Vampire Love Stories

By Rachel Leingang
Staff Writer

As a firm believer in the principle of “Don’t knock it until you try it,” I recently watched both Twilight movies. I’ll admit that I didn’t read the books, mostly because I don’t like much fiction, particularly vampire love stories. Upon my first viewing, I realized that both movies are anti-feminist. I know there are Twilight fans reading this, probably screaming at their newspapers and going to write me a barrage of hate mail, but first allow me to fully present the argument.

The first anti-feminist leanings begin with the general relationship between the two main characters, Bella and Edward. Bella, the main female character, moves in with her dad in Forks, Washington, at the beginning of the first movie. For some reason, many people are drawn to her, despite her lack of a real personality. She seems to be weak and kind of floundering at her new school, until she meets Edward, the world famous vampire that every teenage girl knows and loves.

Edward tells her time and time again not to get involved with him because he’s trouble, yet this means nothing to Bella. She continues to pursue him and he continues to rescue her from any possible threats. It’s nice that Edward is protective, I suppose, but Bella is portrayed as weak in body and mind, and easily swayed by whichever influence comes along.

It’s also troubling that Edward is hard-wired to eat her. Although the movie makes a point to include the fact that Edward and his family do not eat humans anymore, there is the constant threat that he could kill her. That’s a very real, very unhealthy image to show young, impressionable girls. Many girls and women are victims of domestic abuse and often go back to their partners, saying that they know they are loved and the abuser commits these acts out of deep love. Showing a borderline abusive relationship perpetuates this image. It may even make girls yearn for a relationship filled with this kind of “love.”

Toward the end of the first movie, Edward has to suck vampire poison out of Bella’s arm, and he can barely stop himself from the temptation to eat her. Even though vampires aren’t real, the imagery is this: he is clearly in control at all times, and she is subject to his every whim, whether it be racing up a mountain at warp-speed (weird) or falling victim to his animalistic ways (dangerous).

In the second movie, Bella becomes even more of a sad sack. Edward decides he can’t be with her, so she starts hanging out with a pack of werewolves. First of all, the town of Forks must have some kind of nuclear waste issues to be producing all of these fantastical characters. But
either way, Bella is again involved in dangerous situations that she makes no attempt to change or take charge of.

For an entire part of the movie, Bella sits in front of a window while the seasons pass by. This shows how powerless she is without Edward. It portrays an image that women have fought hard to rid themselves of: A woman who is nothing and has nothing without a man.

Not only was this part of the movie incredibly boring, but I literally laughed out loud at the sad scenario depicted. Yes, love is important, but it’s more important that girls know they can be anything they want to be without the love of a man. Bella finally leaves her windowsill to hang out more with the werewolves and her werewolf friend Jacob. He falls in love with her, too, and it seems like she finally gains some personality again now that another boy is in her life. It’s frustrating for me as a feminist to know that such popular movies portray the female lead character as so weak.

I told some friends who like Twilight that I was writing this article, and they were outraged. One mentioned that the female vampires aren’t weak like Bella. I’m willing to concede that the female vampires do show a lot of control and are strong females, but isn’t it interesting that the only strong females in the movie are literally man-eaters? This is another image that feminists are usually typecast as: man-hating bitches. Yet another stereotype perpetuated by Twilight.

In the first movie, Bella makes a comment to one of her non-predator friends about asking a boy to a prom and encourages her to make the first move and ask him out. She encourages her friend to be an empowered female, yet her words are empty of what that actually means. Bella should be taking her own advice.

With the third movie, “Eclipse,” coming out this week, I want readers and Twilight viewers to keep in mind that Bella is by no means an example of a strong female. We shouldn’t strive to be like her or date a potentially abusive man like Edward. Twilight can be entertaining, and I will admit that the movies weren’t the worst movies I’ve ever seen, but they shouldn’t be taken seriously and young girls shouldn’t be asked to fantasize about these types of relationships.

Feminism has come a long way in the past decades, but negative stereotypes like those in Twilight continue to hinder the cause.

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