Isn't It Romantic?

Ok, Twilight fans are seriously getting a little out of control. They are just a little too obsessive. And about a story about a stalker and a girl who doesn't realize she's in an abusive relationships.

Some of the reasons why I think Twilight fans are getting a little out of control:

1. You can now have your very own stalker - Robert Pattinson style. You can purchase an outline of Edward Cullen to paste onto your bedroom wall so he can watch you sleep, just like he watches Bella. Just what I always wanted - a shadowy figure hanging out in my bedroom while I sleep. Twilight fans see Edward's stalker tendancies as romantic, but they really aren't. There's nothing romantic about a stalker. Portraying stalking as romantic is just encouraging abusive relationships - Edward treats Bella like his possession istead of an autonomous human being. (h/t to o filthy grandeur!)
2. Edward Cullen Ken and Bella Barbie. Is there anything more to say? You can now buy Barbie's designed after your favorite Twilight characters. Now you can play with the dolls while you watch the movie and reenact your favorite stalker-y scenes.
3. Twilight fans can't take criticism. Jezebel has a post about how Twilight fans, unlike die-hard fans of Harry Potter, LotR, Star Wars, and Star Trek, can't take criticism of their beloved movie. Fans of other movies can take jokes about said movie - and even sometimes are the ones that make the joke. But Twilight fans cannot handle any ill-mouthed words. They are so connected with the characters of Twilight, that they cannot picture anything wrong with them. Never mind the fact that it portrays an abusive relationship (not only emotionally abusive, but sometimes physically as can be seen in the New Moon trailer) and a girl who is always in need of being saved. It's apparenlty the best piece of literature and the best movie ever made.

Even though I am weirdly fascinated by the phenomenon that is Twilight, the phenomenon has recently gotten too out of hand than I can handle. Recently at a block party, my twelve-year-old neighbor, whom I know very well, made a comment that caught me off guard. I knew she really liked the Twilight series - she's read the book, owns the movie, and is anxiously awaiting New Moon. When we were filling out name tags for the block party she randomly (and i mean this is completely out of the blue) says, "If we had to put one fact about ourselves on here, I would put 'I love Jacob,'" (for those of you who don't know, Jacob is the werewolf in Twilight that is in love with Bella).

People's lives are becoming consumed by Twilight. It's gone from a phenomenon to a lifestyle. And that's what scares me. Edward is seen as romantic instead of a possessive stalker, like he really is. But that's nothing really new. What's getting out of hand is the increase of marketing and profiting off of promoting Edward as romantic, especially with the wall decal pictured above. The wall decal of Edward also comes with the words "Be Safe." Maybe it's just me, but I don't exactly feel safe with a shadowy figure hanging out in my bedroom.

"Bloodsucking Is a Boys World"

What is America's obsession with vampires? I'll admit, I've fallen into this obsession. It all started with Buffy, which I only started watching earlier this year, and now I'm into True Blood as well. There's also Twilight, which I have a weird fascination with as I've talked about before. As much as I love these vampire shows (Buffy and True Blood, that is), why is America obsessed with them? And why am I obsessed with them? (My obsession might have something to do with my obsession with pop culture and TV shows in general, but maybe it's something more too since America seems obsessed with them as well.)

I loved Buffy because the character was a strong woman who saved the world on numerous occasions which is such a rare occurrence in media today. Even though Buffy had the help of many strong men, she was the one in charge and the one who ultimately would save the day. True Blood centers around a strong female character, Sookie Stackhouse, and her relationship with a vampire, Bill. While Sookie often needs rescuing, she can stand up for herself. My weird obsession with Twilight has more to do with my lack of understanding for the obsession with the phenomenon. Bella is not strong, cannot stand up for herself, and constantly needs to be saved by Edward. And Edward is basically a creepy stalker. I prefer Buffy and True Blood because of the strong female characters, where as Twilight is a feminist nightmare. But why does America like vampires?

In the New York Times article "A Trend With Teeth," Ruth La Ferla examines the appeal of vampires. She states,

The vampire’s attraction is “all about the titillation of imagining the monsters we could be if we just let ourselves go,” suggested Rick Owens, a fashion bellwether whose goth-tinged collections sometimes evoke the undead. “We’re all fascinated with corruption, the more glamorous the better” and, he added, with the idea of “devouring, consuming, possessing someone we desire.”

