Tonight after a nice dinner at Tiffin someone asked me what the movie Twilight is about, and that reminded me of what I had strongly felt after watching the first Twilight from a culturally analytical perspective that helped me understand why so many boys hated this movie while so many girls love it, though I had a lot of fun and the overall experience is absolutely sweet.
I am gonna look at Twilight from a structuralist perspective, because the story of the first episode of Twilight fits exactly a Structure of a mythical story for young females having their puberty problems and confusions of establishing a (socially constructed) gender identity of female to consume. The story contains all the elements that specially caters adolescent females' taste, and it was tailor-made for each and every single adolescent female that when I am watching the movie (or you might be reading the book) I feel like entering the dream world of a young girl and looking around through her own eyes, since the entire plot can easily be reduced and disintegrated into what a girl dreams of but not necessarily true in reality, for instance, handsome male character who draws attention from everybody while being mysterious, a vampire with exceptional strength saving you (the female character) from troubles, Edward Cullen unlike any other vampire has a skin that shines like diamond under the sun (how beautiful), and most lethal, the moral integrity of Edward's that when they were lovers and alone in a bedroom once, Edward had a hard time of struggling between the aroused desire of biting her for her blood and his will or promise to protect her derived from his unconditional love for her (or you) - Jesus Christ! what can possibly be more romantic if a guy that you like loves you in return with no hidden agenda and intimidation? What the author is trying to sell from Edward's dilemma in the first episode apparently symbolizes young females' fantasy of their beloved male having a moral restriction on males sexual desire towards them while at the same time being ironically attracted by their appearance and body.
And just now I am so happy to find someone agreeing with my point here from an article from <The American Prospect> by
Sady Doyle:"Twilight isn't a literary masterpiece and doesn't need to be. There is, I would argue, a place for fantasies like these -- specifically, a place in the lives of adolescent girls, who often find actual teenage boys more intimidating than the fictional vampire variety, and for whom imaginary worlds (where no one has to grow up, where danger is the prelude to a rescue, where boys have no hidden agendas aside from loving you forever) can be a shelter from the terrors of puberty. The books are silly -- and have been roundly critiqued by feminists -- but they speak to a legitimate need.......
.....Twilight is more than a teen dream. It's a massive cultural force. Yet the very girliness that has made it such a success has resulted in its being marginalized and mocked.
....Twilight is largely narrated by a girl. The books don't strive to draw in straight, male readers: There's little action, lots of emotion, and much lavish description of Edward Cullen's beauty. The vampire heartthrob isn't exactly macho. He's smooth-skinned, delicate-featured, and his body even sparkles. Edward abstains from sex and human blood, turning down several opportunities to enjoy both, and talks about his feelings frequently. To be blunt, he's not much of a man by sexist standards. In less-civilized regions of the Internet, the words "gay," "faggot," and "pussy" are thrown around liberally in discussions of the series, and of Edward.
......."