Quote# 82779
I liked the Twilight movies for three reasons.
(1) Edward and Bella are remarkably mature, cultured, articulate, and well-mannered teenagers. Edward, of course, has been a teenager for a very long time. But Bella has not. The Twilight Saga teaches young people that being well-mannered and well-spoken and developing a taste for European high culture, is not incompatible with being young, attractive, and fun.
(2) The Twilight movies promote the aesthetic appreciation of whiteness, since both Bella and the vampires have very pale complexions, which heighten our awareness of the beauty and expressiveness of white features. This effect was strongest in the first Twilight movie directed by Catherine Hardwicke. The second movie, directed by Chris Weitz, and the present film, directed by David Slade, somewhat undermine this effect by giving the vampires a creepy, corpse-like pallor.
(3) Most importantly, the Twilight movies are anti-feminist, emphasizing traditional male and female roles. They are a return to an older form of literature combining chivalry and Gothic horror.
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From a racialist point of view, my only quarrel with the Twilight Saga is Bella’s relationship with the American Indian Jacob Black. But in the end Bella chooses a man of her own race. My initial instinct would have been to leave out the whole interracial romance, but have changed my mind. Young women today are being bombarded with pro-miscegenation propaganda, so perhaps it is healthier to acknowledge that such temptations exist but show Bella choosing her own kind in the end.
Trevor Lynch,
Counter-Currents Publishing 72 Comments [7/24/2011 4:40:52 AM]
Fundie Index: 61