I don’t recommend deception + manipulation as tools, but hey, its better than a story where she gets nothing she wants
)
OK, speaking as someone who has seen parts of the first movie and thereafter avoided the whole franchise like anthrax… I’m glad I did, and I’m going to maintain. It all sounds even worse than I suspected.
As a feminist, it pisses me off that there’s yet another rehash of the tired idea that cold brooding + violent outbursts = let’s get married so I can have your babies.
As a fetishist, I wish Meyers and her producers would leave people to enjoy their vampires, werewolves and bdsm without introducing such ridiculous levels of sexophobia, histrionics and harmful intent.
As a genre fiction geek, I’m amazed that such wooden actors working a story as hackneyed as this supernatural love triangle could sustain the interest of millions over several years.
Buffy was a far superior show – thanks to great writers and an auteur who knows how to work his actors. But I gotta say, it was full of the same charming key takeaways, like:
- If you have sex with someone they will sooner or later turn into a monster and try to kill you.
- Sexual relationships have to be hidden from the people you love.
- Frowning a lot and lurking in the shadows makes men really interesting and attractive.
- The depth of your lover’s caring is measured by the degree of control and violence they subject you to.
These ideas are part of the background radiation. They’re absorbed into our bones, and get drawn out in our lives like an isotope analysis printout. They’re a *lot* older than Twilight, and they’re rooted in the same stock that makes sex taboo in the first place. There’s an edge of predation to sexual desire, just as there is to hunger; crap like Twilight encourages girls to become the ultimate prey.
Hey Sophie,
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such an interesting and detailed reply.
I couldn’t agree with you more about the sexophobia impacting fetishists, the broader kink community and even fantasy lovers. It makes me think of all the fuss over 50 Shades of Grey, which I haven’t read yet , but seems to be making crazy-waves in a bunch of different communities- have you read it?
I think you’re right about a lot of the comments you made about Buffy – But I do think an important difference is how she grows and changes as a result of her relationships, and the variety of relationships outside of the sexual/romantic she had. Joss Whedon et al. didn’t always handle sex and relationships perfectly – but I don’t feel like the repression, brooding, secrecy and control were always foregone conclusions. There was wiggle room, different journeys and different outcomes.
I wonder if someone has done a comprehensive survey of Mssrs. Tall Dark and Violent in myth and literature. I’d imagine it’s out there – something to look into. Vampires have always held the thrill of the erotic, but romantic fashion seems to me so liquid and changeable.
On a side note, are you familiar with The Pervocracy? I have a feeling you’d like her style. (www.pervocracy.blogspot.ca)
Megan is sharing: An Open Letter to the People Who Hire Writers
Man, I am loving this. So fun
This is first for me at Ryze.
The first post of it’s kind. The first post by Megan. And the first post I’ve remained largely silent on
Quick side note: I’ve read 50 Shades of Grey
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Megan, I know what you mean about Buffy seeming to have more options – at least she kept some friends and family around her, and attended college. The essential difference between the Buffy and Bella characters, I think, comes from the authors.
Buffy is a heroine (courageous, principled, determined) written by someone familiar with the subcultures surrounding the supernatural romance genre. She often makes choices that in her eyes are the only choice, to serve the greater good; she also sometimes makes selfish or unthinking choices that screw her up. Watching her, you get the sense that she could have chosen different paths and the story might have developed differently, because Whedon knows how to write choices.
Bella is intended to be a heroine (courageous, principled, determined) but is written by someone whose understanding of the genre’s details and dilemmas –in fact, of the world’s details and dilemmas– is limited. Bella makes choices without apparent deliberation, and no alternative option is ever raised except as an object of her immediate rejection. Her decisions are inflexible, but her rigid principles are detected only by their gravitiational pull on the narrative. All her choices are in equal parts selfish and passive, because they seem so arbitrary. That’s because Meyer can’t write choices, and just has Bella choose whatever Meyer would choose.
Brain dump over.
No, I haven’t read 50 Shades of Grey – I keep hearing from people I trust that it’s badly (and coyly) written, so I’m not in any hurry to inflict that on myself. Another one I might borrow but wouldn’t buy. Jason, what did you think of it?
