Sure, Twilight May be Sexist, but it's Also Female Escapist Fantasy
This will be an essay regarding the alleged political and social undercurrents of the first Twilight movie (for a normal review, go here), and how whether it matters in judging the film. For the record, I have not read the books and I know very little about what happens in the later stories. I will be only taking stock of the content of the first film. I will be dealing with (alleged) symbolic as well as literal interpretations of onscreen events.
Taken as a movie and taken at face value, Twilight is simply a romantic drama involving a young girl and a brooding but handsome vampire (who looks and acts her age, but is actually nearly 100 years old). Like any worldwide phenomenon, the original books (and thus this first movie) have been dissected by the page. Most of the criticisms are in the vein of 'it's sexist' or 'it's anti-feminist', or 'it celebrates the oppressive patriarchy'. Do these charges apply purely to the first movie? And if they do, is it intentional, or merely an inevitable byproduct of the story that the author and filmmakers wanted to tell?
Much has been made of the author Stephanie Meyer's Mormon religious leanings, but the movie's symbolism is generic enough to apply to many religious or cultural dogmas, since all too many of them treat sexuality, especially female sexuality, as something dangerous and to be kept locked up. Bella's inherent desire to 'be' with Edward at all costs, as well as Edward's constant attempts to brush her away, have disturbing implications, since it is the girl's (metaphorical) sexual awakening that leads Edward to place her family and his family in jeopardy. One could argue that this is simply a double standard, that far more films treat the male as the aggressor and the female as the one who must ward off his advances. Why should we decry a movie that simply reverses the formula? The issue is the fact that, although Bella is the aggressor, it is still Edward who presents the danger. Thus we have a situation of Edward being dangerous to Bella, yet the primary responsibility to prevent that danger falls in Bella's hands, not Edward's.
Further muddying the waters is the fact that the 'danger' that does present itself is not from Edward, but from a third party threat from a different vampire. James is presented in the film as a standard variety psychopath, who just happens to be a vampire. If the story did not involve the supernatural, would Bella really be seen as responsible for drawing the prurient interest of (for example) Edward's old college buddy who happens to be a rape-minded murderer? While most of the movie treats vampirism as a metaphor for consensual sex, the climax does revert back to the vampirism equals rape metaphor that usually exists in such fiction. Thus we are dangerously close to having a film where Bella's romantic advances toward Edward are seen as responsible for a third party taking an interest in (metaphorically) raping and (literally) killing her.
The problem, and the key to understanding why the story is offensive to some people, is that the core of the romantic drama revolves around two contradictory and troubling connotations. On one hand, Edward keeps telling Bella that he cannot control himself around her, that she is putting herself in danger. Thus the sexual wiles of Bella is endangering all around her, because Edward may or may not be able to control his own lethal desires. But, wait, he is also protective of her, and the movie seems to imply (by her constant run-ins with lethal danger from outside forces) that she cannot take care of herself and must be guarded and watched at all times. Edward states both of these notions outright during the course of the movie.
There are two main classic cultural myths of females, two false assumptions that have been used as the definitive excuses to subjugate and disenfranchise women for centuries in all manner of societies. The first is that women are devious and reckless creatures who tempt men who can't control themselves. As a result of these fiendish seducers, the weak but noble men do all manner of vice and corruption, deeds that without the temptation of the women they would not have even considered. But, wait, they are also weak-willed and emotionally fragile creatures that cannot care for themselves and must be protected from peril and shielded from emotional complication ('the fairer sex'). Whether accidentally or intentionally, Twilight revolves around both stereotypes.
Ok, so assuming that the narrative of Twilight is sexist and does play into classic myths that have excused female domination, does that make the film sexist, or merely the very sort of fantasy that it wants to be? As I discussed a few months back (when discussing Sex & The City: The Movie), the core elements of female fantasy is the idea of shirking responsibility, throwing caution to the wind, and living out all of your selfish desires without major consequences. Comparatively, the male escapist fantasy involves immature boys who man up just a little bit, take responsibility, and use their talents to save lives, make a difference, and win the girl without having to make any true concessions to their character and personality (think Iron Man).
In this archetypal female fantasy, the shy girl moves to a new school, completely unaware of how intelligent and attractive she is (for all the hubbub about how 'dreamy' Pattinson's Edward is, Kristen Stewart's Bella isn't exactly Dawn Weiner* either). Without even trying, she gets hit on by every boy in the school (and, in one creepy scene, her father's much older friend) and manages to draw the attention of the school hunk with absolutely no effort. He ignores everyone else in the school, but he takes a shining to her immediately. When the danger of this forbidden romance is exposed, Bella chooses puppy love over the safety of Edward's family and her own family and pays no price for it (in fact, she gets to keep Edward and her friends and family).
And, let's not forget, part of the point of fantasy is to indulge in that which is not (or, sometimes, what shouldn't be so). In Twilight, the target demographic of young women gets to spend two hours in a prototypical female escape fantasy, and they can also make a choice to ignore the sociological undercurrents. They can choose to revel in the fairy tale stereotypes, and even play around with the female culture myths if they so choose**. Maybe the irony is that the female escapism genre involves allowing women to give into their most selfish possible instincts, while male escapism involves men ignoring their base instincts and striving to be better people in situations of great consequence. Actually, if you take the gender politics of Twilight and view them as a pure fantasy, then it actually makes the very real women who view the film look pretty good.
