While I would not classify Twilight as great literature by any means, there is something to be
said for the outstanding success both the novels and films earned. With teenage
girls as the majority of the fan base (except for those Twilight obsessed
mothers which their almost isn’t enough scholarly research into the Oedipal
Complex to go into), it seems that the majority of the attraction of the novel
lies in the male lead, Edward Cullen. So why is a sparkling vampire so dang
attractive?
Well, if you look at the female lead she is self-conscious,
so clumsy she can barely walk, and is a bit of a nerd. She feels like an
outsider, and as she has pointed out several time throughout the first twelve
chapters, she has never truly have a niche in school. Then, she moves to Forks
and becomes the small town equivalent of a movie star. Everyone wants to be her
friend, and she is incredibly uncomfortable with all the attention. Couple that
with the fact that the only dude she actually is interested in is the gorgeous
bad boy, who completely ignores her, and you have the recipe for a teenage
girls fantasy.
So essentially, the teenage reader has been set up in a
position to read Bella as themselves. I mean who wasn’t awkward and felt like
an outsider at some point during high school? And its completely cliché and
also completely true that girls tend to go for the bad boy in hopes that he can
be fixed. Thus, of course Edward Cullen, the bad boy who never even talks to
people at school, falls for the clumsy little Bella and she for him, and
miraculously, Bella sees the good in him that he simply cannot see, and she
manages to bring it out in him. Bella has essentially fulfilled every teenage
girls’ fantasy. She has won and fixed the beautiful, bad boy.
I completely agree with you. I read Twilight when I was in the eighth grade and also connected with how clumsy and awkward Bella was. Looking back at that, I'm sort of ashamed of liking Twilight because there are so many other things that happen in the book that I didn't pick up on at first, like how stalker-like Edward is, and how ridiculous it is that his skin sparkles. Also, the logistics of being a vampire in human society, like how Edward's father is a doctor and can somehow suppress his thirst for human blood.
ReplyDeleteIs Edward a bad boy or ishe just a vampire? What makes him a bad boy besides that essential fact? He's a dream to all the teachers, an ideal student, rich, and he's ostracized from his peers but mainly of his own choice. He seems to be able to relate well to people no matter where he goes. When I think bad boy I think the delinquent characters, like John Bender, who are ostracized for their behavior and for their social status. Jacob seems like the bad boy character to me.
ReplyDeleteHaley,
DeleteWhen I think of the term “bad boy”, I also think of delinquent characters who are ostracized for their behavior and their social status, however, I think that Edward is still a “bad boy”, but in just a different sense. To me, Edward seems to fit the “bad boy” image because he is dark, mysterious, a murderer, and has a lot of emotional baggage, like Josie stated above. They also seem to have a very predator-prey sort of relationship that I think plays out in a lot of novels and movies that feature “bad boy” relationships. That being said, I also think that Jacob fits the image of a “bad boy” too like you stated. He is reckless, unpredictable, and he even drives a motorcycle, like stereotypical bad boy vehicle right? So, I think that there is more then just one bad boy in this novel and it think that also plays into why teenage girls like the novel so much. The idea that these two “bad boys” want you and are fighting for you, I think is probably something girls would love to see play out in their own lives.
On top of wanting to "fix" a bad boy, and also think that the novel also plays into the "dangerous" aspect of dating someone who you know is not good for you. Edward is definitely not the kind of guy your mother would want you dating.
DeleteIn addition, Twilight is a vampire romance novel that is accessible by an adolescent audience, but there is a huge wealth of novels with much more adult content that center around the same sort of predator-prey, dangerous vampire relationship you are talking about, Cylie. But what does this sort of trope tell us about our society? I'm not really sure, but I think it's an interesting question.
Josie, your post is almost identical to the thoughts that were going through my head as I read the first 12 chapters. I was contemplating why the novels were so popular and attractive to teenage girls, and I also concluded that much of the appeal lies in the fact that teenage girls can relate so well to Bella. What adolescent girl hasn't admired the handsome, popular boy from afar, hoping he would one day notice her and sweep her off her feet? Couple that with the fact that Edward was Bella's first love and it becomes nearly impossible for her to resist him, and in turn nearly impossible for teenage girls everywhere to avoid wishing for the same thing to happen to them.
ReplyDelete