Oh and Megan, thanks for the Pervocracy tipoff!
Jason! I’m loving this comments section.
I should probably just geek out and make these Buffy vs Bella thoughts into a post…
Please make these Buffy/Bella thoughts into a post! I would love to read more of your “brain dumping” !
Sophie, you raised a super-interesting point I hadn’t really thought of:
“That’s because Meyer can’t write choices, and just has Bella choose whatever Meyer would choose.”
COULDN’T she, or DIDN’T she? If she couldn’t, that seems more like an indictment of her, and by extension our, entire culture, and if she just didn’t, then it’s more personal, and less scary on a broader level. Hmmmm.
It’s a really interesting filter to look at the story through – thank you!
I just downloaded 50 Shades of Grey. I haven’t gotten to any sexytimes yet, but so far “coy” seems an excellent description. I’d also be interested in your thoughts, Jason.
I’m really enjoying this comment section as well.
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Aight, aight — you twisted my arm
:P:P
I’ll weigh in with more. Ready?
First let me say… I wouldn’t have posted this article if I didn’t find it immensely valuable.
You feelin’ me? I love it, girl. LOVE it. Am I clear? Do I need to go on for paragraphs praising how smart it is regarding the hidden themes and messages in twilight? Do I need to give <3's to Megan linking eye-opening resources or for shedding light on something people blindly consume?
No. We know all that. You rock.
So… on to the meatier stuff.
I’d like to pose some questions:
QUESTION 1:
Could we gain more insight by open-mindedly researching gender across culture & time? – looking deep into the tendencies of living organisms to express Direction/Surrender, Push-Pull, Yin-Yang? Not just in western cultural, but in animals, plants, rivers and more.
I touch on this a bit here: http://ryzeonline.com/polarity-the-language-of-sex-men-women-have-differences
I find so many peeps write about gender, culture, romance, sex — but if you really, really looked at the amount of depth, probing, understanding and experience they devoted to the topic. It’s ridiculous. Have they studied David Deida? Nicole Daedone? How about exotic practices like Tantra, and the roots of male-female interaction?
Now, I don’t know how experienced or knowledgeable everyone commenting here is about sex + gender, and I’m not claiming to be some expert.
But I have noticed a societal trend…
Do we really want to write sweeping indictments of pop culture, that is clearly resonating with millions of people, with only the barest of intellectual foundations?
Because much of what is written and successful, gains it success from appealing to immensely powerful natural desires. Not even human desires, but NATURE’S desires.
Stuff like:
-every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
-attraction-tension-satisfaction
-yin/yang, polarity.
-creation, expression, experience.
-nature abhors a vaccuum.
-a time, place, and calling for everything.
The success of a story generally relies on proper application of these universally game-changing powers.
That barely starting out, just practicing writer in your high-school, who’s scared to be himself? Does NOT leverage any of the above well at all.
Stephanie Meyers nails practically all of them.
Is it possible that all our cultural stories — from the shallow to the deep — are an attempt to express our deepest, purest, most undeniable Desires?
Are the timeless principles of ‘surrendering to raw desire’, ‘being taken’, ‘and being guided and directed by someone so trustworthy and forceful as to guide us better than ourselves, at times?’
(…Whether it be a ‘higher power’ providing that guidance, or our trusted intimate partner, this theme is literally timeless. Lots of things have changed… but not DESIRE.)
Nature calls for safe, natural, animalistic expression. The west has mostly resisted and crushed this, so it shows up in other ways.
QUESTION 2:
When Meyers writes about Bella wanting ‘a certain kind of relationship’, is she not echoing the desire of millions? Should we stomp on the resonant desire of millions?
Should we get pissed at her for being bold and daring enough to express something that millions of people were feeling & thinking, and as soon as they tasted it expressed, they spread it like wildfire?
Can you imagine how much hate mail Meyer’s gets? More than me, certainly. Do I want to add more?
And sub-question — does ‘realism’ really play a role?
At one time it was “unrealistic” to land on the moon, yesterday we hit mars.
At one time it was “unrealistic” to do a 4minute mile… Today? Please.
At one time it was “unrealistic” for women to own businesses. lol. Clearly they can own, and EXCEL.
