What Is It About Edward?

I started writing this late last week while pondering what it is about Edward that has folks so addicted to the Twilight series, and so willing to overlook or excuse what critics find to be some creeptastic behavior on his part. Since then, the first 12 chapters of Midnight Sun have been leaked, much to author Stephenie Meyer’s dismay, and she’s halted progress on the project indefinitely. Whether the leak was a publicity stunt or whether someone she gave the chapters to was too tempted not to share them, there remains a LOT of interest in Sir Edward of Sparklyville, and I’ve been spending way too much time comparing him to Alpha Heroes from Days Of Yore to determine what it is about him that’s so transfixing, so addictive, so amazing that people are literally going bananas over the idea that they won’t get the rest of his perspective from Midnight Sun. And of course, I’m reading Midnight Sun and wondering how much time I can spend in this guy’s head before I go bananas. I warn you: this entry is holy shit long. Don’t say you weren’t warned.


While there seems to be some divide between the folks who love them some Jacob, I remain fascinated with the people who are over the moon about Edward, particularly as he’s portrayed in Twilight.

The more I think about it, and look back on Edward’s appearances and interactions with Bella in Twilight, the more he reminds me of the same old-same old Alpha romance hero —specifically, the old-school Alpha hero recast in glittery YA paleness. The same Alpha hero characteristics that so many readers find either tiresome or downright terrific are present in Edward, and serve to make him addictive and alluring.

Many people have noted how conservative and conventional Twilight is as a romance. They are not wrong, in my opinion. Joanne Renaud was the first to give me the heads up on her opinion that Edward was old-skool all the way down to the punishing kisses. I agree: Bella and Edward’s romance echoes the old skool romances of the beginnings of the romance genre: stories told deep within the point of view of the heroine, wherein the hero is a mysterious figure whose desires and intentions are not known, let alone his feelings. The old skool romance hallmarks are all there, most notably, as Candy pointed out to me after her glut of the old skool romances earlier this year, the idea that the hero’s worldview must be adopted by the heroine in order for her to secure her happy ending, complete with increased social status, wealth, and possible title.

Twilight fits that mold. Bella must become complicit in the secrecy of Edward’s world, and in fact she’s the one who presses to adopt his worldview – by becoming a vampire herself. Within Edward’s family, Bella is special merely because she is Edward’s choice and is absorbed into his family simply on that basis, leaving her father’s home for his, literally and figuratively, following the traditional pattern that takes a virginal woman from her father’s possession and guardianship to her husband’s, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

What set me on the Edward-as-Alpha road to much pondering were the interactions in Twilight after Edward has decided to cease ignoring Bella. Every time he shows up after he’s decided to talk to Bella, he rescues her, and immediately following sweeps in and manages every detail of her life. Moreover, that first occasion of rescue is telling; it comes at a moment of great vulnerability for Bella.

She’s alone at home on a snowy day, convinced she’s going to fall down on the icy sidewalks or wreck her truck on the roads. But she realizes after she gets to school that her father had put chains on her tires early in the morning, before he left and before she woke up, purely to keep her safe. As Belly realizes that her father was quietly watching out for her, an experience she has little familiarity with, in swoops Edward-  literally – to save her by bending flying vans to his will. It’s a subtle moment of underscoring: Bella literally travels from her father’s care to Edward’s care in that moment. From then on, Edward saves her over and over again, sweeping in and managing every detail for her.  Her father’s role is merely as a figure in the household, and readers of Midnight Sun know that Edward was as much a figure in that household as Charlie, whether Charlie or Bella knew it or not. Consider the sequence of Edward and Bella’s interactions:

She gets nearly crushed by a van. He saves her life.

She faints in science class. He carries her to the nurse, then gets her excused from classes so he can bring her home.

She is followed by creepy guys in a coastal town. He shows up after reading the thoughts of the villains and rescues her at the last moment before they act on their intentions.

Edward’s Alpha Heroism is solidified by the degree to which he micromanages Bella after those three rescues. He knows whats best. But he takes it one step further by becoming an overseer in her life. Because he doesn’t sleep, he can literally stay with her all the freaking time, aside from when he’s not hunting, and even then he worries about her safety. He makes sure she eats; he watches her as she sleeps.  He pretty much rebuilds his entire day around being with her. He meets her after class, he follows her home, and her day in the Twilight narration becomes measured by when she’s with Edward vs. when she’s not.  He pays a great deal of lip service to the idea of keeping her safe but it’s more a taming of the Alpha Hero, on speed with added crack and angst, because not only does Edward hover over her and pretty much glue himself to her side, but she wants nothing more than to be with him. Every. Minute. All. Day. He drinks blood to survive; she drinks the experience of being with him to avoid depresson.

He tames his desire to kill her and eat her, but he still consumes her, which is the point that made me the most uncomfortable, but may also serve as a primary reference as to why Edward is so alluring a character. While Edward and Bella don’t knock boots in Twilight, Edward manages to insert himself figuratively into her life and become the center of every moment of Bella’s life – and she’s all for it. More than one person commented to me privately after reading my review that the manner in which Bella subsumes her identity and becomes absorbed by Edward almost symbiotically made them as readers profoundly uncomfortable, because it echoed abusive relationships they witnessed or experienced. It wasn’t romantic for them, that totalitarian management – it was creepy.

Plus there’s the fact that Edward doesn’t really do anything else with his endless days.  The only one who does anything with that whole vampiric sleeplessness is Carlisle. He doesn’t need sleep? He’s a butt-trillion years old with light years of medical experience? Holy shit, he’s the best ER doctor ever. Imagine what patient lessons he could relate (thanks to Taylor for the link).

But Edward doesn’t DO anything aside from attend school in presence only, play baseball, and drive cars rather quickly. He plays music but he’s already excellent – a virtuoso, in fact. Bella, for all intents and purposes, becomes his hobby. Being near her, whether she knows it or not, is what he does. But because he has more of a life and routine than she does, she is absorbed into his world, partly because she has no real life in Forks herself, and partly because the secrecy of their society demands it.

