Why I like
the Twilight Saga…
(For the sake of
ease…I am going to refer to The Twilight Saga and simply Twilight…hoping for the
realization I mean the entire story.)
I have
heard so many disgruntled and discouraging things about the Twilight Saga that
it makes me want to yell, “Get a grip!
Its just a story…can’t a girl like a fairytale ending any more?!”
I have a
hard time comparing Twilight with other books…not that I don’t reflect on all
the different stories I have read…for they do make me who I am as a reader and
book adventurer. But the
trickiness in comparing books is just the same as comparing people…each is
unique and intriguing because the author is telling their own story. Each character may make me think for a
moment of someone else, but then of course they do…we are the sum total of our
influences. It is who I am as a person
and my experiences that make me filter and view each story in its own way.
I enjoyed
Twilight because I felt myself finally being described as a character in a
book. I have read and enjoyed many
female characters and wanted to be each one as I read. I wanted to be the quirky orphan girl who became
an author and won the heart of the cute boy next door like Lucy
Maud Montgomery’s, Anne of Green Gables did, where being smart was
better than being pretty. I wanted
to be as clever, smart and as brave as J.K Rowling’s, Hermione Granger. I have seen myself as a bridge between
my two worlds like Hari in Robin McKinley’s “Blue Sword.” Or having the strength and purity of Éowyn
in Tolkien’s stories, or the
drive to survive like, Katniss in Suzanne Collin’s Hunger Games. There are so many leading ladies I want
to be but until Twilight I never really felt like one of them. I could aspire to be like them, but
really I am not that kind of hero.
I will never lead a war. I
am not, to the casual observer, a fighter or an instigator. I am not amazingly bold or brave,
although I do share the ideals they each inspire; I am more like Bella.
I have
never been a fan of vampire stories and actually had no intention of reading
Twilight. But two of my best
friends each said at different moments, “Have you read Twilight? Because when I read it, I thought of
you.”
One friend
saying this…ok maybe, but two--So I picked up the books and read them. And I was in agreement with my two friends,
they were right. I saw
myself. I like Bella because I
understand her. I feel her. I don’t find her weak but instead I
find her human and normal and a quiet, introverted observer who wants to love the people
important to her and protect them, even if it means self-sacrifice. Oh wait…am I talking about Twilight?!
I saw a
poster on Pinterest that showed images of Katniss, Princess Leia, Hermione
Granger, and Bella Swan. The first
three had captions like: I started a rebellion, I lead and army, and I fought a
dark lord; but Bella’s caption was “I got married.” And then it said, “Girls,
choose your role model wisely.”
And I thought to myself…that’s crap. I was going to just ignore it but I kept fuming…So I made a
different one and added Éowyn as
well. I captioned Éowyn with “I
killed a witch king.” And I changed Bella’s to say, “I stopped a war.” And topped it all off with, ”I am
woman, hear me roar.” I mean
really, why do that? If you can’t
say something nice…why say it at all.
(What about Aurora?! She slept through everything!) So here I am justifying a character in a book. Why? Because
really, deep down I am justifying myself. Yep, pure self-preservation.
I read the
other books and wanted to be those leading ladies, but when I read Stephenie
Meyer’s descriptions of Bella, I felt like someone had taken covert videos and
notes from inside my own head.
While as a girl I always wanted to be Princess Leia, but I never had that
type A personality. I understood
Bella not wanting to really even be noticed, not wanting a big birthday party
because she didn’t like being the center of attention. I am the girl who never minded being
alone because I liked actually being on my own. Not to shun people, but just needing alone time.
I remember
one of my friends saying Bella’s character was so weak and boring and I
remember thinking…what must you think of me? Not that I am Bella, but rather every word Stephenie wrote I
understood to my very core. What
is wrong with hurting so bad that you feel a hole inside your chest that
nothing can really heal it? What
is so abnormal about crying over the things that ache and holding your mind
together by being around a friend who lightens some of the darkness. And what is wrong with eventually
knowing your super power is simply shielding yourself. And in fact, it is a shield so strong
you can project it beyond yourself to protect every person you love. That unlike the movie, nothing bad can
really happen in the end because of your gift. (Although in the film, they do
take it all back.) I loved that
Bella’s gift wasn’t being a fighter in the battle strength-wise, but rather
she was able to stop the fight before it even started.
So beyond
Bella and understanding her melancholy mind, I love that really in the end she
gets to spend eternity with the one she loves. She does get married.
She does wait until marriage to sleep with her husband (although it is
more thanks to Edward than to Bella in the restraint department). She does
bridge the gap between her two families and between races. I love the fairytale. In the end Bella gets to finally feel
like she was always meant to be…I find my own eternity in the story. That eventually I will reach the life I
was made for. I will reach
eternity and spend that eternity in the presences of God. Twilight is for the quiet girls who
just want to blend into the background and yet know deep down they are meant
for more. It is for the fairytale
ending without the fight. Where
the story is more about the way you feel and love then it is about the epic
war. I loved the bits of poetic
imagery that last after reading these books. So thank you to Stephenie Meyer for creating a lady hero
who is more like me…
…
Well I also have to
add a bit of a tribute to some of my favorite authors…I love Tolkien’s ability
to weave an epic tale. He was
a bard in the truest sense of the word.
I have to put this line in, “…to
scatter in tattered shreds over the marshes before Mirkwood.” (I love the way it rolls off my
tongue and that isn’t even one of the best known.) JK Rowling has captured my
imagination like few other fantasy writers, from the enchanted ceiling and Hagrid,
to the potion making and spell casting, to flying on brooms and Hippogriffs and
Thestrals and disapparating (I had to check the spelling on most of those words!!!)
… I laugh and cry and then, whenever reading about Umbridge, I want to throw
the book across the room. And
while I am a fan of Suzanne Collins it is not for the Hunger Games, but rather
her first series The Underland Chronicles.
“Fly you
high.”
Her writing
style is something I enjoy, she sweeps you into a world beyond home, on the wings of bats and in the minds of rats. Although I had
a hard time with the whole idea of the Hunger Games, I found them just too harsh and mean for my taste; like the
inspiration behind them of the reality show Survivor and the ongoing war (mean people
just…suck). Yet, despite its harshness I was captured and
couldn’t stop reading. Peeta was
the best of heroes. I love Robin
McKinley and Patricia A. Mckillip, A Tale of Two Cities and Emperor of Ocean
Park, Jane Austen and John Grisham.
I could name so many other authors and stories I read over and over
again…but there is no reason to.
Now, all I am saying is I love a good story with characters I understand
and believe in. That is why I like
Twilight… and so many others.