Scott Mendelson
* For the record, I am referencing the character of Dawn Weiner from Welcome To The Dollhouse, not the actress Heather Matarazzo, a talented and lovely actress who deserves much better work than 'naked tortured chick' in Hostel 2.
** Frankly, I was far more disturbed by Enchanted, which aimed its anti-feminist fairy-tale foolishness at a demographic far too young to separate the fantasy from the gender politics underneath the surface.
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Scott, if you'd like some more mature vampire fiction, may I recommend the "Blood" and "Smoke" series by Canadian author Tanya Huff? As a movie reviewer, you might get a kick out of the way Huff twists traditional horror movie themes around for her plots. The vampire writes historical romances (bodice-rippers), drives cautiously and falls for smart, kick-ass women. The dialog is witty and sometimes snarf-your-tea funny. The sex is not explicit, but definitely not metaphorical.
Real life is HARD and feminism has been hiding for about 25 years.
Where is Xena when you need her?
This movie reminds me of fundamentalist Islam. The men cannot control themselves, so they demonize the women, make them wear burkas, stay at home, keep them uneducated and under their heels. All because the men blame the women for the powerful feelings of lust they provoke. Like it's their fault...
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I didn't want to get into this in my original essay, but (speaking in very, VERY broad generalizations) the two main female oppression myths are firmly planted in cultures that worship Christianity and Islam. In Christian cultures, those that do oppress women use the excuse that women are weaker, fairer creatures who cannot care for themselves and need to be protected, psychically and emotionally. On the other hand, the Muslims that choose to oppress the female gender (as opposed to those who do not) usually use the myth of the devious trickster woman. We can all argue over whether it's better to suppress women because you fear them, as opposed to oppressing women because you don't respect them. But it's an interesting difference that has always intrigued me. As for where Judaism stands, I think it leans a bit more to the trickster myth, but I don't know enough about that (ironic, since I'm Jewish) to make any bold statements on the subject. Anyone who can add to that would be welcome.
all I know is anything that has my 14 y/o daughter and her friends devouring books and discussing them at length is A-OK with me.
Thanks for making this more complicated than need be.
I thought it was about watching a really super hot guy drooling over girl he had to be
very considerate and protective of, a sexy, handsome gentleman.
A true female fantasy like Mr. Darcy if every there was one.
I haven't seen the movie, but I have read the books. I agree with your review. I found the books to be your basic Cinderella fantasy tales. What bothers me is the target audience is a bunch of girls literally raised on Disney-Princess stuff. These books are just a slightly more grown-up version of the same old thing. But, at least the girls are reading! Maybe they will wander off into non-fiction by accident!
Over thinking a romantic lovestory is the hallmark of being a male reviewer of movies. Give me a break!
Women's sexuality has always been an excuse to limit freedom and exert control over women. It doesn't wash this time. Female fantasy - bring it on!
Rockerbabe, I so totally agree with you!
I am a middle aged lesbian who considers and sees herself as both a feminist AND a bit of a separatist. Having said that, I enjoyed the movie very much and when I thought about the why of it, I realized that it was the sexual tension without the cultural "norm" of consumation that was a great turn-on. It was great escapist fantasy.
We live in a sexist culture that colonizes women. Bella pretty much did her story on her own terms and that was appealing.
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Actually, over thinking any and all movies is the hallmark of any film critic. Although we do agree that I welcome the genre of female escapist fantasy (you might want to check out my Sex & The City essay for a more vivid defense of said genre). As I mentioned elsewhere, if I can condemn vigilantism and stand up for due process while still enjoying 24 and Batman pictures (or pulp fiction like The Devil's Advocate), then feminists can certainly enjoy Twilight.
"the core elements of female fantasy is the idea of shirking responsibility, throwing caution to the wind, and living out all of your selfish desires without major consequences. "
Wow you just explained to me WHY I do not like "chick flicks"
My mom ran away when I was 15 and left us to deal with the destructive aftermath of her actions.
I enjoyed this analysis and I like your discussion of those two "classic" myths.
However:
"the core elements of female fantasy is the idea of shirking responsibility, throwing caution to the wind, and living out all of your selfish desires without major consequences. Comparatively, the male escapist fantasy involves immature boys who man up just a little bit, take responsibility, and use their talents to save lives, make a difference, and win the girl without having to make any true concessions to their character and personality (think Iron Man)."
I know you're not saying that these two examples represent the vast majority of women and men, respectively. Because that would be a pretty big generalization that most women desire to shirk their heavy responsibilities and men dream of empowerment - because, you know, women do all the work and men just play all day. Sounds like a shaky conclusion to me.
