In other words, maybe Edward can't help who he is, but he can control what he does and doesn't allow himself to do. It's an admirable example of self-restraint. We girls love that, don't we?
And then there's Bella, the girl next door. She's clumsy and self-mocking. Not totally insecure, but not wildly popular either. I think we can all relate to her in one way or another.
"It doesn't surprise me that girls identify with Bella, a character that cannot imagine she is lovable," writes Beth Felker Jones, an assistant professor of theology at Wheaton College. "Her clumsiness and willingness to erase herself form an apt portrayal of the self-understanding of many young women today. Dark romance, a love that erases the awkward heroine, is an answer to desire and self-loathing that draws on the worst cultural assumptions about what it means to be female."11
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Just breathe … If you have seen or read Twilight, how would you describe Bella? (For instance, clumsy, brave, normal.) Did you find yourself relating to her character at all? If so, how?
Something More
Looking back on the notes I took while researching vampires, I see one thing very clearly. At some point in the late twentieth century, the vampire's persona became a "gray area." By that, I mean he was no longer considered altogether bad. Oh, vampires were still "bad boys"—but it was cool to like them. Maybe you'll agree with what Diane Robina, president of the cable horror channel FEARnet, said: "Vampires are the new rock stars. They are the bad boys your parents don't want you to date."12
It's a truly interesting transformation. Is it just an example of literary creativity, or could it be just another blurred line between good and evil? It does seem that we're having a harder time telling right from wrong, truth from lies these days. You don't always know who the villain is when he enters the room. And vampires? Hey, they might even be the heroes.
So what do we do with all of this? It's clear that we are so drawn to this story and others like it. Despite the fact—or maybe because of the fact—that Edward is mysterious and dangerous, we're almost irresistibly swept up in the adventurous romance. We so desperately want to experience such a story ourselves. But then the credits roll or the last page is turned, and we're back in our own reality. Our lives are just the same as they've always been. There are no good vampires—or even vampires of any kind—and Edward remains that character in our head.
Have you felt this way? Like you wished you could really live in Bella and Edward's world and leave your own behind? It makes me start to wonder if there's actually something more going on here, a deeper reason that we're all so attracted to and drawn into this story.
Here are some of the comments I've heard from girls who love Twilight:
