We here at WWBD? cannot deny that we are Twi-hards (die-hard fans of Twilight and the new breed of vampire). I think it's safe to say that we are all a little in love with Edward (but apparently not as much as we are with Jim Halpert), but the heroine, Bella, is a controversial figure. So I pose this week's Question of the Week:
Is Bella a stereotypical teenage girl, madly in love with her super-hot vampire boyfriend?
or
Is her devotion to said super-hot vampire boyfriend and the fact that she cooks dinner AND washes the dishes for her father every day a giant step backwards for female characters and feminists?
5 comments:
Obviously, I have an opinion on this one. I understand why girls can relate to Bella. She sees herself as just an ordinary girl, one who is very clumsy and a bit awkward. I have no problem with "ordinary" girl heroines. I don't even have a problem with an "ordinary" girl falling and being madly in love with a super-hot vampire. I wish I could.
HOWEVER, to me, Bella is just a bit too needy. She didn't really bother me in the first book, but in New Moon, she started to irk me a bit. First of all, she can't quite seem to believe that Edward really loves her, and she thinks she's not really worthy of that. Then, when he (untruthfully) tells her that he doesn't really love her that much and leaves her, she believes him right away, then falls into a catatonic state for the next 5 MONTHS because she just can't go on living without him. I had a friend argue that there are plenty of teenage girls who would do that, but I don't know, I certainly wasn't one of them.
And the waffling between Jake and Edward in Eclipse? Arrgh.
I love strong female characters so Bella does bother me. She doesn't believe she deserves anything, she always needs protecting, and she cries all the time. It's annoying. The cooking and cleaning is somewhat acceptable, I'd probably do the same in that situation. But otherwise I just wish she didn't always need to be looked after like a small child. Maybe that's why I liked Breaking Dawn, she was finally taking care of herself.
Even strong women can love this book, because even feminists want to be swept off their feet.
I wasn't quite as annoyed with Bella. I think the author was trying to show the vast difference between mortals and immortals. Edward couldn't constantly save Bella if she wasn't weak and in need of protection. I think the catatonic state was supposed to illustrate that this was not just some puppy love that she would get over with time. I agree she may have gone a little far on both counts though.
Teenage girls are generally more emotional and dramatic. (Example, all the crazy teenager Twilight fans.) And what girl isn't insecure?
I agree that Bella was much easier to stomach in the last book, as she was not having a problem taking care of herself. And she even went against Edward when he was trying to abort their unborn half-vampire baby. You go, girl.
But that still doesn't erase her inexcusable catatonicness in New Moon. I know it was more than just puppy love, but she was a little pathetic. (And I just have to point out that I thoroughly enjoyed that books parallels to Romeo and Juliet. It was essentially R&J, only Juliet woke up in time to save Romeo from offing himself, and that is what I always want to happen every time I read/see the play.)
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