The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer has become one of the most known pop-culture references of our time. The story of "true love" between a girl and her vampire boyfriend is one that girls and women of all ages aspire to have someday. Edward Cullen's primal instinct to protect Bella at any cost, to keep her from harm's way, is supposed to be beautiful. Stephenie Meyer even references Romeo and Juliet in her novels, suggesting that Edward and Bella have a love just as strong and as pure. I disagree.
I have to admit that I was a fan of Twilight for a short period of time. For months I refused to read the books because people had said that they were the next Harry Potter. I did not want to support anything that was trying to replace the great Harry Potter. I just couldn't! But once I finally gave in and read the books, I couldn't put them down. They were intriguing and exciting. I was hooked. When I enjoy books as much as I enjoyed Twilight, I tend to reread them. I want to make sure I didn't miss anything; I want to know everything about them. But as I reread this particular series, the books lost their luster. I realized that the writing was not by a real author, but by someone who was no more talented than I am (and I have told you, I am not an author). The story doesn't always hold up, there are typos, and the characters have very little depth. But the most disappointing part of the series is that these books are setting a bad example for girls everywhere.
Bella is the root of the problem here. She is too weak to stand on her own two feet. The relationships that I have seen work the best are those with two separate people who know who they are as individuals and what they want in life and work together to achieve those goals. If you aren't enough by yourself, being in a relationship is even more difficult. After seeing my parents get divorced, and my mother remarried, I believe this even more. I pity Bella because she is not a strong enough person to be alone; when Edward leaves her, she barely survives; when Jacob attempts to leave, she threatens to go back into her intense depression. Every relationship ends someday, whether through a break-up or death, and people survive and persevere. But Bella refuses to do that, and I cannot respect someone who won't even attempt to move on. The only reason that Bella finally visits with Jacob after being dumped by Edward is because her father threatens to send her away, and she could not bare to be far away, in case Edward came back.
Stephanie Meyer believes that she is portraying true and everlasting love. Two people who would give their lives for each other, even though they are only 17. Wait, what? I understand that Romeo and Juliet were very young when they died together, but we live in a different time. And I understand that Edward is actually 117, but Bella isn't. She vows to spend the rest of her life with Edward almost instantly after getting to know him and before she can even legally vote. I know that there are exceptions to every rule: that some people really do marry out of high school and spend their lives together. But remember, Edward and Bella are planning on spending eternity together, and that's a bit longer than most people's lives.
My main problem with this love affair is the way that Edward and Bella treat each other. Edward is in charge. When he doesn't like what Bella's doing, he makes other arrangements so that she can't do them. He tries to choose her friends and even stalks her. She has no life or friends outside of their relationship and doesn't want them. All Bella wants is to be with Edward. She finally decides that she likes Jacob alright and will hang out with him some, but only when it's okay with Edward. This is sick! Little girls all over the world are seeing this and saying "I want to marry a man like Edward." Someone who attempts to commit suicide because he heard you died and he was so distraught that he didn't bother checking the facts? Someone who follows you around, watches you sleep, has to know where you are at all times, and won't let you be with your friends? This is why there are now commercials for teenagers about the difference between caring and controlling. Children listen to these "romantic" stories and hope that they can live them out. I hear them and I'm creeped out. Meyer's version of love is one that belittles women and gives dominance to the man. I don't know if this has anything to do with her Mormon background (though my grandmother and my ex-Mormon grandpa would say it does), but I do hope that Stephenie Meyer never finds a relationship like the one she's portrayed. I hope that this woman finds a man who lets her have her say in the relationship; someone who treats her like an equal, as opposed to a frail, helpless, being; someone who allows her to have her own friends and her own life outside of the relationship. And, most importantly, I hope that Stephenie Meyer never finds a man who wants to drink her blood!
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