Subtext, theme and Meyers view of women.

[Forever Alone Bella]

Meyer is awesome <3 She shows us how men are supposed to treat a lady! I'd love a man watching me sleep without me knowing! How romantic!

[Veronica]

She also shows us how dependent on men some women can be.

[Forever Alone Bella]

Its true! Without my man I would be nothing.... NOTHING

[Veronica]

Yeah, I understand. I just think Bella takes it a little far :P

[Ambar]

True. Bella's character makes it seem as though we have to be dolls and let the men take care of the everything.

[Veronica]

Save me, protect me, love me, turn me, don't leave me. That's her mantra, lol.

[Ambar]

lml Don't forget the 'I'll die or kill myself otherwise!!

[Veronica]

Ah, yes. How can I forget that!

[Rachel]

I'd be kind of creeped out if somebody snuck into my room to watch me sleep...

[Amy]

Bella was too needy, but I think Meyer was trying to relay the concept that Bella and Edward's relationship was a once-in-a-lifetime, earth-shattering love that most people don't reach. The power of their connection and attraction was other-worldly even. Edward handled their breakup worse than Bella in New Moon. It certainly doesn't give teens a healthy example of a relationhip, but it does show girls a boy who is polite, respectful, courteous, and doesn't try to pressure her into sex (in fact, it's the other way around).

[Yefim]

Fun troll is fun.

[Forever Alone Bella]

If I have kids I'm going to let my man's best friend marry her. Who cares about the age gap!

[Veronica]

Forever Alone Bella wrote: "If I have kids I'm going to let my man's best friend marry her. Who cares about the age gap!"

What? Haha.

[Ambar]

I wish you the best if it comes to that. ^_^

[Forever Alone Bella]

Thats what Bella did (shes my role model after all).

[Kylie]

Amy wrote: "Bbut it does show girls a boy who is polite, respectful, courteous, and doesn't try to pressure her into sex (in fact, it's the other way around). "
Yep, great message for teen girls - if they beg for sex (cos that is like, sooooo romantic to do), teenage boys will defintely NOT take them up on the offer. Just like edward.

[Mary]

Meyers is a member of the LDS church. Her literary views of women support her religious views. Of course Edward is a demon, undead, vampire...but he nobly wants to wait til marriage to get Bella pregnant with a child who will tear its way out of her. Sooo romantic.

[Gerd]

Rachel wrote: "I'd be kind of creeped out if somebody snuck into my room to watch me sleep..."

I guess you don't have any pets then.


Kylie wrote: "Yep, great message for teen girls - if they beg for sex (cos that is like, sooooo romantic to do), teenage boys will defintely NOT take them up on the offer."

Well, if the sports is on, you would need to do a little more than just beg.

[Haniccol]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c-XLXrgGJjc...

Just something I find amusing.

[Veronica]

Haniccol wrote: "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c-XLXrgGJjc...

Just something I find amusing."

Hahahaha!

[Amanda]

I think Meyer makes it seem like all women need to be rescued - a very old fashioned fairytale way of thinking. I really really dislike that factor. Without Edward around Bella is just pathetic. And believe me I am saying this as a fan of the series. Compare it to JK Rowling's female characters. They are strong and independent and smart: Hermione, Ginny, McGonagall, etc.

[Ambar]

Haniccol wrote: "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c-XLXrgGJjc...

Just something I find amusing."

Dear lord that's just too funny

[Kagama-the Literaturevixen]

Amy wrote: "Bella was too needy, but I think Meyer was trying to relay the concept that Bella and Edward's relationship was a once-in-a-lifetime, earth-shattering love that most people don't reach. The power o..."

I think Meyer might be a time traveler from the 1940s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ0jRu...

[JazzyCat]

Veronica wrote: "Yeah, I understand. I just think Bella takes it a little far :P"

Agreed. She is attatched to Edward in a very unhealthy way.

[JazzyCat]

Haniccol wrote: "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c-XLXrgGJjc...

Just something I find amusing."

lol so true!

[brooke1994]

I like Bella with Jacob, but I don't mind the whole Bella and Edward and vampire thing.

[Olivia]

Michaela wrote: "I think Edward is almost abusive, actually.

And Bella is really obsessed with him."

How, in the world, is EDWARD abusive?!

[Jessica]

I'm old enough to realize this is just a movie and not real life but to someone younger it may teach them that we need a man to protect us because we "can't take care of ourselves."
I am a hopeless romantic and I expect guys to be protective and stuff but to a point. I don't want to ever let myself feel like my life is over because I'm not together with someone anymore. Bella and Edwards break up was drawn out too much. I am a big fan of these books & I love the movies but Stephanie's view on women is that they need someone to always watch out for them and protect them.

[Ambar]

Jess wrote: "I'm old enough to realize this is just a movie and not real life but to someone younger it may teach them that we need a man to protect us because we "can't take care of ourselves."
I am a hopele..."

I completely agree with you. If she had made Bella a bit more like Rosalie than I think she would have made a better character.

[H Freeman]

Forever Alone Bella wrote: "Meyer is awesome <3 She shows us how men are supposed to treat a lady! I'd love a man watching me sleep without me knowing! How romantic!"