The biggest characteristic of an Old Skool Alpha Hero is The Rape of the Heroine, which doesn’t literally occur in Twilight, though one could argue that James’ biting Bella could be interpreted as rape, and Edward’s refusal to change her into a vampire as the refusal to do so. Edward does invade Bella’s privacy and home without her permission in order to watch her, and if his commentary is to be believed, to try to resist killing her. That leashed intention to kill, I think, can be interpreted the same as the leashed intent to rape. But in a strange turn, Bella begs for that violation: she wants to be the same as Edward, and she wants him to kill her and change her.

Regardless of who asks for what form whom, Edward’s possession and possessive attitude are alarmingly Alpha. When anyone—his brothers, random serial rapists hiding in small towns, or another vampire—threatens the human he considers his own, Edward goes berserk. His possession of Bella, even in his mind, is complete and total, and her willingness to follow that possession, since he knows what’s best for her, casts her in a sheepish model that I never recovered from as I read Twilight.

Reading Midnight Sun’s first 12 chapters (while I try to intersperse reading The Jewel of Medina at the same time, speaking of going berserk) hasn’t helped much. Edward’s self-loathing is evident, but the “I’m not good enough for her but she’s MINE MINE MINE EDWARD SMASH” attitude reinforces my suspicions: that Edward is an old-skool Alpha male hero in the classic model, dipped in sparkles and dispensed to a younger audience. Perhaps that explains his allure – there are many, many readers who adore the Alpha model in their romance hero, and Edward is no different.

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Random Musings

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  1. handyhunter says:

    Interesting comparison re Anne Stuart’s Ice series. I tried reading one of them to see what the fuss was about; I managed to finish the book, but pretty much hated the characters, didn’t care for the writing and don’t feel inclined to read another Stuart book.

    so the devoted fans who made it possible for her to continue to publish can have closure.

    The book in question is Twilight from Edward’s POV (and being in his head does not make me more sympathetic to him and his angst in the slightest; it has quite the opposite effect…), so it’s not like readers don’t know what ultimately happens; Midnight Sun just provides more stalker thoughts and lulz.

    [Heh. My spamfilter word is woman19.]

  2. Ali says:

    I agree with a lot of the points that everyone has made, but I do object to one thing, and that is calling Edward an Asshole Alpha.

    First of all, Edward is barely present at all in the second book and by the third book hardly complains at all when Bella does stuff that he dislikes or disapproves of.  Edward is very definitely an Alpha, and his behavior does border on stalkerish to the point of making me uncomfortable, but he never manipulates Bella (at least not in a way that is any different from how parents manipulate their children, which says a whole lot about their relationship right there), nor does he ever object on the rare occasions that she does stand up to him.  In fact he actually wants her to be able to do stuff independently of him.  He frequently comment in a rather tired manner about how she would probably have killed herself through sheer clumsiness if he or others weren’t around to save her from herself.

    Compare this, on the other hand, with Jacob, who on several occasions actually assaults Bella.  He kisses her, against her will and while she struggles, on two occasions, a few times when he is mad at her he handles her so roughly that he actually leaves bruises on her arms, and, when he wants something from Bella that she doesn’t want to give him, he threatens to kill himself if she doesn’t do what he wants.  Now that is an example of very disturbing manipulation.

    I thought for a while that Meyer was using Jacob to demonstrate
    to her teenage readers what exactly what to avoid when it comes to boys, until I read an interview she gave a couple of months ago (or maybe it was on her website, I can’t remember) in which, to paraphrase, Jacob is a wonderful human being who is simply misunderstood, and to not judge someone based on their actions without walking a mile in their shoes.  She lost me right there.  Edward may be stalkerish creepy, and Bella may be an idiot doormat, but Jacob is abusive and an Asshole Alpha that she thinks is wonderful.  Ick. 

    As an editorial opinion, Stephenie Meyer really needs to develop a thicker skin if she plans on continuing to publish her work for public consumption.  Almost immediately after the release of Breaking Dawn, the negative reviews started rolling in, deservedly in my opinion.  Her reaction to the negative reviews was to say in an interview (again, paraphrasing) that anyone who disliked the book just wasn’t smart enough to “get it”.

    -Ali

  3. handyhunter says:

    by the third book hardly complains at all when Bella does stuff that he dislikes or disapproves of.

    No, he just dismantles her truck so she can’t get away from him. But it’s okay, because he loves her.

    I think poor Jacob got Edwardified in Eclipse.

  4. Mac says:

    Most of the women couldn’t balance a checkbook, didn’t know what bills the family had and when they were due, how much money their husbands made, how much money was in their checking accounts, etc. (one guy had even managed to convince his wife that he had to pay the Army for drill weekend, instead of the other way around as unbelievable as that sounds!)

    This is terrifying.

    I really agree with Alyssa Day about the appeal this has for YA readers.  But also, many people are losing the reality that this is Fantasy Fiction.  If you want your kids to learn what a real relationship is all about, get them to read nonfiction or go out and make friends.  Fantasy Fiction should not take the place of real life experiences.

    What you read, especially as a young person, influences what you think, in addition to your peers, parents, other experiences, other things you CAN’T experience.  I remember rereading “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn”—which was my favorite book when I was around nine—a couple years back, and realizing that it influenced my turns of phrase, the way I think about New York City, the way I look at men (which is better, shiftless but hot?  Or boring but totally reliable?),  the way I WALK DOWN STAIRS.  Which I never knew, until I reread this book as a grown up woman. All the sex stuff went right over my head, though, even though I was completely informed of the mechanics by that time. But I knew that I’d totally hang out with and adore an Aunt Sissy, though I would never BE her, and for nearly thirty years now I’ve been going down stairs in a particular type of tippy toe, just like Johnny Nolan.

    Fiction develops the way a person employs empathy, the way they interpret situations and people they might not have encountered before.  Fiction, more than any other medium, has the unique power of nudging, enticing, and seducing us into understanding of and sympathy with people/eras/cultures/races we might not necessarily relate to. It tells us the reasons WHY, explains behavior to us in ways that far drier nonfiction can never accomplish. Studies have been done that show that people who read fiction are more empathic and demonstrate a better understanding of other people’s motives and feelings, and of the possible variety in that, than nonreaders, who have only their own minds and motivations to go by, do. 

    So this exoneration of “fiction” books as having no responsibility really disturbs me.

    Children play pretend to practice and get a handle on scary and unfamiliar real life emotions and situations.  You let a four year old pretend to give Mommy a shot, and going to the doctor the next day is that much easier (and with thirty perecent less hollering!  We hope). Reading fiction is more complex, but not so very far off from that.

    That said, my parents never censored my reading—but they did talk to me about what makes a good, quality book. Snobby old parents. Aw. How I love them.  😀

    So if someone can read these books and go “Well, that was lighthearted junk-food fun,” that’s one thing.  Comign from it going “Sigh!  I want an Edward! Let me go and start a website, dress in black, and pine for that guy who’s mean to me but hot” is another.

    Maybe the relationship isn’t healthy, but no one’s saying it should be.

    Yes, some people are.  Hence the problem.

    Er. not that there’s anything wrong with dressing in black.  I love black.  It’s slimming? 😀

    What I find most interesting about the comparison is that Angel does go bad (after a night of mindblowing sex, actually), and his stalker tendencies do turn from “aww, creepy cute” to “um, you just left roses on my doorstep with a note threatening to kill me soon.” And Angel is eventually redeemed.

    He’s redeemed AND changed, and goes through guilt, and has to atone! (And has to learn to not take the easy way out and burn himiself up in sunlight.)

    (Haven’t read any of these books, by the way.  Tried a couple of times, in the store, because DAMN if they are not some of the most gorgeous covers I have ever seen!  But was not sufficiently hooked enough to get past chapter 1 of “Twilight.” Plus I’m always suspicious of marketing “phenomena” like this.)

  5. mac says:

    The thing is, this fictional character’s obsessive behavior is done out of “love.” The narrative voice supports this, nothing is put forth to question or contradict it, and nothing about it ie ever condemned.  It’s all okay because “love!”

    The question then becomes, what about the real-life guy exhibiting the same, recognizaable behavior that is absolutely not motivated by love?  When some young kid has learned to read that as the code for healthy affection when it’s actually code for run fast run far?

    That said, I’m not sure I’d actually take the book AWAY from a teenager.  My reading was never censored. But I don’t have any teens.

  6. Lynn M says:

    Also, I don’t know if you’re familiar with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Twilight has also drawn a lot of comparisons to the Buffy/Angel relationship (human vampire slayer falls in love with vampire). Many people like to point to that Angel lurks outside Buffy’s window and no one is calling him a creepy stalker.

    Thing is, Buffy could, at any given moment, kick Angel’s ass. Or at least put up a very good fight and inflict some serious damage. The power balance between Angel and Buffy was fairly equal, so there was rarely the fear that Buffy could be in any way victimized, and I think that is key.

    I’m one who loved Twilight and didn’t really get too squicked out by Edward’s stalking. I rather wondered that standing in someone’s bedroom and staring at them all night long would be monumentally boring. Too, I didn’t read too deeply into the many times Edward saved Bella because what else was he supposed to do? Let the van crush her? Let those creepy guys attack her? Any of my issues with these scenarios grew more out of Bella’s TSTL behaviour (walking all alone at night down a dark ally? WTF?).

    I can understand Edward’s appeal as a YA hero because what a great fantasy – the hottest, coolest guy in school falling for the plain Jane. The fact that he fell so completely in love with her despite the gap in their “coolness” factor makes him all the more appealing. Not that I’d want my daughter to date him, mind you…

    Now that others have brought it up, I can admit that I was really distracted by the prospect of a group of “teenage” vampires going to high school over and over again. How in the world could you even begin to fake being interested in that? And why would you want to? I didn’t quite understand that life choice. Actually, being a vampire in the Twilight world sounds kind of boring. Go to class for the gazillionth time, watch a girl sleeping all night long, rinse, lather, repeat.

    I truly don’t mind an Alpha hero as long as he’s not of the asshat variety. I do love me a taming of the beast tale, which is why Alphas appeal to me I suppose. When they fall, they fall so darn hard and so completely, and I love that fantasy. But I always know that it is exactly that – a fantasy. In real life, I’d avoid such a guy like the plague. In real life, give me a sweet Beta any day of the week.

  7. handyhunter says:

    He’s redeemed AND changed, and goes through guilt, and has to atone!

    And does not end up with Buffy.

    The thing is, this fictional character’s obsessive behavior is done out of “love.” The narrative voice supports this, nothing is put forth to question or contradict it, and nothing about it ie ever condemned.  It’s all okay because “love!”

    Yep. Along with this is Meyer’s treatment of her female characters (human, werewolf or vampire—that “anti-human” argument isn’t working so well). Meyer states that Bella isn’t an anti-female character because she makes her own choices (to be with stalker!Edward and forgive him for killing her truck and all that), which, well, okay, Bella chooses all this. But the entire story is shaped so that she’s a perpetual victim who literally cannot live without a man (so what are her options, really, but to choose Edward). Edward leaves her and she is unable to function until Jacob comes calling…

    The question Meyer should ask herself is “Is the series misogynistic?” or “Explain away these anti-feminist themes… [here’s a list]”

    But also, many people are losing the reality that this is Fantasy Fiction.

    That’s the exact same excuse Meyer gives for the plot holes/inconsistencies and issues in her characters’ relationships (I’m waiting for the YA card to be played: “It’s a kids’ book; who cares?”). It’s a fantasy so it doesn’t matter? This one series probably won’t by itself cause irreparable damage, but it adds to the general. . .imbalance or inequality with the way women are treated in media and real life. Especially when the books are so popular and taken seriously/at face value; I think it’s a problem if girls (and boys) think Edward/Bella is normal or something to strive for.

