• Fangirlism in Twilight

    When a girl has read Twilight, I can see that she has a daydreaming look on her face. Most fangirls prefer Edward over Jacob. In fiction, Edward Cullen is the "gentleman" that every girl dreams of having. In reality, a guy like Jacob most likely exists on Earth. In addition, the saga has disappointed and given plenty of girls another (bad) point of view about themselves and men in terms of love in romance novels. Now, why is that?

    Reason 1: Sex
    What guy in his right mind can keep his virginity for over a century? In general, men have sex at least once in their lifetimes. And when having one or more affairs, love may and may not be present. And in terms of the rest of the Cullens, who have also lived for over a century, have they not had any curiosity of what would it feel like to have sex? This type of "not having sex" may come from the mormonic idea of sex after marriage. If I recall correctly, the only married couple until Breaking Dawn is Carlisle and Esme, and nowhere in the saga does it say directly or indirectly that this couple had an affair.

    In Love in the Times of Cholera, two men love a woman named Fermina. One man is a doctor and very rational; the other is your average man. Fermina, who does not love the doctor, marries him due to her father's prejudgement. The other man, however, has many affairs, but the one woman he loved was Fermina. He stayed "virgin" for her until he could love Fermina for real, that is to say, he was waiting for her husband to die. We can see from the genius of García Márquez his wonderful novel is about a love that transcends through time, and sex is not an issue. If Meyer wanted to write a kick-a** romantic novel, she should have written more love scenes, and that does not mean that the saga will turn from romantic to erotic.

    Reason 2: Stereotype
    Edward is 117 years old. I would not find it surprising if he wanted to keep his "gentleman charm", which adds up to the description of a "hot and sexy vampire". Nonetheless, let me say this straight. No such being exists! Edward is not Adonis and he is not the example of a perfect man. Meyer mentions this too much in her saga, making Jacob, the ideal boyfriend for any girl, look degraded. The most possible reason for Meyer to have made her male protagonist a vampire is for the simple reason that most fangirls would like a guy that has a dark side. In terms of novels and manga, any chick loves danger, a dark hero, or a serial psychopathic villain. Take for example Phantom of the Opera. A fangirl would automatically choose Eric over Raul, who is the ideal man for marriage. If we look at the facts, Eric has a deformed face, which leads to his dark past and, as a result, an opera-singing murderer. His singing and white mask are appealing to fangirls, and thus blinds them from the actual matter of things.

    Reason 3: Mormonism
    Not that I have something against the religion, but if we actually do our homework and learn what a vampire really is, then what Bella and other fangirls would be adoring is a satanic creature that has been modified by mormonic beliefs. Take for example the fact that Edward sparkles instead of burning into ash when exposed to sunlight. I do not find anything appealing about a teenage vampire that sparkles. However, I do find the Cullen's diet a bit more believable than to hide in Forks just because they are dazzling in the literal sense of the word. In Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, the Count is an undead bloodsucker that does not resemble Adonis, and hates anything holy. Therefore, we can deduct that only a demon would fear holy water, garlic, and the almighty cross. As for the Sun, the star is a "celestial" body. Therefore, smart people can also deduct that God is doing His job.

    Reason 4: Anti feminism
    Why would I want to be like Bella? A girl whose vulnerability attracts danger, and needs a vampire or werewolf to save her, because she cannot save her own skin? We see this stereotype girl in fairy tales. The best examples I can give you are Disney movies. In Cinderella, who saves her from misery? A prince. In Snow White, who saves her from eternal sleep? A prince. In Twilight, who saves Bella from a life and death situation? Either Edward or Jacob, but mostly Edward.

    Back in the day of Cinderella and Snow White, women were not in an important position, and chauvinists would say that women were dumb and only good in the production of baby boys to the world. And yet, fangirls are attracted to these kinds of stories, not to mention that the girls in fairy tales are hopeless without a man. A girl likes to feel secure in her lover's arms, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is perfectly understandable, unless your love is the one that does all the rescuing. A girl should at least know the basics of protecting themselves from things such as rapists and robbers.

    By comparing Snow White with Bella, we can find similarities.

    confused In the category of "life and death" situations, an evil stepmother wants Snow White dead, while James, Victoria, and the Vulturi want Bella dead.

    confused If we look at the candidates for "prince charming", a prince from a faraway kingdom saves Snow White while sparkly Edward is a better "prince" for Bella than Jacob is.

    confused Now, in terms of the youngest bride, it is unknown, but because the prince and Edward say so, I guess Bella and Snow White just have to get married before they are twenty-one. Did I also mention that getting married at an early age is also seen as good mormonic conduct?

    Still there are differences between both stories or otherwise the saga is a pack of modernized plagiarism. First, Snow White is prettier than Bella, and there is no love triangle in Snow White. Edward is a vampire, so he is a threat to Bella (kind of ironic isn't it?); the prince, however, is no threat to Snow White. Finally, if we look at the story backgrounds, Bella is smarter than Snow White. After they taught us not to take anything from strangers, Bella would not take anything from a creepy, old lady.


    Briefly, the saga has one heck of an influence on girls, especially the bad kind. That is how the fangirls of both Teams are born (the obsessed kind), and it is a waste of time to talk some sense into them.