Dodai from Jezebel wrote a similar, yet feminist, article titled "Women Play Mostly Supporting Role Within Male-Dominated "Trend"". To explain America's fascination with vampires, she proposes,

But in a new interview with True Blood series creator Alan Ball, he says: "Vampires are sex. Vampires basically arose in our time as a metaphor for sex. I mean, vampires are sort of the ultimate Romantic rock star, bad boy or girl fantasy."

So, if vampires are all about sex, it's no surprise that America has an obsession with them. Especially with the 'abstinence porn' that is Twilight. This series is all about sexual control, in a very sexualized way.

But why do we always see male vampires? Buffy had Angel and Spike. Twilight has Edward. True Blood has Bill and Eric. One of the few exceptions is the newly made vampire Jessica in True Blood, who is a whiny teenager who is still learning to control her impulses. There is also Drusilla in Buffy who is very mentally disturbed.

Why is it always the men that embody sex, dominate women, and possess others? Why can't women be in these powerful roles? And why is it that when women are vampires, as in Jessica and Drusilla, they are in some way less than the male vampires, whether through age and experience or mental capability?

"Bloodsucking is a boys world," according to the Jezebel article. It then goes on to describe the online phenomenon that was the video of Buffy 'dusting' Edward.

Jonathan McIntosh, who created the clip, says: More than just a showdown between The Slayer and the Sparkly Vampire, it's also a humorous visualization of the metaphorical battle between two opposing visions of gender roles in the 21ist century […] In the end the only reasonable response was to have Buffy stake Edward – not because she didn't find him sexy, not because he was too sensitive or too eager to share his feelings – but simply because he was possessive, manipulative, and stalkery.

I guess that what we need to combat the male domination of the vampire world is digitally created video of two different shows mashed together.

I wonder if a show or movie centering around a female vampire will ever be as popular as Buffy, Twilight, or True Blood? Sure there are powerful female characters in two out of three of those, but they are not vampires. When will women be able to embody sex and sexuality like men as vampires?

Weird Fascinations Aren't Always Good Things

I have this weird fascination with the Twilight phenomenon. I have always been intrigued by things that cause mass followings. I was first exposed to the Twilight series while working at a summer camp where a good number of the teenage girls were wandering around campus all day clutching their copies of one of the four books. I didn't think too much of it then, but then the uprising around the movie started happening and I started paying attention. (I must note that I have not read the books, the writing was just too much for me, but I have seen the movie a couple times and read articles about Twilight when I see them).

I'm not going to go into the feminist implications of Twilight too much right now because there are several great articles out there about it (check out Bitch magazine or Ms. magazine). What I do want to talk about now is New Moon.

A little while ago the first trailer for the New Moon movie was released (see below). In the trailer, Edward leaves after an incident where his "brother" Jasper almost kills Bella. Bella is distraught. She lies on the floor of the forest for who knows how long. Showing that she apparently cannot live without Edward. After that, she allows the vampire Laurent to taunt her and call her "mouth watering" while she just stands there helpless.

From what I can tell from the trailer and the little that I know of the plot of the book, I can see that New Moon is not going to be any less anti-feminist than Twilight, not that I was expecting much. I just wish that people wouldn't idolize Edward and Bella so much. They have such a messed up relationship. Edward is creepy as hell and Bella is this meek, little excuse for a woman. Even just looking at the tag line for Twilight: "and so the lion fell in love with the lamb." Bella (the lamb) is portrayed as this helpless animal that has no agency of her own. She's not even falling in love. Edward (the lion) is falling in love with her.

I won't even pretend to say that I won't go see New Moon. I really do have this weird fascination with this phenomenon. I honestly don't see why people are sooooo obsessed with it.

Buffy Kicks Edward's Ass

Many of you who know me know that I LOVE Buffy and that I have a weird fascination with the Twilight series (for many reasons, some feminist, some just pure curiosity in pop culture). I found this video that is a great mash up of both Buffy and Edward Cullen from Twilight. It shows the creepiness (i.e. sexist and controlling) of Edward in a more obvious way than in the actual Twilight movie. Now, I can tell the creepiness of Edward in the movie, but it is way more obvious when Buffy stands up to him.

The video is not great quality because it is just clips from Buffy episodes and Twilight (and some from Harry Potter), but it is really entertaining. Thank you to the blog The American Virgin to introducing me to the video.