  8. Lyra says:

    Mac,

    Requesting a little bit of clarification. I noticed you quoting my snippet about the Buffy/Angel comparison, and I wasn’t sure whether you were misunderstanding me (as the part you didn’t quote was about how Angel and Buffy are changed by the experience) or if you were just further expounding.

  9. mac says:

    Lyra
    Re: the Angel thing,
    No no no!  I was AGREEING with you wholeheartedly and, uh, emphasizing. 🙂  I shoulda been clearer.

  10. Lyra says:

    🙂 That’s what I thought, but didn’t want to go off assuming things. Thanks!

    And do I even have to mention I LOVE how the Buffy/Angel dynamic worked, all the consequences, all the metaphors for real situations. Guh, Joss Whedon is the king.

  11. handyhunter says:

    And do I even have to mention I LOVE how the Buffy/Angel dynamic worked, all the consequences, all the metaphors for real situations.

    I think part of that – and why I quite like Angel – is because they never shied away from showing Angel at his absolute worst—not Angelus, even, but Angel, who was sometimes dark and destructive and petty and, of course, there was the singing (dorky!Angel!)—though, granted, that was more developed when he spun-off onto his own show, but a lot of BtVS season 3 was about why Buffy/Angel couldn’t work. I think the layers in Angel’s character (and others) is good storytelling. Though maybe not very conducive to the way of a HEA (although I think “Not Fade Away” was awesome and a love letter to the fans and the characters and stayed true to the overall tone/theme of the show).

    And as for the above point re no one calling Angel creepy, I’m pretty sure he’s been called that and worse in fandom (‘shipper wars anyone?) and on the show(s). The “a regular kid and her cradle-robbing, creature-of-the-night boyfriend” line is there partly for a laugh, but it does also point out what’s creepy in the Bangel ‘ship. And there’s Xander and Cordelia who routinely mock or are not very tactful about Angel and his dark or evil ways…

    In the Twilight series, there are no characters who balance out the blinders Bella and Edward have for one another. Not even Jacob, because that triangle was so contrived, and Jacob then became more obsessed with having Bella as his own girlfriend/imprintee that he started exhibiting Edward-like behavior…  And other characters just enable B/E (or are killed or made evil/vacuous if they are in the way—it sort of makes their opinion a bit less valid in the story when it’s coming from someone whose pov is supposed to be seen as wrong or evil).

  12. NicoleW says:

    But I really want to give them a copy of “The Handmaid’s Tale” to read.  Or maybe “The Feminine Mystique”…

    I think The Handmaid’s Tale needs to be like, required reading.  It’s terrifying, as well it should be.

    But I like the anime heroines better…

    At least Usagi went around fighting for love and justice!

  13. Lyra says:

    I rewatched Season 1 Buffy recently, and was amazed (again) by just how creepy Angel was. And yet, it all works out in a way that promoted a lot of pain, a lot of sacrifice, a lot of growth in both characters. True, they don’t get a HEA, but they love, they fight, they grow.

    When Edward Cullen grows up, he wants to be Angel.

  14. handyhunter says:

    When Edward Cullen grows up, he wants to be Angel.

    But he doesn’t want to grow up. He’s more like evil/soulless Spike, minus the charm. Or like Warren. Oh, not quite so evil as either of them, but there are similar tendencies with how they view/treat women.

    Did you know Whedon named the Big Bad in BtVS season 8 “Twilight”? (I have no idea if it has anything to do with Meyer’s series or if it’s just a coincidence.)

  15. Lyra says:

    He’s more like evil/soulless Spike, minus the charm.

    Also, Spike’s girlfriend (while initially an invalid) was more than capable of bringing her own brand of capable crazy to the party. I’m sensing a theme here about the women…

    And no, I did not hear about Big Bad Twilight! The idea that Whedon did that on purpose is going into my happy place, along with the idea of RPattz leaking Midnight Sun, and Edward “Sparklepeen” Cullen the prizefighter.

    I am very amused by how intelligently discussing Twilight is more interesting to me than the book.

  16. handyhunter says:

    Hmm. Maybe he’s more like (early) chipped!Spike, then? Or Spike who was with Harmony, not Dru.

    I am very amused by how intelligently discussing Twilight is more interesting to me than the book.

    Hey, it was the lulz and the spoilers that got me interested in reading Breaking Dawn. 😀 I was finished with the series after Eclipse, cracky as it was, but fandom/wank proved too difficult to ignore.

  17. Ali says:

    handyhunter,

    Please don’t put words in my mouth.  In case you didn’t get what I was saying, I was actually agreeing with you and the others.  The sarcasm was unnecessary, especially since I said “hardly” (implying that he did, in fact, still exhibit creepy behavior) and you conveniently ignored the rest of what I said.  And I sure as hell would never have said that Edward’s dismantling of her truck was proof of his love for her.  In fact, I specifically called Edward “creepy”.  For the record, as a matter of fact, I don’t for a moment believe that there was any love at all on either of their parts.  Obsession, yes.  Love, no.  Please point out to me where I once in my post implied otherwise. 

    And out of curiosity, in your opinion, how could “poor” Jacob have been “Edwardified” when Edward never physically assaulted Bella and Jacob did?  Not one single time in the entire series did Edward lay a hand on her in anger, while several times over the course of the series Jacob did, at least twice leaving bruises.  How could Jacob have been “Edwardified”, when Edward actually tries to resist touching Bella at all? 

    And as you seem to be so stuck on the dismantling of her truck (you mentioned it in your reply to me and in another reply after that) are you comparing the dismantling of a truck to multiple physical assaults, and finding the truck thing to be worse, because that’s the impression that I’m getting.  (*sarcasm* See, I’m asking for clarification, not putting words in your mouth or assuming that that is what you meant *sarcasm*)  Edward treats Bella like a retarded child, and good god I don’t blame him, because that’s what she acted like, but Jacob was the epitome of a classic abuser.  Believe me, I should know.  I’ve experience both.