Sooooo… this deep desire, this fantasy romance, who’s to say some, or all of it, can come to pass, through the power of evolution and cultural change and shifts?
And even if Meyers is going about it in a completely confused way, can’t we agree that she currently has more impact on our cultural landscape than the comments section on Ryze?
Now, I get it, if she’s going against the principles of humanity, such as people aren’t 1-dimensionally perfect beings, don’t desire that — well then, okay
QUESTION 3:
How does it help to imply Bella is a role-model or a world-leader or anything of the sort?
Someone told a story. That story did really well, audience-wise, now everyone’s buzzing about it.
I could link you to some dark, ‘debasing’ tales that’d put twilight to shame, but since they’re so fringe and no one’s talking about them — well, no one cares.
Since Eminem is a public figure, does he automatically gain the responsibility of “role model?”
Angelina Jolie drank blood, went bisexual, and now helps the UN, is she automatically a “role model?”
And since Stephanie Meyers’ fictional character Bella hit the silver screen, is SHE automatically a “role model”?
People always want to blame pop culture for everything. For columbine, for Colorado, for the dissolution of society. And they looooove to write pages and pages about it all — Does this make sense?
Does it serve us to label the story ‘misogynistic’, when two women in this thread (and I’d imagine many more) have no solid footing on the term.
Anyway… I didn’t wanna make any comments, ’cause I may be out of my league, but I do feel rock-solid confident in my knowledge of timeless wisdom and my observation of cultural trends — so I asked some questions. I’m open to whatever answers come
“Uh, dude, I could be imagining it, but it seems like any time I talk about [blank], we end up getting distracted and changing the topic. The thing is, that doesn’t happen with everyone else, only you. So if there’s something that’s stopping you from sticking with my favorite topic for more than like, five seconds, let’s go our separate ways until you get that solved.”
Wow Jason, you’re a real quicksilver yourself when you wanna be. Oh wait, you prefer he term rockstar”. Sheesh.
Hmm… this feels like petulant sarcasm.
Which is weird, cuz Ryze doesn’t really attract petulant sarcasm… so maybe it’s something else? [hug]
My questions were appreciated by many (some even sent personal e-mails praising them!) and totally on topic.
“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” – CG Jung
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The amount of assumptions made around this topic is awesome
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Whooo!
Now I’ve got something to be doing in 3 minutes’ time, but I’m still gonna jump back in here quickly and take a stab at Question 1:
Yup, without a doubt it always benefits us to consider the rest of the world and not just ourselves or our own species. If I hadn’t spent a few years reading gender philosophy and learning about biology and psychology, I wouldn’t feel confident to even pull my thoughts together on some of these topics. The natural themes and principles of desire, claim, and satisfaction aren’t what I have a problem with in Twilight, though; it’s their expression.
Thing is, all great works of fiction use these themes (as does a lot of great non-fiction). And I love great fiction, I love vampires, but I don’t like Twilight. I feel like it’s coming from an empty place; not sure I can put better words around that right now. I don’t see any love in Twilight. I see desire, will and force but nothing that really speaks of love to me. Maybe my idea of love is *way* out of line with the norm, I don’t know.
This conversation so far is echoing the typical dilemma parents face, in that we want kids to grow up with a strong, confident sexuality but we’re afraid for them. We’re scared that they’ll get caught up in a wave of unmeasured and unconsidered desire that sweeps them away from self-preservation (or lead them to harm others). We don’t want them to mistake forceful alone for “so trustworthy and forceful as to guide us better “; we don’t want them to mistake subsuming themselves for “surrendering to raw desire”. We don’t want them to have any reason for big regrets about their sexual and romantic experiences.
Why are we scared of that? Doesn’t it sound cool, to be all swept away and rocking a romantic addiction? Sure it does, that’s why we’re scared. Parents worry about this, feminists worry about this, politicians worry about this.
There’s an age of consent for sex because people worried that teenagers could *feel* capable of giving consent but not *be* genuinely capable of considering the ramifications. That’s one of those interesting concepts that I dislike in principle but generally agree with in practice. And interestingly, in places where the age of consent is lower, it works absolutely fine provided that there’s education not only on sex but also on the emotional issues surrounding it.
