This morning, on FB, I noticed a friend posting a note voicing very loudly a complete and utter disgust with Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. Stop, stop – before you Twilight lovers get your panties in a bunch, here’s the thing: Meyer has portrayed Bella and her peers in a light that is MOST unhealthy for modern teens. And THIS is the point being made. It is sickening to think that Bella could be a role-model for nowadays teens. I never considered this before because frankly, I despise Bella. I think she is a weak and snivelling ditz. BUT … I am very familiar with the concept of a protagonist in a story being THE most hated of all in the entire story. It pains me to admit this, but I canNOT recall at this moment where this concept was born in my head. I studied literature at A-level and have had the benefit of MANY classical literature…..
ARGH!!!! I’ve remembered. =) Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales – specifically The Pardoner’s Tale. I had to read that for A-level literature. That man, the pardoner, was the most insipid, cold-hearted and CRUEL character I had come across. He was ruthless, yet cunning and in some ways amusing. We learned to despise him, yet appreciate him and his point of view and in the end learning to love his hateful ways.
I admit, it is a complex concept but it is the lesson learned that helped me appreciate Bella and Jacob in this light. It was their rant that brought my attention to the fact that whileI had the benefit of such a lesson, there are others who have not. A LOT of others. A great number of them young teens without the concept that a main character is not necessarily the nicest character. I have to say that I think Ms. Meyer dropped the ball here. There are too many impressionable minds out there willing to grab at Bella as a role model. And Bella is the worst example of how one should conduct oneself as a young woman in today’s world. There are a few other incidents in the story that create a moral outrage as well, but I can’t mention them without giving away the story. Suffice it to say that this story is not about how life should ideally be at all – it’s not a blueprint, it’s not a guide, it’s not a fairytale .. it is a fantasy which is dark and brooding and not necessarily positive.
For those of us with a solid moral view of what is “right” and “wrong”, the Twilight series is a wonderful read especially if one can accept the fact that the main character is not necessarily the one you are supposed to like … for the rest of us .. well, let us hope that the voice of the former group creates perspective for the latter.
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