    To reiterate, IMO Edward is a creepy stalker who treats Bella like she is a mentally deficient child and he’s her guardian, which is horrible in its own way, but he is not an abuser, while Jacob is an Asshole Alpha abuser.  There is no “poor” Jacob in that series, except perhaps monetarily.

    moving86:  this series sure as hell did not move me, but hoo, boy, this thread did.

  18. handyhunter says:

    I think the truck thing was the straw for me—or, well, no. It was Bella opening her window after. That’s the low? (high?) point of the series; I can’t tell anymore. And combined with everything else Edward’s done, including roping Alice into his schemes to kidnap Bella (thereby taking away Alice’s awesome (she got Edwardified too, sigh)), yeah, the truck thing is about as bad as a forced kiss. Although, at this point, both guys are just awful.

    Re “Edwardification”—In order to make Edward look good, Meyer makes others act worse. And, yeah, there’s a certain amount of character bias talking here because prior to Eclipse, I sorta liked Jacob, in a non-lulz way, mostly, whereas I’ve pretty much disliked Edward from the beginning.  I also think they BOTH end up “Asshole Alpha Abusers”—except Jacob’s issues are hand-waved away in BD by the author herself (imprinting, ahoy!) and Edward’s high-handedness remains more or less constant; I think his brand of creepy is maybe a bit more dangerous too, because it’s not as blatant as what Jacob did (with the forced kiss, fake suicide/plea for sympathy attempt to get Bella to kiss him again, etc). Bella’s reaction plays a part too: she instantly forgives Edward, but she punches Jacob and tells her dad about it (that her dad laughed it off and congratulated Jacob is another, also aggravating matter). She’ll stand up to Jacob (because she’s not in love with him), but not to Edward (because that’s true love?).

  19. handyhunter says:

    BTW, the sarcasm wasn’t directed at you, it’s directed at Meyer/the series.

  20. SonomaLass says:

    I said some of this on the the Twilight review thread, but I think it bears repeating.  I’m the mother of a teenage girl who loved the first three books (she’s reading Breaking Dawn now, and I told her to let me know at what point she throws it against the wall).  While I agree that what we read shapes how we see the world, I know that I read all kinds of crap as a teen (Nancy Drew, anyone?  not to mention all sorts of old skool romances where the heroine gets the HEA with her rapist?).  No one succeeded in convincing me to give those up, even though they gave me better things to read and enjoy.  And I loathe the idea of anyone trying to keep a teenager from reading, or an author from writing, whatever they please.

    Anyway, I asked the kid about the whole Edward creepy/stalker thing.  She agreed that this was the kind of obsessive love that you dream about (especially if you are an insecure teenage girl), but you wouldn’t like it IRL.  But, as she pointed out, “Edward’s not REAL—jeez, Mom, he’s a VAMPIRE.”  Fantasy, not reality.  I think they do know the difference.  It may not seem like it when they take it to the extremes of fandom, but I think they do.  Just like those adults who have Star Trek or Wheel of Time wedding ceremonies (!) turn out to be normal people, with responsible jobs and balanced bank accounts, perfectly aware of the difference between their fantasy world and their real relationships.  They just find some aspects of their lives dull, and enjoy adding some make-believe glamor.

  21. pissed off one says:

    Maybe the reasons why girls are so attracted to him is because he is the first one they’ve met so far. It is for young adults, right? Like for 11 to 16 year olds? And from what I can gather he isn’t as horrible as some of those alpha ass holes out there. But give them enough time and enough stupid Mills and Boons to read then they will definitely be hating those mother fuckers. Maybe Candy will agree with me…Candy, are you there sweetie?

  22. Jana Oliver says:

    SonomaLass points out the upside of this series: the option to read it along with your teen and discuss the interpersonal dynamics, etc. What was their take on Edward, Bella, Jacob, etal? What would you have done in the heroine’s shoes? Did you think the hero was really cool or just creepy? Why?

    Books are not only escapism but allow us to “try on” new attitudes without serious consequences. For young adults, that’s a neat way to “experience” new situations without getting into big trouble.  Not too shabby for something made from dead trees.

  23. poohba says:

    I don’t for a moment believe that there was any love at all on either of their parts.  Obsession, yes.  Love, no.

    That’s what really struck me about this book too.  (I only read the first; never bothered with the rest of the series.)  For me, it perfectly captured that obsessive nature of first “love”.  This person is perfect.  This person is the center of your whole universe.  If you are not spending every second of your life in close proximity to this person, you are going to go through withdrawl and misery.

    Yeah, I remember feeling like that in high school.  Twilight brought it right back.  I’m pretty sure that goes a long way to explaining why these books are so popular with teenage girls. 

    Is that something that most people grow out of?  I’d like to think so.  Is it something that could send a dangerous message to those who don’t, or those who are still going through that process?  Maybe.  I agree with the posters who talk about the power of fiction on shaping attitudes. 

    But obsession is not love.  It only sometimes masquerades as it. 

    I was hoping for a big tragic ending to the Twilight “saga,” myself.  As I said, I have only read the first book, but I saw no way for these two characters to be together, in a healthy, happy way, for all eternity.  I was rooting for Edward to sacrifice himself in some way to save Bella, I suppose.  (He isn’t completely indestructible is he?  Or is he?  *sigh*  Real drama requires some character flaws – other than being a stalker.)

  24. SonomaLass says:

    I was hoping for a big tragic ending to the Twilight “saga,” myself.

    I agree—I would have liked the whole series a lot better if it had ended in tears.  It struck me in book one that this was a doomed relationship.  I wish it had been.  The resident teen girl says that she would have preferred that to a book that “twisted all the rules.”

  25. Sweeny says:

    Having been with such an “alpha” for many years until I finally threw him out before the big bully consumed me, I find the message of these books disgusting. He did his best to consume and control, and I won’t deny that rape happened in our marriage.

    I was raised to believe that a man would come along and “rescue” me, and if he was mean, then that was just part of the package and for my own good. I should count myself lucky he’d even put up with me.

    That’s got to be the single the worst thing to teach a girl, ever. Thanks, Mom.

    Thanks, Meyer, for adding to the myth that a female must subsume herself and will never be whole and worth anything unless she has a maaaaaan.  I wish you joy with all the cash you got.

    Going to go hurl now.

  26. Fiamme says:

    I’ve enjoyed the series—although I must admit, with more of a critical eye after the first book, as I’d caught up on the Smart Bitch reviews of it.  I’m 37, and recall that the “hot” series when I was a young teen was Flowers in the Attic. The premise of which squicked me too much to actually read it.

    So far as I know, the huge success and popularity of it was not followed by droves (any?) kids shacking up with their brothers and producing offspring.  However, I think a lot of people enjoyed the angsty goodness.

    Meyer herself deliberately alludes to Romeo and Juliet (can’t recall if that was Twilight or New Moon) and Wuthering Heights (Eclipse). These are NOT healthy models for a relationship, but they certainly capture the imagination.  Meyer is probably not doing herself that many favours with the allusion, as while her stuff is (to me) enjoyable, it’s not going to enter the literary canon.  But it does strike me that she’s making some reference to the unsuitability of her love story for “everyday” life.  Maybe that’s just my interpretation.

    I like Bella. She is TSTL at times. She is a big mushy hearted softy. But she’s loyal, and she means well, and some of her interactions with Alice and (when she’s remembered!) Angela and Jacob make me like her very much. 

    I’m not fussed with Edward—I sort of see them both caught in this eternal adolescence where Ed somehow can’t move forward. As others have said—he’s rather dull in a lot of ways. He’s not interested in anything but Bella. But that’s part of why she “saved” him: because he was really marking time waiting to be put out of his misery, thinking of himself as damned and soulless, and her relentless (misplaced?) optimism about him actually seemed to go some way toward convincing him he had something to offer the world.

    I think Carlisle is a much more interesting guy—he’d have been my pick for a hero. White knight complex, forever trying to build up a family around him.  Edward is the one he’s tried so hard to save and failed, over and over.  My impression is Bella’s catatonia wasn’t that far from Edward-Pre-Bella’s miserable depressed existence. Going through the motions.

    I think that parents discussing their issues with Twilight, and other books that bother them is part of the fun of being in a family that reads.  I remember very spirited discussions with my mother and sister on the topic of Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books, as well as rants on Mills and Boon Presents alpha heroes of the time.  I think that the Handmaid’s Tale should be required reading, but so should books where there’s room for interpretation in the actions, intentions and moral code of the people in the book.

    Oh man this is long—but I also see Bella as a Muggle in a Hogwarts world.  Her ‘super power’ is being Extremely Tasty, so I really don’t blame her for preferring to join the Shiny Deathless Never Aging Vampires rather than sticking around waiting to get eaten.  Even when Edward and the other Cullens move past that stage, every other vampire is going to eat her first because of the Bella-Cookie-MMmmmmm blood thing.

  27. Suze says:

    Fiction develops the way a person employs empathy, the way they interpret situations and people they might not have encountered before.  Fiction, more than any other medium, has the unique power of nudging, enticing, and seducing us into understanding of and sympathy with people/eras/cultures/races we might not necessarily relate to. It tells us the reasons WHY, explains behavior to us in ways that far drier nonfiction can never accomplish. Studies have been done that show that people who read fiction are more empathic and demonstrate a better understanding of other people’s motives and feelings, and of the possible variety in that, than nonreaders, who have only their own minds and motivations to go by, do.

    Mac, I heart you deeply.

  28. Serena Robar says:

    Of course the computer ate my first post which was so much more eloquent than this one will be, but here it goes.

    I LOVE how Meyers handled this entire situation.  Her chapters were leaked. Her readers/fans forwarded/read/perpetuated them (also known as stealing) and now she won’t finish the book.  There are consequences to your actions.  Gasp.  How very old school. Yes, innocent people will pay the price.  Crimes have victims.  And people need to understand and fully grasp the fact that pirating copywrited material is illegal.  This has nothing to do with an author having a hissy fit and making her poor readers suffer.  This is about what is right and wrong.  I admire the hell out of her for protecting my author rights (which is what she is doing for every creative type who makes a living off of their books/songs/films/comics/etc) by making this stand.

    I wonder how many fans will think the next time they want to download something and not pay for it.

    -Serena

  29. mac says:

    Suze:  Aw! 🙂 Thank you!

    Actually, one part of that is my words (I think) but not my original idea—the part about the concept of fiction “seducing us into empathizing” belongs to poet Adrienne Rich. I read it in 1996 and it has stuck to the back of my brain ever since, but for the life of me I cannot remember the exact wording of the quote, or the book it appeared in. But I so very much want as many people as possible to internalize it.  It really is the most beautiful idea about the potentials of fiction and why it matters.

  30. Ehren says:

    Nothing wrong with Alpha Males. I like them. I don’t like guys who are too wishy washy about their decisions and force me to have to be the leader and take control, because I’ll end up doing it without thinking. (I’m sometimes called Viking and Amazon for both my stature and attitude.)

    However, the alpha male needs an alpha female that won’t take his shit. A doormat female isn’t going to keep the alpha male from dominating in everything, both in literature and in real life. You can be a strong woman, an alpha female, and not act like a man doing it. I know it can be done, but I’ve seen the results of the woman who stands up and acts like a man to an alpha male type. My own mother would throw back her shoulders and put on a front of “I can whip your ass!” to my grandpa every single time she started an argument with him and it was supposed to make him angry enough to hit her so she could get sympathy when he finally had enough.

    That being all said, I’ve seen how Meyers writes and Bella comes out half baked. I won’t blame the characters anymore because of this. The characters aren’t the ones that are wrong. It’s the writer. It’s her fault that she actually needs to have a FAQ on her site for such things as her own convoluted physiology for vampires, which resemble aliens than vampires do,  and other such things. It shows just how wretched she is as a writer that she can’t portray anyone as anything other than cardboard cutouts of what they’re supposed to be. There was a person here who was narked off because people give Meyers hell for the books, but the problem is… SHE. DESERVES. IT. You reap what you sow and she is trying very hard to act like the victim. I look at her story and it’s perfectly “okay” by shoujo manga standards, not anything totally special, but then she went about it with purple prose and very bland writing and poured over and over how hot Edward was that the plot was forgotten and so were the characters. I’ve got a friend who would tell you the same! She says that the plot is sound and it’s kinda cute, but the writing is terrible and resembles a tween fanfiction off of fanfiction.net.

  31. Trix says:

    I haven’t yet seen anyone making a comparison with this kind of fiction and D/S (domination/submission) relationships. Just because there’s no overt flogging or suchlike doesn’t make it any less kinky.

    D/s doesn’t float my boat much, but it’s fine if it’s between consenting adults who know what they’re getting into. I don’t think it’s that appropriate for YA (although some people grow up kinky right off the bat), and I also really wonder at the amount of fiction out there that strongly uses d/s themes and yet doesn’t overtly acknowledge that. People who know they are kinky tend to be much better off, because they know the risks (or they should).  People who don’t know they have such tendencies, and who are yet strongly attracted to those elements are in a much more problematic situation, because they don’t know what they might be agreeing to. If people know that such things end at the bedroom door (or there are explicitly negotiated limits), well, it is less likely to end up as an abusive situation. But if you’re coming from a position of complete ignorance, abuse is a serious risk.

  32. Jana Oliver says:

    This has nothing to do with an author having a hissy fit and making her poor readers suffer.  This is about what is right and wrong.  I admire the hell out of her for protecting my author rights (which is what she is doing for every creative type who makes a living off of their books/songs/films/comics/etc) by making this stand.

    Sorry, in my view, this qualifies as a hissy fit. Ms. Meyer’s devoted readers shouldn’t have to pay for one pinhead’s stupid move. Said pinhead should feel the author’s wrath, both verbally and legally. The readers shouldn’t. That’s a violation of the Author Prime Directive I spoke of. 

    What this author fails to realize is this whole episode is more than just about her. It affects her publisher, their yearly numbers, increased sales at the bookstores and, of course, her fans.

    Ms. Meyer’s website stated this has just affected her too much for her to continue on with the book at present. Well, time to pull on those Big Girl Panties we’re always talking about. Other authors go through far more horrific circumstances (family deaths, cancer, their homes and businesses disappearing in natural disasters) and they soldier on. They make deadlines. They remain true to their readers.

    That’s why this feels like a hissy fit to me. It’s her call and her career. I’m hoping her readers can forgive her for it.

  33. RfP says:

    Ms. Meyer’s website stated this has just affected her too much for her to continue on with the book at present. Well, time to pull on those Big Girl Panties we’re always talking about. Other authors go through far more horrific circumstances (family deaths, cancer, their homes and businesses disappearing in natural disasters) and they soldier on. They make deadlines. They remain true to their readers.

    This sounds like there’s a contract between author and reader to write a particular story.  If so, I don’t agree.  The only “remaining true” that I want from an author is being true to *her* story and to the quality of her writing.  If an author feels the need to stop writing my favorite series, then that’s what she should do.  I’d be happier if she found a way to ignore the distractions and stay in that fictional world, but if she can’t, I don’t want her to fake it.  That’s treating an author too much like a sausage grinder: make 10 links an hour no matter what you have to put in them.

  34. Jana Oliver says:

    In many ways there is an unwritten contract between an author and the readers, especially when you are writing a series. The higher you are up the ladder, the stronger the bond and the expectations. It’s part of the package, along with all those perks.

    I find I do some of my best and most compellingly emotional work when things are off the rails. It’s my way of working off that stress. Hopefully, in time, Ms. Meyer can get her groove back and finish the book. After she turns Edward and his family loose on the pinhead in question.

  35. Serena Robar says:

    This isn’t an issue of one pinhead posting the chapters on the internet.  This became a problem when all her ‘fans’ read the unpublished work, forwarded it around, posted it on their site, blogged about where to find it and did that viral marketing thing that, when it works in our favor, is a good thing. 

    I have a YA vampire series (3 books, 1 novella) that is not going to be continued.  My fans were upset to learn that there would be no more stories involving my main characters.  It was my decision to end the series. I was done with the characters.  It was time to move on.  Yes, my fans wanted more.  The decision to end the series was made with my editor.  And to assume Meyers didn’t have a meeting with her publisher, agent and probably legal counsel to come to this decision would be a bit niave.  Everyone was involved.  What she posts on her blog about her ‘feelings’ to stop writing is the face we put on to our public.  Nice, but not necessarily the meat of it.  I doubt her decision to stop writing Edward’s for the time being had so much to do with her unable to ‘pull up her big girl panties’ and move on.  She’s a professional. 

    And speaking of professional.  She gets paid for her work.  Few authors give as much free behind the scenes stuff away on their websites as Meyers.  She is very generous with her readers.  When a fan site of Harry Potter wanted to make a book containing all the information he’d compiled about the Harryverse, JK Rowling took him to court to stop the book.  Because it was all her work.  Kudos to him for loving the books so much he compiled all sorts of trivia and facts about them and put them all in one place.  His fan site.  That doesn’t mean he did the original work.  It was all of JK Rowling’s creative property and therefore her right to ultimately control and I feel that is the gist of where my point is getting lost.

    We must be ever villigant in protecting our work.  Meyers is doing so and making a point.  The only reader-writer contract out there is the one that says I will pluck down my hard earned cash on a book I want to read.  And if I like it, I will spend money on the next one and so on.  I would be disappointed if the author changed styles or did something that made me love her books less.  Then it is my right to stop paying her for her stuff.  Writing is a business and no one is more generous to her fans than Meyers when all the free behind the scenes stuff is offered to her readers.  That website costs money to maintain and update.  She is investing in her readers by sharing with them.  But when the readers start stealing her work under the guise of devoted fandom then she is right to reign it in.

    Just my 2 cents.  I would love if anyone has the inside rumor mill/scoop from her publisher to see how they are feeling about her decision.

