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| Kristen Stewart is Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson is Edward in the movie Twilight.聽聽 |
The Twilight saga, by Stephanie Meyer, is officially everywhere. There鈥檚 a movie, there鈥檚 an author-certified playlist, and folks at the local Chapters partied well into the night when Breaking Dawn (Meyer鈥檚 most recent instalment) was released.
At a party recently, I confessed to picking up the books to see what the fuss was about.
鈥�Twilight?鈥� A friend scoffed. 鈥淚sn鈥檛 that the book about the vampires who sparkle?鈥� The line of conversation was quickly dropped.
There鈥檚 a strange stigma attached to being a Twilight fan; everyone seems to deem it necessary to immediately avow that they haven鈥檛 seen it/haven鈥檛 read it/don鈥檛 know what it is, but isn鈥檛 Edward hot? A blogger friend of mine read the whole thing voraciously, but doggedly uploaded regular journal entries ridiculing the plot. For those of you who really haven鈥檛 heard of the books, the story goes a little like this 鈥� girl moves to new town, girl meets boy, girl is impossibly gorgeous, boy is a tortured vampire. Naturally they鈥檙e made for each other.
Swoony Isabella Swan and broody Edward Cullen aren鈥檛 the world鈥檚 most original lovers, but obviously, the rinse-and-repeat formula still works like a charm. Bella might not be so head-over-heels if she knew how many other girls wanted to sink their teeth into Edward.
鈥淕othic is perpetually 鈥� maybe even more so now 鈥� a popular genre,鈥� says Dal English professor Judith Thompson, who will teach Gothic Literature this winter. The genre is in fact now so popular among young readers that sales of the Twilight saga eclipsed the number of Harry Potter books sold at Indigo bookstores in Canada last year鈥攁nd that's when the final Harry Potter book was released.
As high school girls devour Meyer鈥檚 angst/love/angst saga, their Hamlet-hawking teachers despair, asking that universal question, What is the appeal? Prof. Thompson has a few theories.
鈥淚 was thinking about it鈥� in terms of high school youth. What鈥檚 vampirism about? It鈥檚 about both the fear and the desire of being consumed, of being possessed, of going over to the dark side鈥攊t plays out fantasies of power鈥� what鈥檚 high school? Well, it鈥檚 exactly the same thing, right?鈥�
(This actually does not sound very much like my high school experience.) Prof.Thompson elucidates. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the time in one鈥檚 life when (one) both fears and desires breaking through the rules, going over to the dark side鈥� probably for adolescent girls in particular, these are really important issues. Whether to give oneself over in a relationship鈥� all these things, which is what the whole vampire thing is about, these are really a major part of one鈥檚 life in adolescence.鈥�
鈥淚 read it all in one sitting,鈥� says Leslie Appleton. A first-year theatre student at Dalhousie, Leslie is an avowed Twilight fan. A friend working at a bookstore recommended the books. 鈥淪he said all the 12-year-old girls were coming into Coles, buying Twilight.鈥�
So, again, what鈥檚 the appeal? Apparently, it鈥檚 not protagonist Bella Swan. 鈥淚 hated the main character, oh yes,鈥� Leslie laughs. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to sound very teenage-girlish of me, but Edward鈥檚 too good for her.鈥�
Prof. Thompson, however, identifies Bella鈥檚 cluelessness as necessary to the novel鈥檚 Gothic format. 鈥淎 classic Gothic novel has鈥� a virtuous, usually female, character put in a situation of great peril and threat which is usually explicitly sexual in nature.鈥�
Some of 罢飞颈濒颈驳丑迟鈥�s strength may come from the virginal maiden trope, but to Leslie, Bella鈥檚 still your stereotypical 鈥楳ary Sue.鈥� 鈥淢ary Sue down to the point where she鈥檚 clumsy, but everything works her way. She鈥檚 miserable, but everything around her is absolutely perfect. And everyone loves her. In the first book, the first three guys she meets fall in love with her, and she just couldn鈥檛 care less.鈥� (Maybe Bella is a Mary Sue, but suddenly, I鈥檓 sort of jealous.)
Another classic Gothic character, says Professor Thompson, is the 鈥渄ark, threatening figure of power鈥� a figure of threat (who) is also, on some level, an attractive figure.鈥�
This is not how Leslie describes Edward. 鈥淗e鈥檚 kind of a dork, I must say.鈥�
Leslie and I decided we鈥檇 go to a screening of Twilight and see how the movie measured up to the book. It wasn鈥檛 bad. The soundtrack was indulgently moody, and I appreciated the irony in Bella driving a pickup truck. Unfortunately, I couldn鈥檛 truly appreciate 罢飞颈濒颈驳丑迟鈥檚 performances. Every time Edward wandered onscreen, high-pitched shrieks issued from the crowd around us, drowning out the movie.
Eventually, the 鈥渟ocial experiment鈥� novelty of the experience wore off. Leslie and I left to return our tickets and grab a coffee instead. 鈥淚 might have been giggly as a teenage girl,鈥� Leslie marvelled while I sipped my eggnog latte, 鈥渂ut nowhere near those decibels.鈥� Leslie buys an orange Jones soda and decides to catch Twilight on DVD. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 sure we were going to get our money back. I mean 鈥� 鈥楥an I get my money back? I was driven out by teenage girls.鈥欌�� It does sound like a paltry excuse, but at the ticket desk, we had no problem 鈥� all we had to say was 鈥淭wilight鈥� and they rang our refunds through.
Far be it from me to saddle the Fab Four with fangs, but the atmosphere in the theatre reminded me of Beatlemania 鈥� young girls squealing with such unbridled enthusiasm that the target didn鈥檛 really matter. Row of teenagers catcalling recordings of vampires who don鈥檛 exist played by actors who can鈥檛 hear them 鈥� it鈥檚 anthropological dream material.
Maybe 鈥榙ream material鈥� is the secret. 鈥淚 had this revelation while brushing my teeth,鈥� muses Professor Thompson, 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of wacky鈥� Romance compensates for sleep deprivation. I was thinking about Twilight, and about why it appeals to youth鈥� This is the most sleep-deprived generation. The double-cappuccino, Red Bull generation. Right? One could theorize that romance is a surrogate for not having enough dreams.鈥� Prof. Thompson smiles. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 generation, they don鈥檛 spend enough time dreaming.鈥�
You mean that to cut down on Twilight, I鈥檒l have to exorcise my eggnog lattes? Forget it. Edward Cullen can stay. I鈥檓 getting used to him, anyway.