Vampire Romeos and the Women Who Love Them

When I first set out to research and write this article, I was looking to see if I could find logic in the story of Twilight. Twilight being the movie derived from the novel of the same name by Stephanie Meyer that tells the story of “Plain Jane” Bella Swan and her extraordinary vampire boyfriend, Edward, that became entangled in each other’s lives when he found something extraordinary in her.

I was looking to see if it was as “bad” as it seemed. I was looking to see if I could look at it with objective eyes to see if it was really the story of an abusive relationship like I had believed for some time.

It didn’t come to this conclusion because I jumped on a SJW bandwagon. While it was a belief I seemed to share with my fellow warriors, I didn’t always feel that way.

Let me start by telling you how I got here; my history involving Twilight.

I hadn’t read the books when I watched the movie the first time. My aversion to initially watching the movie and reading the books had been influenced by my need at the time to belong to a bandwagon of rejection. I rejected the story, and by extension the movie as well, because it was the cool thing to do for people I admired. It was my love of supernatural vampire fiction that overpowered any need to be one of the “cool kids”, and I picked up a copy of the movie Twilight from the local dvd rental kiosk.

I watched it and I was hooked. I soon devoured the books and was in line opening weekend for all the remaining movies. I was “Team Edward” because I saw a story of all-encompassing love and devotion that rivaled that of the great Count Dracula. What made things worse was how Bella Swan was awkward, unimpressive, and self-effacing. Any young girl could see themselves in Bella Swan, and every woman could heal the wounds of a childhood of being the unremarkable wallflower with each passing page or line of script.

I went looking for a remarkable man to be the person to make me find the confidence to step away from the wall. What I found was a tortured vampiric soul that drained me, and long story short, was forceful of me and mentally abused me to the point where the main story of our interaction ended with me calling the cops.

Seeking legal advice about the possibility of filing a restraining order was not a plot point of the Twilight series of books or films.

I loved the films because of some fairytale ending I sought with a monster, and after everything was over, I watched Twilight and New Moon again and was left shaking and crying.

Is it all Stephanie Meyers’ fault? The simple answer is no. Years later though, I believe that maybe, just maybe, I fell victim to being influenced by a story that can be dated back to the ancient Greeks of a blood sucking being meant to seduce its prey of its lifeforce.

In my 20s and 30s, I was mature in many ways but one. I was unable to advocate for myself in relationships due to being a late bloomer in some respects. I’m a big girl, and I can take care of myself, but it took a lot of self-help videos on YouTube to get to this point.

So, what is my point anyway?

I rewatched Twilight with the intention of being objective to see if it is as bad as it seems. The conclusion I came to is maybe it isn’t, but not in the way that you would likely think.

At its core, Twilight is a vampire love story as much as from the same vein as Dracula; a charismatic immortal being that thrives on blood finds himself in love with a human girl that seems bashful and unassuming. Vampire then does weird creepy stuff involving his love for this human girl... repeatedly. Vampires then do violent stuff all in the name of protection of the human girl. Human girl is aware of herself but gets wrapped up in the passion and danger of the world of the vampire and will go to great lengths to hold onto that unhealthy version of an adrenaline rush.

If you put aside Stephanie Meyers’ obvious attempts to provide her own contribution to the mythos of the vampire (shine bright like a diamond, anyone), this story is typical of a vampire tale right down to the creepy stalker stuff.

In fact, to Edward’s credit possibly, he spends most of the movie and the book Twilight (also Midnight Sun) fighting against his base vampiric urges to attempt to protect Bella. However, if someone feels they must stay away from you for your own good, maybe they should just stay away in the first place.

The greater issue might not be Edward and Bella, but something bigger across literature.

See, we can try to protect young women from this piece of literature, but what can we do to protect them from their high school curriculum? Can we bust through the brick walls of every freshman high school English classroom and steal all the copies of Romeo and Juliet? Should we protest outside of the PTA meeting about teachers assigning Great Expectations? Do we all go back to school and become high school English teachers to prevent the indoctrination of young women due to Wuthering Heights?

Heathcliff is so dreamy... No, Heathcliff is a dick.

What were we to expect when young women are being exposed to the frivolous lust story of Romeo and Juliet and having it branded as an ageless love story? There is a reason the story is considered a tragedy, and it's not because they were in love and died. It’s because two families couldn’t see past their squabbling to see that two children needed immediate attention, yet were being ignored, and were about to make the horrible mistake of taking a permanent vacation. Take another look at the ending of Romeo and Juliet sometime and pay special attention to the last lines of the prince and think about why “all are punished”.

The story of Romeo and Juliet is less about two teenagers falling in lust with each other and un-aliving themselves and more about how the actions of the families and people around them drove that conclusion. Yet throughout history people make the relationship between Romeo and Juliet the central focus. It is used in wide stream media as something to strive for; find a love like Romeo and Juliet.

This story is in many ways like that of Twilight, yet society holds Shakespeare in such a high regard that we are unable to see that the stories are very much one and the same; forbidden love ending with some sort of tragedy.

The difference? Romeo and Juliet is a part of high school curriculums everywhere. So, with that said, why would anyone question the story of Twilight; it’s just not as widely celebrated?

What can we do? That’s a good question. Thankfully, the idealism of fractions of society are moving towards producing new literature that provides a more mindful expression of what it means to be a woman in that society. Yes, the problematic stuff is still written and still exists, but there are more people calling it out for what it is when they see it which is good.

However, some of the best projections of life to support these young people are constantly in danger of being banned across the country. The best way to combat this practice? Keep on speaking up against the practice.

Be a lighthouse. Be a beacon with a well-stocked personal library. Remember, the light at the end of the tunnel might be you.

It doesn’t mean that people can’t enjoy Twilight for what it is, as long it’s not hurting anyone. The best way for it to not hurt anyone is to make sure everyone is better equipped to navigate this world and to advocate for themselves. Advocating for themselves is important in love and life. It is enriching minds to take better care of themselves by creating an environment where they have the tools to advocate for themselves.

With that, it will be a lot harder for the monsters to hurt us.