    -Serena

  36. Alyssa Callahan says:

    My mom is a big fan of this site and she pointed me in the direction of this essay or article or whatever you wish to call it since I’m a big Twilight and *cough*Jacob*cough* fan.

    Even though I am a hardcore Jacob fan, I also love Edward for his romantic-ness, since Jacob seems to lack the ability to be charming most of the time.

    When I was reading the article and even when my mom was explaining it to me, I was wondering why Bella would fall for someone who basically rules her life.  You must remember where Bella comes from.  Before her life in Forks (and the series) she lived in Arizona with her crazy, happy-go-lucky mother.  In the books, Bella states frequently that she always seemed to be the parent in that relationship, always guiding her mother away from crazy ideas and enduring the ones she couldn’t convince her to get out of.  So when Bella moved to Forks, she habitually assumed the parental role over Charlie, doing all the cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc. 

    And then comes Edward.  Bella is very smitten with him (duh), but I think that maybe the reason she fell for him so hard was because he is really the only person she’s ever been with who took care of her and not the other way around.  Maybe, in Bella’s case, she doesn’t really mind his controlling because she likes the change where she doesn’t have to be the responsible one. 

    In Edward defense, he was born and grew up 100 years ago when it was basically the “man’s role” to take care of the little woman and it was the “woman’s role” to accept being taken care of constantly.  And even though times have changed, Edward has not (literally).

    In my opinion, it’s this combination of Bella wanting to be taken care of for once and Edward’s wanting to take care of someone that brings them together.  Not that this is what everyone would want… I certainly don’t want a controlling boyfriend/fiancee/hubby, but that’s because even though I’m 19, I still have a small sense of dependence on my mother and not the other way around.  If I was already the adult in the family at 19, I might have a different opinion on the matter.

    Maybe that’s why Bella has a difficult time choosing between Edward and Jacob.  In a sense, she is also deciding on whether she wants to be dependent or independent, because Jacob certainly hold the independent medallion, being away from parental units all the time while, as we all know, Edward is the King of Control.

    Anyhoo, that’s just my two-cents!  Very interesting article, very well written!

  37. Kristine says:

    I’m 17 now and I first read the Twilight when I was 14. I read the first one and it didn’t sit well with me. Edward was kinda creepy and a terrible person. He puts Bella in a position where he could kill her and he hasn’t decided not to yet, and they speak about that right after he tells her that he sits in her room WHILE SHE IS SLEEPING, but Bella finds nothing wrong with this. She just wants to know if they’ll ever be able to have sex.  What also kind of irked me is that instead of taking blood from people, because of the poison that causes a lot pain and a terrible death, Edward and his crew hunt endangered species.
    In New Moon (which is where I stopped reading the books), Bella can barely do ANYTHING without Edward. The girl can’t even walk out the woods to her home. She then decides to become dependant on Jacob. Okay. Oh wait!  Edward then comes back and tells her that she can’t see Jacob anymore and she is fine with that.
    One thing that I did like was that Bella went to HS and came home with homework.

  38. Valancy says:

    an old-skool Alpha male heroine in the classic model

    I dunno… a male heroine sounds pretty new-school to me!

  39. Strawberry says:

    In Edward defense, he was born and grew up 100 years ago when it was basically the “man’s role” to take care of the little woman and it was the “woman’s role” to accept being taken care of constantly.  And even though times have changed, Edward has not (literally).

    This is one explanation I tend to disagree with because immortality =/= time travel. Don’t you think having lived through the entire 20th century might expand your worldview a bit beyond 1918 societal pressures?

    I could never really get into the main characters for most of the usual reasons (book reads like bad fanfic, characters frequently have lapses in logic a 3-year-old could spot, no chemistry) Edward in particular hit my one major turn-off: I cannot stand being talked down to. I hated it when I was little, I hate it now. I could almost tolerate stuff like Boys Over Flowers because Tsukushi at least had a bit of a spine for the first few volumes.

    I could tolerate Jacob for the first book and a half or so because he at least showed traces of a personality. Then of course Meyer pulled the OOC Die For Our Ship crap (what I like to call ‘The Nuriko Treatment’) and the series managed to find a new level of shark-jumping.

    The main appeal of Bella is that she’s intended to be The Watson, but the definitive part of that is being relatable to the reader, a feat in which she utterly fails by being melodramatic and generally dumber than a fencepost. Add in the fact that I’m a minor science nerd aware o how thoroughly the book FAILS BIOLOGY and you have four books of MST3K fodder.

  40. mac says:

    Why I Do Not Find VC Andrews’ Novels Remotely Comparable:

    I gotta say, the difference with “Flowers in the Attic” is that everybody in the story knew they were doing wrong and/or twisted and effed-up stuff—including the narrative voice. You felt bad for them, sure, and understood how they had come to such a rotten pass, and how their effed-uppery was not entirely their fault, but you were never really supposed to believe that the rotten pass was, instead, a good or enviable pass, or that what they were doing was pristine, wholesome, and acceptable in society, and that you should start doing the same.  Not to mention everything they did wound up rife with tragedy (death, health problems, children with their own Special Effed-Uppery, unto what, the third and fourth generation?), sacrifice (hiding, lies, no kids, the aforementioned death) and disappointment (revenge that provided no closure, never really finding that “safe place” to be themselves and be together). They were never rewarded for their actions. Nor did VC Andrews ever give any indication that she hoped her readers would one day find “A perfect Christopher” to, uh, love in that special way.

    (Plus—I always saw it marketed in the horror-thriller section, not romance. One tends to expect behavior in those genres that is not to be imitated, not even to be looked upon as positive, certainly not to be considered idealized.)

    Of course, then the series started recycling the same old plot over and over, a sort of mallet of Mary Sue Molestation between the eyes.

    However, the alpha male needs an alpha female that won’t take his shit.

    YES.  YES.  UH-HUH. THAT THING RIGHT THERE.

    I cannot stand being talked down to. I hated it when I was little, I hate it now. I could almost tolerate stuff like Boys Over Flowers because Tsukushi at least had a bit of a spine for the first few volumes.

    AND ALSO THAT ONE.

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