What do vampires have in common with kinky BDSM? Apparently, the best-seller 50 Shades of Grey was conceived as Twilight fan fiction. Although Twilight lacks the explicit themes of 50 Shades, it romanticizes a similarly dangerous relationship.
To summarize (for those who spent the past decade under a rock), Twilight is a romance between Bella, a 17-year-old girl, and her classmate Edward, who happens to be a vampire. I read Twilight several years ago while on vacation. The story was engrossing. But as I was reading, something about the relationship between Bella and Edward kept bugging me. And it wasn’t the fact that Edward happened to be a vampire. Everyone knows vampires are pretend! (right. . . ?)
No, what bothered me were the parallels between Bella’s story and real-world, dangerous relationships.
1. Edward had a
definite dark side. He had a bad temper
AND he struggled with blood lust. At the beginning of the relationship, he
treated Bella with cruel hostility. (Was
it excusable simply because he was trying to control the impulse to drain her
veins?) During key points in their relationship, Edward had Bella walking on
eggshells. Just by being herself, Bella
would accidentally trigger Edward’s darker nature.
2. Edward was very
controlling. During their “get to know
you” conversations, Edward drilled Bella like the Spanish inquisition. Edward changed his schedule so that they were
taking all their classes together. Edward
insisted on chauffering Bella to school, both ways. He would make fun of her car and refuse to
let her drive. He would take her places
against her will (i.e., the prom) even though Bella strongly protested and said
she did not want to go.
3. Edward was
extremely jealous and would become angry when he saw other boys becoming close
to Bella. Bella expressed relief that
she had not had any former boyfriends, so that she would not have to tell
Edward about them.
4. Edward was a
stalker. He entered Bella’s house
without permission. Using his heightened
sense of hearing, he listened in on Bella’s conversations. He followed her without her knowledge.
5. Edward held
unequal power in the relationship. He
was a beautiful immortal, with super-human strength and speed. He had unlimited funds. He had special senses that enabled him to
read others’ thoughts. Bella, on the
other hand, was awkward and insecure.
She had just moved to live with her dad and had no close
friendships. Edward would take Bella to
remote locations, where she had no means of returning home by herself. She was totally dependent on Edward.
To his credit, Edward warned Bella that he was not good for
her. Bella’s friends who knew Edward’s
identity begged her to stay away from him.
Bella knew that Edward was dangerous, yet she consciously chose to stay
with him. She didn’t care about her
human friends, she didn’t even care about
her own human life. She was stubbornly
confident that the “love” she shared with Edward would make everything OK.
Putting aside the vampire factor, anyone see a problem with this relationship?? Yet Twilight boldly celebrates the fantasy
love between Edward and Bella. Judging
by the sales of books, movies, DVDs – and wildly popular fan fiction spin-offs!
-- the continuing Twilight story has
captivated millions of girls, and women.
In just a few short years, the young woman’s obsession with Twilight has become the older woman’s
obsession with 50 Shades of Grey. Mothers, grandmothers, teachers, sisters and
friends – we need to talk! We must
recognize and teach the signs of a dangerous relationship. We must not let vampire romance and its fan
fiction cloud our judgment.
Because, in real life, a dangerous relationship is unlikely to resolve in a happy ending.
Because, in real life, a dangerous relationship is unlikely to resolve in a happy ending.
