Posted by
Andrews on Saturday, October 31, 2009 10:34:16 AM
I am going way off topic here, but I was just thinking about the Twilight series, and was struck by two things.
First, it struck me how miserable the protagonist vampire must be. Stuck forever looking like a teenager must be horrible. After all, it isn't as if his mind stops aging just because his body does. Though I am sure the book writes him as a perpetual teen, were such a creature to exist in reality, doubtless he would mature out of teenage thoughts, become more sophisticated, yet, despite that, for purposes of disguise, he would still be forced to stay among teens. Those of you in your thirties or older just think about being sentenced to spend the rest of your life with nothing but teenage pursuits, then imagine it stretching on forever, and you can imagine what the REAL horror of Twilight is.
Second, on the same note, it struck me how implausible the romance is. As I said, his mind keeps aging, so, though physically a teen, he is maturing mentally. If at my age of near forty I recoil in horror when viewing Facebook, how much worse for a being far older? It just seems implausible that he would suddenly find common ground with the poorly formed, immature thoughts of a teenage girl.
Now some will point to those men who end up dating younger women, those who go through midlife crises and such, but I would argue they are not "in love", there is no meeting of minds, souls, whatever; largely they are in it for the physical attributes of the younger partner. And were the vampire simply preying upon younger women, that I could believe. But for the books to postulate some earth shattering romance between a being nearly a century old and a girl in her teens, it just seems bizarre.
Of course it is a teen drama written for teens, so the idea that teen girl could attract a romantic older man obviously plays into some fantasy that teen girls have, specifically the desire to appear older and more sophisticated. So I am sure it is a very savvy marketing decision. On the other hand, as it prepares young girls to fall victim to the patter of molesters, it also troubles me a bit. The "you seem so much older" line worked well enough before Edward Cullen, no need to make it more effective.
POSTSCRIPT
I am hardly the only one to comment on this. The exploiter view of Twilight has been mentioned in several articles I have seen. Though I must say no one that I have read has commented on how horrifying Mr. Cullen's life must be, or how improbable the romance is given his age. I think, if we are honest, either we must postulate he is emotionally stunted to an absurd degree to fall in love with a teen, or else he is the ultimate child molester figure. One or the other. Neither of which is particularly romantic or charming.
And having delved into the most successful of the Anne Rice successor novels (not that Ms. Rice was anything to write home about either, but I'll save that for another day), I will return to matters political, economic, religious and cultural... Oh, wait! I write about cultural phenomena! So this isn't off topic! Hurrah! Well, then I'll just carry on.
POSTSCRIPT II
Before readers get the impression my knowledge of trivia such as Mr. Cullen's age reveals a secret Twilight obsession, the truth is I am relying on the internet for the specifics. I have to confess to having received all my knowledge second hand. So, if I missed some secret of the novels or movies which answers any of my complaints, that is the reason why. Though I must assume if I did get something wrong a shrieking horde of enraged prepubescent harpies will set me straight. (Or, more frightening, a horde of frustrated housewives...)
UPDATE
As many know, I am a frustrated fiction writer. The reason I mention this was that I once considered writing a vampire novel mocking the vampire-romance trend. I was going to have a protagonist who explained his lack of interest in humans, romantic or otherwise, by explaining they were food, and he had as little interest in copulating with them as a human would having intercourse with a pig or cow. He would explain that if a cow suddenly turned human it would no longer associate with cows, and likewise a vampire no longer wants interaction with humans.
And, reading reviews of Twilight my one wish was that some vampire would step forward and shout "Edward Cullen, stop playing with your food!"