We don’t want to mollycoddle anyone or treat people like they can’t make up their own minds, but… Hey! Some of you can’t make up your own fucking minds *sensibly* because you’re too impetuous, too emotionally unintelligent, too blinded by hormones! So in the end we don’t know what to do with ourselves. We wish this book didn’t trouble us, but we also wouldn’t want to censor it or start a book-burning club. Meyer isn’t forcing anyone to read her book, nor is she forcing anyone to imprint themselves with its dodgy concepts.
What we really need isn’t for Twilight to disappear or to have been written differently; what we need is open and honest *emotional education* for everyone.
We’re troubled that this massively popular book & movie franchise aimed at children sweeps away notions of self-preservation and self-ownership in relationships so completely. [Mini-argument on Question 3: Yes, Bella's a role model. All those people are. Anyone who inspires envy and mimicry is a role model, whether they meant to be or not.]
If we fear that young people will be swept away, we should give them an anchor. And a lifejacket. Maybe a surfboard for those times when they’ve thought it through and they’re totally ready for some sweeping. OK, I’ve overloaded myself with metaphors and now I can’t swim, so I’m going to shut up.
Education!
Love what you’ve added here, and I’m already thrilled I asked the question, with answers like this.
Thanks, Sophie.
I love how you nailed down that it’s a Fear Of Sweeping Desire that is really bothering everyone and inspiring most of the discussion.
So my next question is: “Is FEAR the place we want our discussions coming from?”
You already kind of answered it, by focusing on emotional education.
BTW: “Question 3: Yes, Bella’s a role model. All those people are. Anyone who inspires envy and mimicry is a role model, whether they meant to be or not.”
That’s one way to look at it, you sound pretty sure of yourself.
Question: Are role-models Self-Selected?
P.S. That took you 3 minutes to write? EPIC.
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SPOILER: I’m going to say “designed” a lot. I don’t mean that we’re designed by gods, I mean that evolutionary changes to our design have resulted in what we are now.
I believe we (human animals) are designed to fear. It’s a self-defense mechanism that often impairs us in various ways, from struggling with interpersonal relationships to squealing when you see a spider.
We’re afraid of the unfamiliar and the misunderstood. Death, strangers, pain, love, sweeping desire. Luckily, we’re also designed to learn.
Bella learns; Buffy learns; Sookie learns; they still keep going down their path. Does that mean they didn’t learn enough, or does it mean they learned enough to know exactly what path they wanted to take, knowing all the consequences?
Did they learn not to let fear keep them from their path?
When I talk about Bella et al with their vampire lovers, I’m speaking from a certain viewpoint and that’s a biased one because I’ve been in relationships that were similar in many non-supernatural respects. And I wouldn’t be me if I hadn’t taken that journey. I’ve been through enough bad to know what the good looks like and to point myself at it like a star in the night.
So, about the fear: we don’t know that Bella or any other girl who gets what she wants is weak or strong. We don’t know if they overcame fear to do what they did, or if they acted from a greater fear – the fear of losing the object of their desire.
P.S. “Role model” is so vague. A lot of people take it to mean a *good* role model, but it can also mean a bad or ambiguous one. Intent is important, but I don’t believe role models are self appointed. They’re more like… crowdsourced?
PPS Yep, 3 minutes. I type fast when I’m thinking direct to my keyboard!
Hhehe… I love it, Sophie. This is fantastic
I’m glad you dove into my questions so well.
If we don’t know / can’t tell whether someone’s decisions are coming from fear or not, that sounds like an evolutionary ‘design flaw’, wouldn’t you say? Certainly we can sense whether people are acting out of fear or not, at least we can tell for ourselves, no?
You can tell when you’re making decisions out of fear, or in spite of fear, right?
If role-models are crowd-sourced, where’s the line? How do we label one person a role-model or not? What’s a crowd? How big is a crowd? Why do *some* people see Marilyn Manson as a ‘role model’ and others remain generally unaffected by him, and self-directed?
