So where were we?
Oh right, I saw Twilight. I’ll be seeing it again, I’m sure. It was quite the affair. I felt so out of place without a hand made or hot topic purchased shirt. (“True Love is Forever,” “Do I dazzle you?,” “I’d rather die than live without you.”) The theatre was packed an hour before the movie started. I mean PACKED to capacity. After finagling our way back about four rows from the screen we settled in for two and a half hour of steamy vampire bliss.
Steamy, it was. Bliss, it wasn’t.
It was Edward. I needed him to be more suave. I needed his Americanized accent to not sound so forced. I needed him to stop looking so deranged in so many of the scenes. Except that one where he and Bella get out of the car and he is wearing gorgeous black wayfarer glasses. Totally swoon-worthy. (That’s right, I just said swoon-worthy.)
In general the movie felt forced. I wanted more the whole time. I realized, later, that since I’ve read all four books I’ve become emotionally attached to the rest of the characters, notably Alice and Jacob. Unfortch, the first book is really just the Bella and Edward show, which is great and all, but doesn’t quite cut it for me. The whole time I just wanted more Alice! (Altho, the baseball scene was totes awesome.
Should you see it? Well, yeah. Should you read the books? DUH.
This theme of eternal monogamy gets a lot of airtime with my friends and I. A good handful of us, including myself, are poly and the thought of forced monogamy for an infinite amount of time is enough to turn me off from romance all together! Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to judge people who are capable of being with one person for an extended period of time. People that make monogamy work are strong and committed. Just because it’s the norm doesn’t mean it’s easy. Healthy monogamy has got to be one of the most challenging relationship structures out there, and I respect anyone who practices it conscientiously. That said, it’s not for me. I have my reasons why, but that’s another post all together. I just can’t help but feeling unsettled about everyone in the story having “another half.” It reinforces the idea that we need to find someone, fall in love, marry them, have babies, and grow old together. It also reinforces the notion that we need someone else to make us “whole,” or satisfied. For Bella, she needs Edward to give her happiness. This may sound crazy, but that’s not everyone’s idea of a good time. Its also unrealistic, regardless of how one feels about it. Like this series needed to set up more unrealistic expectations.
Lastly, it is so interesting to me that the Quileute tribe was chosen to be the werewolves. As I said in the last post, The Quileute tribe actually live in La Push WA and maintain a reservation. . Am I the only one wondering if Stephenie Meyer spoke to anyone, at all, about the usage of them in her book? Do you think that she told them that she would be creating new mythology for them and using it as a justification to give them animalistic qualities? Isn’t it upsetting that she created an identity for a group of people who already had one? Indigenous voices have been silenced enough without a major novel and movie series re-writing and commodifying their histories.
By this point, you might be asking yourself, “If she has so many issues with it, why does she love it so much?” (Trust me, you wouldn’t be the first to ask.) I’m not entirely sure. I do know that keeping a keen and critical eye to pop culture is one of the ways that I enact my activism. Someone needs to speak out about all the myriad issues that play out through our mainstream media. Its important for us all, and for our future selves, to be constantly aware of the messages being piped into our lives. Never stop challenging the things you see on tv, hear on the radio, or the things you read in 1200 pages of trashy young adult vampire glory. Love it, live it, and never stop asking questions.
xx
xx
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Also, I heard that Stephanie Meyers came up with the shape-shifting-wolves thing in a dream! Wonder what that conversation with tribe was like. Maybe it was a letter that went like this:
Dear Quillete tribe,
Last night I dreamt up a new history and mythology for your tribe. Hope you don't mind me using it in my new best-sellers. You're indigenous land is just so rainy, I couldn't exist. Afterall, my vampires can't stay in doors *all* of the time.
Love,
Stephanie Meyers