If you've only met the guy once or twice this constitutes stalking. It is not romantic. Only creepy.
If you consider all of the characters in Meyers works none of them are strong characters. Even the parents, like Charlie, are weak and their opinions count for nothing. These books give us a skewed view of the world. Be strong young men and women! Suck it up and say no once in a while! Twilight is an example of a fantastic idea with terrible follow through.
I am now preparing for fanatical attacks.

[[deleted user]]

Michaela wrote: "I think Edward is almost abusive, actually.

And Bella is really obsessed with him."

I don't think abusive is the right word.. Controlling? Yes. Obsessive? Yes. Stalkerish? Triple yes. But abusive? That's probably the one thing Edward wasn't.

[Ambar]

Heaven wrote: "Michaela wrote: "I think Edward is almost abusive, actually.

And Bella is really obsessed with him."

I don't think abusive is the right word.. Controlling? Yes. Obsessive? Yes. Stalkerish? Triple..."

True. He was almost passive with her to a fault.

[[deleted user]]

*facepalm* Has anyone noticed that the first post is a joke? "Bella" herself posted it.

[[deleted user]]

Maxy wrote: "*facepalm* Has anyone noticed that the first post is a joke? "Bella" herself posted it."

I noticed!!! Haha

[Thalia]

Maxy wrote: "*facepalm* Has anyone noticed that the first post is a joke? "Bella" herself posted it."

*thumbs up*

[Ambar]

Ouch. That's gota hurt....

[April]

My only problem with Bella is that she is not a strong female character at all, not like the kick-butt vamp chicks in Christopher Pike's or Amelia Atwater Rhodes' books.

[Julia]

No offense to twilight fans, but what I get from it is that she thinks women can't do anything for themselves, and that they need some guy to constantly protect them.

[Diane]

Interesting title, but I hate discussing on troll threads.

[Veronica]

Julia wrote: "No offense to twilight fans, but what I get from it is that she thinks women can't do anything for themselves, and that they need some guy to constantly protect them."

Agreed.

[Ashley]

Heaven wrote: "Michaela wrote: "I think Edward is almost abusive, actually.

And Bella is really obsessed with him."

I don't think abusive is the right word.. Controlling? Yes. Obsessive? Yes. Stalkerish? Triple..."

I agree with Michaela I think Edward was abusive, maybe not physically but emotionally and psychologically hell yeah.

[Richard]

From a male perspective Edward is actually incredibly controlling and Bella is overly needy. It is not healthy relationship at all.

[Kirby]

Diane *Ahnnihilate* wrote: "Interesting title, but I hate discussing on troll threads."

agree

[Ashley]

Did anyone else take issue with the whole 'true love' thing?? Because if you don't find that one man in all the world who is your match you will be.............forever alone

[Kagama-the Literaturevixen]

Ashley wrote: "Did anyone else take issue with the whole 'true love' thing?? Because if you don't find that one man in all the world who is your match you will be.............forever alone"

And then you will be doooomed.Or not.
I think Twilight is childish in that regard.

There was a discussion about one true love in the film "Ever after" that I thought was rather insightful. ;)

Henry:Do you really think there is only one perfect mate?

Da Vinci:As a matter of fact, I do.

Henry:How can you be certain to find them?
And if you find them, are they really the one for you...or do you only think they are?
What if the person you're meant to be with never appears?
Or she does, but...but you're too distracted to notice?

Da Vinci:You learn to pay attention.

Henry:Then, let's say...God puts two people on earth......and they are lucky enough to find one another.

But... one of them gets hit by lightning.

Well, then what? Is that it?

Or perchance you meet someone new and marry again.
Is that the lady you should be with?

Or was it the first?

When the two of them are side by side,were they both the one for you...and you just met the first one first?

Or is the second one supposed to be first?
And is everything just chance....or are some things meant to be?

Da Vinci:You cannot leave everything to fate, boy.She's got a lot to do.Sometimes you must give her a hand.

[Mickey]

I read an essay this week that discussed the idea of true love (like in Twilight). This is an excerpt from the book Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays by Zadie Smith. It was discussing another book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston:


Since the beginning of fiction concerning the love tribulations of women (which is to say, since the beginning of fiction), the "romantic quest" aspect of these fictions has been too often casually ridiculed: not long ago, I sat down to dinner with an American woman who told me how disappointed she had been to finally read Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life and found it was "Just this long, whiny, trawling search for a man!" Those who read Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life in that way will find little in Their Eyes Were Watching God to please them. It's about a girl who takes some time to find the man she really loves. It is about the discovery of self in and through another. It implies that even the dark and terrible banality of racism [the main characters in the book are black] can recede to a vanishing point when you understand, and are understood by another human being. Goddammit if it doesn't claim that love sets you free. These days "self-actualization" is the aim, and if you can't do it alone you are admitting a weakness. The potential rapture of human relationships to which Hurston gives unabashed expression, the profound "self-crushing love" that Janie [the female main character] feels for Tea Cake [her beloved], may, I suppose, look like the dull finale of a "long, whiny, trawling search for a man." For Tea Cake and Janie, though, the choice of each other is experienced not as desperation, but as discovery, and the need felt on both sides causes them joy, not shame.... It is odd to diagnose weakness where lovers themselves do not feel it.