“What we need is open and honest *emotional education* for everyone”
I believe the nail has been hit on the head there, Sophie. Learning how to manage and direct our feelings/emotions as early as possible sets up anyone (woman or man) for strong handle on themselves, and how their reality plays out. Great insight there.
BTW – I haven’t read any of the books or watched the movies but I’m vaguely aware of the popularity of the series (since it’s been plastered everywhere in recent years). Megan’s breakdown is definitely thorough – great job!
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Yeah, I agree, what Sophie said is one of my fave things to come out of the whole discussion
And I agree again, Megan’s breakdown is fantastic
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I crawled out from under my rock to read this late last night. I’ve never seen Twilight, and, as I’m only aware of it as a trailer for another show added to the trash which cyclops spews out daily, I didn’t feel qualified to comment. But Megan’s powerful and lively writing just wouldn’t let the subject leave me.
Now, I see many more comments this morning, some of which echo the thoughts which ran through my head during the night.
Basically, I can’t help wondering that the Victorian attitude towards Bella’s character are deliberate, as many vampire stories were founded and based around the Victorian/Gothic era. I sincerely hope so. It’s just too awful to think that the author could be so repressed that she believes the characters she has created are acceptable. It would be good for her to speak out and explain that while her story makes good entertainment, there is a need for healthy discussion to educate and show that this is not normal and acceptable behaviour. (Same goes for computer games too. It might be great fun to hone up your fighting, killing and world domination skills, but who’s explaining the true implications to the kids who get addicted to them. Sorry, I digress).
My final thought was this. Would Twilight still be as popular and acceptable if the roles were reversed and Bella was the powerful character. If she was the stalker and abused the repressed male characters as a means of superiority, would the show have the same impact or would this create a different taboo and alter the demographic of the audience too?
Carolyn! So glad you came out for this. Megan’s writing is lively, articulate, and powerful for sure. She ignited the most controversial and attention-gathering discussion on Ryze.
I agree with you, if Stephanie spoke out, it might be nice, and it got me thinking…
We don’t expect the painter to dance for us, we don’t expect the football player to invent something for us…
…so is it helpful to expect a fluff, entertainment writer like Stephanie Meyers to educate our youth?
From what I understand — Bella IS the powerful character, over everything in the entire book, she gets everything she wants, which is why Megan suggests people connect to it so much.
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Greetings Jason,
A quick question: I was a little surprised when I read one of your comments, and felt it did not cohere with the way this article was introduced by you.
Comment:
“Do we really want to write sweeping indictments of pop culture, that is clearly resonating with millions of people, with only the barest of intellectual foundations?”
Please justify or qualify your introduction where I am promised that in reading the post I will “learn a lot”, in view of your comment where you undermine the intellectual value of the same post . Thanks
Greetings, LA!
Absolutely adorable …
I’m positive you’re able to see the value in all this.
-The amount and depth of discussion on this post alone is massive.
-It’s new, it’s fresh.
-As for everyone in the discussion, it’s some of the longest, most thought-provoking I’ve seen.
I could go on, but I need nor want… to qualify nor justify myself to anyone.
As for undermining the value of the post…Yeah, you’re right… *thats* what I did.
I’ve gone and posted something I don’t value, and actually hate.
LOL
There is more compliments and praise from me on this post than anything else, if you pay attention.
You’ll notice I asked a question, it makes no statement and passes no judgment. It’s also taken out of context, because I was not referring to Megan’s article, but referring to a larger trend in society.
Thanks for contributing
P.S. This is also the first post that inspired you to comment, The LA Virgin, so I’d say that speaks volumes.
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It appears that one of my questions could use some clarification.
In a comment above I wrote:
“Do we really want to write sweeping indictments of pop culture, that is clearly resonating with millions of people, with only the barest of intellectual foundations?”
This question was taken to be a “big deal” by some people.
Now, barring the fact that questions are the back bone of life and “there are not stupid questions”, and barring the fact that I made sure to address my question – inspired by Megan’s fresh look at pop culture here – towards larger cultural trends I’ve noticed…
…let me go ahead and give you my personal answer on it.
The answer is YES.
YES, any discussion about pop culture on any level is contributing to the fabric of our society, and this is probably one of the best discussions I’ve seen, and I’m honored to host it.
Jason “J-Ryze” Fonceca is sharing: The 7 Types Of Haters (That Are Breathing Your Air!)
“WWBD”
What would the world look like if everyone asked themselves “What Would Buffy Do?” before making a decision?
Probably better…
There is so content here I’m just going to type the word EPIC and say Great Stuff and hope that you realize I sincerely mean both.
Also, and I hope I didn’t miss this in the post, but you did mention the relationship between Buffy and her Dad essentially giving Kids the OK to completely disobey everything their parent tells them if feel like it…
Thanks!!
Ryan H.
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LOL — well I love it, Ryan, sounds like you’re pretty passionate about Buffy.
You do know the post is mainly about Twilight though, right? (Though Buiffy is clearly related
)
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Wow Megan! Super interesting take on this. I absolutely think that characters in movies, books, etc influence people. I was never a huge fan of the Saga (Im not a young teen) but I definitely can see how the under the table, subconscious messages can not only make an impact on the people who actually did watch the movies but actually make them okay.
This is going to sound kind of funny but when I was a kid I was a huge fan of all the Sean Claude Van Dam movies. In fact, I would go around pretending to be him. I was the annoying kid that went around everywhere jumping and doing martial arts type kicks in the air. The subconscious messages there, at least in my perspective, were that it was okay to fight as long as it was for a cause or in self defense. I guess I never really connect the dots until I was a little older but as a kid those were the message I received and interpreted to be right.
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Hector, it’s super-interesting to me to hear everyone’s experiences. The story you told seems to relate to the “role model” issue we were discussing.
The thing is, even if Jean Claude was a role model for you for a while, it doesn’t mean he would be for everyone who encountered him.
So to me it sounds like role-models *are* self-selected, at least from this story.
At the same time, you made an awesome point about “influence”, which is not a ‘deciding factor’, but it’s just like a strong guideline, that we can roll with or rebel against, at anytime… does that make sense?
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Wow Megan – that was an in depth and intense analysis. Unfortunately the issues you brought up are EVERYHWERE! Movies, TV, Music. It really pisses me off how “society” thinks women and men should be. I’m sure glad my girls got tired of Twilight.
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Yeah, Megan really hit it outta the park, Steve, thanks for saying so
The issues may be everywhere, but it’s discussions like this, to me, that really bring light to the situation and let people see for themselves whats up
Congrats on your fam moving through the Twlight Zone
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Just came across the post now and thought I would comment. I am a fan of Twilight but prefer the books to the films. The films are pretty faithful to the book, although they leave out a couple of things, e.g. Alice’s origins. She was very powerless during her life. SPOILER coming up (for those who haven’t read the first book and want to:
Alice was psychic as a human and was put into an asylum. While she was in there she became the target of James (the original enemy from the first book/film ). But there was an old vampire who worked at the asylum and he freed Alice and made her into a vampire. Then James was no longer interested. So Alice didn’t get to choose her own fate but it worked out well for her in the long run.
This is a very interesting post. I have come across the theory before about Edward and Bella’s relationship being abusive and it is disturbing when viewed in that way. Edward is essentially stalking her, watching her while she sleeps and telling her what to do. And Jacob forces himself on her (when he kisses her without her permission) and then later emotionally blackmails her to get her to kiss him again.
Has anyone read the Dark series by Christine Feehan? (Maybe not so much the men, lol). They’re kind of like a very adult Twilight, lol. The men are Carpathians and they’re not actual vampires but turn into them eventually if they don’t find their “lifemate” (aka soulmate). The older they get, the more likely they are to “turn vampire”. Female Carpathians are rare, but they are now finding their lifemates in human women (with some form of psychic power). If they manage to find their lifemates, then they regain their emotions (which they lose more and more the older they get) and see in colour again. The men is these books are extremely possessive and suffocating. So while on one hand it’s romantic, like, “I’m going to look after you and protect you”, on the other hand they try to control their partner. The woman usually becomes a Carpathian, so completely gives up her old life to be with the man and also, since the race is dying out, they are expected to have babies. The women do stand up to the men though and some fight the vampires too, so they aren’t just submissive!