Other than that, loved the review. Two thumbs up on the review. :)
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When you're dealing in archetypes and genre, generalization is (alas) part of the game. Of course, not all women dream of being Bella or Carrie Bradshaw anymore than all men dream of being Tony Stark or John McClane (and for that matter, plenty of women like stuff getting blown up and lots of men enjoy the romantic rescue fantasies). The reason Iron Man keeps coming up is because it is as prototypical a 'male fantasy' as I've seen in ages (it was also marketed with one of the most macho 'no girls allowed' campaigns I had ever seen for a tent pole release... it almost made me embarrassed to want to see the film). And for that matter Sex & The City: The Movie was the most prototypical female fantasy I had seen in awhile.
I went to see this movie at midnight on November 21st. There were 9 theaters open for this movie and hundreds of screaming teens all around me. I have not read the books but my daughter has; 3 times! I believe that is was refreshing to see a movie that didn't have explicit sex scenes and showed that restraint could be just as exciting. It's a good lesson for teenage girls in my opinion. I am so tired of watching movies with my kids and watching uncomfortable situations on screen. I rather enjoyed the movie and I understand why the girls love it now.
Excellent analysis and the first time I've ever seen the dichotomy between female and male fantasies. Women fantasize of acting independently of their superegos without negative consequences. Men fantasize of acting on the urging of their superegos without suffering a loss of freedom to act on selfish desires. Fascinating. Cultural expectations obviously put a lid on both sexes. The lid on women limits their freedom to be "bad." Does the lid on men limit their freedom to be "good?"
As recently as the 1960's, young girls were taught that men (read "vampires") roamed the world in search of virgins to "ruin." And if a girl were "ruined," it was her fault for presenting herself to the world as available. While a man's freedom to act stopped at the other man's nose, a woman's freedom to act stopped at the edge of a man's eyesight.
These Twilight stories reflect the notion that men are incapable of sexual control and women ignore that "truth" at their peril. Interestingly, in certain Muslim countries, a woman who flirts, flirts with death. Not disgrace, as in Christian olden days. Death.
Fairy tales and mythologies serve real purposes. Perhaps these stories are a safety valve; a harmless couple of hours during which a girl gets to be a "bad ass" (female-wise) and live through it. Think "Iron Girl."
It is axiomatic in Islam that Muslims will gladly murder for their faith. Murdering women is at most a misdemeanor and does not carry any major potential penalty. Female lives are forfeit at birth as being a danger to the community, patriarchy and the religion. This is not Koranic law but rather accreted hatred, fear and contempt on the part of the muslim patriarchy. After more than a thousand years of disenfranchising females the patriarchy intends to keep them subservient forever.
With all this talk of sexism the irony here is the movie was directed by a woman and became the highest weekend gross for a woman ever.
Good - great - wonderful - but not all women are feminists, and being a woman does not absolve you of acts of sexism. So, the fact that the director is a woman and that it set a record does not automatically disallow debate about inherent sexism in the plot or portrayal.
I miss Buffy.
Yeah, I miss Buffy too. All these little tweener chicks who think a pretty girl has never before pined for a brooding vampire she can't have just make me laugh.
Why is male "escapist fantasy" nearly always characterized as "cool" and worthy of being emulated, while female escapist fantasy is almost always dismissed as being silly, frivilous "soft porn?"
Could it be, b/c men make the rules?
As for the "Twilight" series, it's more like "Mormon-female escapist fantasy" than anything else -- something akin to what a female (usually young and naive) imagines when deprived of the real thing.
I found it tediously boring. Give me Jane Austen anyday.
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Absolutely! That was what lead me to write my original Sex & The City essay, trying to figure out why critics were so brutal both against the movie and personally against its fans. Yes, it was lousy, but its flaws were not gender-specific. Transformers (a prototypical male fantasy) was pretty terrible too, but even the critics who didn't give it a pass didn't judge it as a token of shame to the male gender. Yes, the women in Sex & The City were a bit shallow and overly consumerist, but critics didn't get that it was part of the specific fantasy present in many 'chick flicks'.
Didn't Jane Austen's characters comment on this very topic in PERSUASION? Wentworth and Elizabeth discussed gender roles in romantic culture and he said something about how novels are replete with warnings of the ficklness of women then she replied by noting that novels are in the main written by men.
The Cinderella fantasy is equally problematic, letting women indulge in the notion that they will be showered with everything except responsibility for the moral virtue of being pretty. And the Cinderella fantasy is alive, well and virulent -- just look at all the women who went crazy with grief when Princess Di, a woman they didn't even know, was killed.
Making real women look good is easy when they're portrayed so poorly in the film. It is important to note that the film may seem like escapist fantasy for many, but to the demographic it's aimed at, may dangerously be misconstrued as a reaffirmation of patriarchal views of female subordination and incompetence.
That said, this essay's far more on point than the review. I'm surprised that despite the fact you dissected it so well for it's primitive portrayals you were still able to enjoy the film. Thanks for the insight, I just came back from watching it and think I may have turned my brain off to a lot of these underlying themes.
"may dangerously be misconstrued as a reaffirmation of patriarchal views of female subordination and incompetence"
couldn't have said it better.
I think we should treat this as an opportunity to educate these young girls. Can parents read the books and join in the discussions about them? Help the girls see that some of the mores presented in the books are not the most ideal while allowing them to still enjoy the books and care about the characters?
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