... because we've neutered most of the other off-limit relationships.Feel drawn to someone who is : a family enemy, already taken, the same sex, a different race, a different religion, a different social class? Who cares. Go for it anyway.
But the vampire. Here is a great off-limit relationship. Love triumphs over blood-lust. Fantastic. And our hero can still be Mr. Perfect because he can't help his murderous desires. True love, though, will help him rise above them...
What I'd like to see is a truly against-the-odds romance. A beautiful, intelligent, well-adjusted 25 year old falling in love with a boring, ugly, middle aged paedophile.
(Actually, I don't want to see it. Let me watch Twilight again.)
No fangks.
ReplyDeleteNeil Gaiman thinks vampires have had their run. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/aug/03/enough-vampire-fiction
I think I'd agree with Neil Gaiman, having read his short piece.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much Anne Rice and Josh Whedon bear responsibility for this. Anne Rice pushed the idea of looking at vampires as the 'heroes' rather than as a monster. That was a fairly huge shift that was needed to enable such a thing as "Vampire romance" (Phrases We Never Thought We Would Utter #43)
And Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv series set up a strong romantic relationship between the schoolgirl protaganist and Angel the vampire - which ended up not living happily ever after (as is the way with all Whedon's romantic relationships).
I wonder how much this genre has come about because there are writers and a critical mass of readers who still want Buffy and Angel to make it, just enough to give it momentum beyond their own circle?
The more vampires, the better.
ReplyDeleteSimone, have you seen Let The Right One In? I'd be interested to know what you thought of it. I loved it.
I've put it on my list. Hope to see it soon.
ReplyDeleteAs a HUGE buffy fan, I like this blog post topic.
ReplyDeleteMark, I would actually put Twilight and Buffy at opposite ends of the spectrum. Buffy tried to subvert the natural order of the vampire/mistress relationship (so instead of helpless girl/powerful vamp we get powerful girl/impotent vamps - think Angel and Spike). I feel movies like Twilight return to the natural order of things - so you get Belle who is somewhat helpless to her surroundings and Edward as her 'protector'.
Which I think is a picture of society's views on feminism. Buffy was the feminist text of her decade (she is the original third waver), whereas Twilight represents a return to women wanting to be desired and protected, consumed even by a man.
Nice insight onlinesoph. Whedon is a relatively unreconstructed feminist (one who nonetheless is quite happy to use male interest in female bodies for ratings purposes, but I suppose that's where the 'third wave' aspect might come in) so that would fit.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I was wondering if Twilight (and the genre) needed a couple of preconditions to work.
Vampires as a kind of hero (and certainly as a person, not a monster) was one. And the Buffy-Angel romance being relatively girly-ish, and certainly very centred on the girl wa another (vampires now a plausible subject for a romantic story without the darkness usually associated with them).
Observing the fortunes of feminism in the morphing of this genre is spot on (and you may have redeemed the entire genre of "vampire romance" for me just with that :) ).
But I wonder if there is a big continuity as well. I get the impression that the vampire lead in Twilight is hardly a model of Stoker's vampire - he seems a bit more emo, a bit more impotent relationally. He's like Angel and season 7 Spike, only more so.
So I wonder if at this point it shows that the current reaction against feminism in some ways shares some of the values of third wave feminism at certain points, and is building on them, even as it rejects other values. Few reactions are able to oppose their predecessor at every point, after all.
I always thought this was all about pushing the 'all teenage girls want to fix the problem boys' theory to its limits. After, being undead is a serious flaw in a potential boyfriend.
ReplyDeleteThis is fun!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Soph on the feminism thing. The reason why I'm currently feeling so fondly towards feminism is because it, to some extent, protected us against this ridiculous fairy tale romantic obsession thing that we currently have. I think Twilight is where we're at right now.
Mark - Not sure that I'd describe Twilight's vampire hero as impotent relationally. Perhaps the opposite.
Anthony - fix the problem boys theory? I'd say it's more like the fatal flaw theory. All heroes have one fault. eg. Mr. Darcy was proud. Apart from that fault they are perfect. True love helps them rise above that one fault, conquer it. Edward Cullen's fault is that he wants to kill people. He wants to kill Bella more than he's ever wanted to kill anyone else. If he can resist her, he's overcome his flaw.
Yes, I can see that would be a more focused theory.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think I'll have to take issue with you labelling a desire to kill people as a 'fatal flaw' without making more of the pun. Honestly, you're as bad as Byron!
Darcy had two faults, actually. High pants.
ReplyDeleteHeh, I'd gotten the exact opposite impression from various things I'd seen on the net about Twilight. So the break is larger than I thought. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Simone. I don't think that the current reappropriation of a male-female dynamic in post-feminism is all that much of a step forward. When combined with sexual liberation it's just setting us up for a move to male-female relationships that are not going to be pretty. Even with the addition of vampires that sparkle in the sunlight...
Boy, I just came back here. Very interesting. I was just kinda sick of vampires ... I don't think I am paying enough attention to them and the relationship dynamics.
ReplyDeleteI found another Guardian article remotely related to this topic. I am learning something - apparently what we call all this is "paranormal romance" (or there is another name for it that is rather more crass): http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/sep/23/sexism-horror-novels-row
ReplyDeleteThanks for digging that up Ali, very interesting. I can't cope with horror, but think it is an important 'canary in the mineshaft' genre - so any insight into what's going on there is appreciated.
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ReplyDeleteI’m with you on the coping factor! Whenever I watch something remotely in that genre I tend to find that I’ve backed out of the room with my fingers in my ears or need to come up for air from behind a cushion, and I have negative interest in vampires - and thus am probably in danger of suffocating in a hole somewhere. (I like your use of ‘canary in the mineshaft’ – I could throw that in nicely next time I’m talking about the latest ‘Chihuahua in a handbag’.)
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder why the sort of literature that wins awards like the Pulitzer (and is possibly more likely to be remembered in association with a generation?) bears so little resemblance to the pop-lit stuff ...