Back to Twilight- I think Bella starts off as a bit bland. The fact that in Arizona nobody really pays attention to her and then the minute she goes to Forks people are tripping over themselves to be near her seems a bit unbelievable but it’s a small town, lol. The impression the books give is that she didn’t really fit in anywhere as a human but then find her niche as a vampire. And I suppose at least she had a choice in the first place (before she was dying during labour), unlike Alice, or any of the others.
I do not think it’s good at all that she completely loses it over a man and loses herself. It’s a romantic idea, “I can’t live without you” but I don’t think in reality you want to be like that. The imprinting thing is disturbing because the werewolves and girls have no choice in the matter. What about free will? I never really thought about the racial implications of it, it’s an interesting theory. Most of the time, Native Americans seem to be stereotyped as the wise people who come in and tell the main (usually white) characters, “You’ve built your house on a burial ground and now you’ve unleashed an evil force”, or something like that. (No offence meant by that, it’s just what it seems to be like). I liked the fact that Native Americans were central to Twilight. I’d personally like to see more Native Americans in mainstream TV, books and films, not because of their race but just because they’re people like everyone else, who just happen to be a certain race. I will read that article about race and Twilight. I did notice that they changed the race of some people in the film, like Laurent wasn’t black in the book, or Tyler either, I don’t think? And maybe Eric wasn’t Asian and Angela not Latin/part Latin? (I apologise if I’ve got her heritage wrong). I think it was good to have a diversity of characters in the film. We need more diversity in the film industry. Since I am mixed race, I love it when they have a mixed race character and actually have them have one black parent and one white! (And other mixes too, I love that as well).
Thanks for the post and I’ve probably written more than enough now, so I’ll stop! lol.
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Sounds like you found a ton of value and interest here, Moonsparkle, I’m thrilled you commented!
From your mini-blog post here I learn a lot about Alice the psychic, about Christine Freehan + Carpahtians (sounds like something I’d be interested in checking out, I used to write erotica and had a job as a phone sex guy briefly.)
As for Twilight, I like how you spotted the “Bella finds her niche” aspect of it, and I also like how you agree with Megan that it’s “not good that Bella loses it over a man”.
Same with your comments re: werewolves and free will.
I’m mixed race and love diversity in the movies
Megan really sunk her teeth into the topic and opened up discussion, and you’ve just taken it further, love it
Keep ryzin’!
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Thanks for your reply. and your comments.
Yeah, I found it an interesting topic, it was a good idea for an article.
It’s a shame they didn’t include the Alice and James back story in the film but I suppose they couldn’t include everything. I like the Christine Feehan books, they are a bit repetitive at times but they’re entertaining and worth checking out. That’s cool that you used to write erotica. The phone sex job must have been an interesting experience as well! It’s good that we have more diversity in film and TV these days than we used to and would be even better to see more.
Thanks to Megan and you for the article.
Moonsparkle is sharing: Weekly Music Video
That’s what I said when Megan I asked if Megan wanted to write it!
Haha, yeah I have an extensive background in art, sex, and timeless wisdom – definitely interesting experiences
Your musical tastes seem pretty diverse, if I recall
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Your background and experiences make for an interesting site.
Yeah, I do like a variety of music- pop, R’n'B, rap, some foreign language music like Hindi (I like Bollywood), J-pop and K-pop and some dance and gothic metal as well! Also some other types like Arabic and Turkish. I’m not as keen on rock and indie but there will be the odd song I like.
Do you have a favourite genre of music or do you like lots?
Moonsparkle is sharing: Weekly Music Video
I love variety as well, but you definitely head for more of the world music than I have so far. I love it
I love mostly everything western – any genre – and if you want to check out some rock/indie you might enjoy… try the song Liztomania by Phoenix
It’s super fun 
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It’s cool that we have the internet, which it makes to so much easier to discover new music from around the world and buy it. A lot of the foreign music isn’t available in the UK, although K-pop is getting more popular since PSY, lol. A few months ago they had a Top 10 of Korean music videos on TV, which as far as I knew had never happened before!
Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll check out the song.
Moonsparkle is sharing: My Top 10 Films
*makes it so much easier!
Moonsparkle is sharing: My Top 10 Films