My concerns about the new "Twilight" movie began when my girlfriend, after watching the "New Moon" trailer with me, whispered into my ear: "We have to see this!" I inquired with my female friends, who had seen the movie already, whether it was worth 10 bucks and a 45-minute-long T-ride to Boston Commons. I received enthusiastic responses ranging from a rather harmless, "Oh, my God, yes … you need to see it! It's so cute!" to a more R-rated, "Oh, my God, yes ... yes … yes … YES ... YEEESSSSS!!!" Since I am interested in keeping my girlfriend happy, I grudgingly bought two tickets and apprehensively submersed myself in the most anticipated vampire saga of the millennium.
"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" was an interesting experience to say the least. I am a guy, so I will skip my tirade about how corny and cheesy I felt it was. However, the underlying messages of this hugely popular film struck me as cause for feminists to rip out their hair. Given that Stephanie Meyer, author of the "Twilight" book series, is a Mormon, it is hardly surprising that the movie would contain conservative ideas about love, relationships, sexuality and gender roles.
Bella Swan, a human, and Edward Cullen, a vampire hottie, are passionately in love. However, Edward's natural drive to kill humans in order to drink their blood poses a central problem for this interspecies romance. Fearing that he may lose control of his desire, Edward has to limit intimate contact with Bella — this means only minimal kissing, a lot of staring into each other's eyes and, of course, no sex. Edward's continual fight against his animalistic instinct highly sexualizes their relationship without actually engaging in sex. "New Moon" therefore offers the viewer abstinence as an alternative to sex, without sacrificing the rush of emotions that are generally associated with the sexual act itself.
The Tufts Observer carried an interesting article on Dec. 9, 2009, entitled "Suck My Love: Vampires for Virginity." The author, Cara Paley, suggests that the "no sex" message of the book and movie has young American girls wanting to abstain. I find that plausible and would applaud it if, in fact, teenage pregnancies in the United States drop after the release of "New Moon." However, bearing in mind the rather unsuccessful abstinence-only sex education philosophy (popular under former President George Bush), I find celibate vampires unlikely to curb America's unplanned pregnancies.
Most striking, however, is Bella's consistently passive role. Her character is constantly led, protected and surveyed by two men, Jacob and Edward. When Edward leaves her, she is tormented for months by the heartbreak; she cannot attend school, abandons her friends, hardly leaves the house and has nightmares that wake her, screaming in despair. Her happiness is entirely dependent on Edward and the movie seems to suggest that women are incomplete beings without a man by their side.
Furthermore, Bella is particularly naive at the point of the break-up. Edward manages to convince her without much effort that he is leaving her because he does not love her anymore, even though he actually feels the whole vampire-human thing isn't working out. When Edward leaves, Jacob steps in to protect her, something the movie suggests she cannot do by herself. It isn't unheard of for romantic stories and real-life relationships to be structured in such a way that women receive protection while men play the protectors. Yet this distinct role-play is hardly the standard for modern heterosexual relationships. According to the article "Women and Work: We did it! The rich world's quiet revolution: women are gradually taking over the workplace" that ran on the front page of the Dec. 30, 2009 issue of The Economist, women are (and should be) equals to men in the workforce and are already surpassing them at American universities. In a matter of months, The Economist reports, women will be making up the majority of the working population in the United States. "Twilight: New Moon" does not reflect this gender zeitgeist.
Another particularly troubling relationship is the one between the werewolf leader Sam and his fiancée, Emily. We learn that her face was severely scarred when Sam hit her in a burst of uncontrollable anger during his transformation into a werewolf. Throughout the film, the pack transforms when heated or angry. Therefore, the transformation into a werewolf becomes a metaphor for uncontrollable (and excusable?) behavior. This all sounds shockingly similar to the description of emotionally and physically abusive relationships on the pamphlets you can pick up at Tufts Mental Health Service. Emily's continued love for Sam, despite the fact that he hit and mutilated her, endorses the idea that it is okay for women to accept physical abuse.
Interestingly, the conservative role of Bella in "Twilight" has been compared to Hermione, the female witch from the even more popular "Harry Potter" series. The wizarding world has been hailed as a progressive counterpart to the traditional vampire novels. In contrast to Bella's image, Hermione is a studious, intelligent and self-confident teenage girl who falls in love with Ronald Weasley. Nevertheless, she does so without skipping class, losing motivation or her independence. To me, Hermione seems more like a twenty-first-century women than Bella.
In the end, I am glad that I took my girlfriend to see this movie. In fact, I would also take my 14-year-old sister to see it just to show her the kind of woman not to be. However, I ask myself if such a blockbuster film like "Twilight" is the kind of romantic script we want our young girls to follow. Already being bombarded by TV shows such as "The Bachelor," "MTV Spring Break 2010" or "Jersey Shore," this movie only adds to the inundating volume of media that presents a severely distorted view of romantic relationships to impressionable teenagers. I believe that our society would be significantly happier with more Hermiones than Bellas running around. Script writers and novelists should consider this as they flick their pens and put their ideas to paper.
