In defense of Edward Cullen

I posted something in my Facebook status this weekend about having just finished the Twilight books. This status update sparked a lot of controversy, mostly from guys I know blasting the series. I just have a few things I wanted to say regarding the books, without causing any further controversy on Facebook.

I am always skeptical of things that mass amounts of people like, so naturally I had a lot of trepidation about reading the Twilight books. My sister read them and loved them, and we generally have a lot of the same tastes, so I decided to go for it. I'm a sap for a love story anyway. Now, I have yet to see any of the movies, and I am definitely not a Robert Pattinson fan. I think he's one of the most unattractive "heartthrobs" I've ever seen. I like Taylor Lautner because he has abs that won't quit, but I've never seen him act. I do enjoy Kristen Stewart in the few things I've seen her in, but mostly because I like her angst. So, my judgments on Twilight at this point come strictly from the Stephenie Meyer novels.

Meyer is not a great writer. There are many things about her storytelling that I could find fault with. But her characters are likeable. The only ones who aren't are the Volturi, the coven of vampires that initiate the attacks on Bella, and a few of the nomads. Even Rosalie, who seems pretty hateful at times, comes to be likeable in Breaking Dawn. I mean, don't vampires have to be likeable? Either you love them or you hate them (or alternately both, like Lestat from Interview with a Vampire). Teenage girls wouldn't be obsessed with a series of books about a bunch of evil fucking vampires, now would they?

Someone also said that the books were basically just supernatural romance novels. Let's see. The main characters remain virgins until marriage, and nothing more than kisses are described with any sort of detail. There are no synonyms for "loins" in the books. The whole thing is incredibly chaste, which is the opposite of any romance novel I've ever read.

Here was the disagreement that bothered me the most. Edward Cullen was called "patronizing, obsessive, and violent." I found him to be none of these things. Okay, maybe obsessive. I'll give you that one. But violent? Edward is the least violent character. He sacrifices his very nature in order to be with Bella. He puts her at risk, and I would definitely say that he is selfish, but he is the opposite of violent. Even when he and Bella consummate their marriage, he restrains himself in order to avoid putting her in pain. When Bella is pregnant, every pain the baby causes in her body causes him great emotional anguish. How does that make him violent? I wouldn't call him patronizing either. Bella is clearly the one that makes the rules and demands in the relationship. He doesn't speak down to her, and the one thing he does that causes her the most pain is when he leaves in an attempt to keep her from further danger. I made the comment during this whole thing that every girl wanted an Edward Cullen. This too was shot down. Who doesn't want a man who can always physically protect you thanks to raw strength, who lavishes gifts on you at every opportunity, who constantly tells you how beautiful you are, and who promises to love you forever and can actually live long enough to say that? Sounds pretty perfect to me.

I don't know why this whole thing is bothering me so much. I mean, I really liked the books, but I don't plan on reading them over and over. I will watch the movies, but I don't see myself becoming obsessed with them. I guess what bothers me is just the fact that my opinion was deemed "wrong" by certain people, and they spent so much energy arguing with me over something that I am clearly not going to change my mind about. *sigh* My opinions rarely line up with what's popular, then when they do I still get blasted for it. Whatever.

Ruined!

I will be leaving for Chicago in about 48 hours and this week is just dragging by until that time comes. I'm going crazy.

Why is it that I have not read any major spoilers concerning Twilight until now? Don't worry, I'm not a Twi-hard or anything. But I'm reading the books and am about half way through Eclipse, and now I start seeing all this stuff about Bella giving birth to Renesmee. I guess it's because of the fact that filming of the final book is in the pre-pre-production stage, but I am furious that I now know something that is going to happen in the future. Before I ever opened a single one of those books, even after two of the movies already came out, I never read a single word that resembled a spoiler. (I knew the series was about a human, some vampires, and some werewolves, and I even knew some character names, but that was it.) Now a physical act that has yet to occur in the book series to the point that I have read has been completely ruined. Thank you, technology.

Life and Death

I have begun reading Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. I'm on the second book, The Vampire Lestat, right now. When I read the introduction, I was like, "Wow. This is going to be DUMB," but once she started talking about Lestat's beginnings, prior to becoming a vampire, it started to get a lot more interesting. This is a long one, but I'm anxious to get through it. True Blood has really gotten me interested in vampire lore, which is heightened by the fact that I've always been intrigued by the idea of immortality.

I've been afraid of death for as long as I can remember. When I was a teenager, I used to have a lot of trouble sleeping, which is probably what led to my night owl-ish nature as an adult. Anyway, I had trouble sleeping because my mind tends to wander at night. I would often have thoughts of death right before bed, which led to the worst thoughts of all: what if I went to sleep and never woke up? So I would fight going to sleep, and often end up going back to watch TV with my mother, near tears because I was so terrified of the morning that might not come. Going to Southern Baptist churches all my life that talked about Heaven vs. Hell never really helped my problem either. It only made me not want to go to church. The ideas of going to Heaven and rejoicing with God for all eternity is something that may be soothing for some people, but not for me. Even scarier than not knowing what happens after death is the idea that, once we die, we live FOREVER in Heaven.

There is nothing that we know in life that doesn't end. You may work forty years at the same job, but eventually you retire or die. You don't continue working there. Video games that seem to take forever to beat all have an ending point. It may be difficult to reach, but there is always that "finish line". Every relationship ends, even if it takes the death of one person to put an end to it, and every major disease either ends up with the person being completely cured or the person dying, both things of which are endings. So, just as scary as dying and having 70-some odd years of your life vanish into oblivion, the idea of living in Heaven without end frightens me like you would not believe.

This is why supernatural characters, first witches and now vampires, have always intrigued me. Living forever in Heaven, which no one knows for sure actually exists, is one thing, but living forever on Earth is something I could go with. After all, the Earth has been in existence, which has been scientifically proven, for billions of years. Who are we to say whether it won't exist for billions more? And I know how things work here. I know that without fail when I get out of bed in the morning, my feet will touch the ground. I know that each night is followed by a morning and the seasons always occur (although this one could be questionable because of global warming) in the same order. I know that 1 + 1 is always 2 and I know that if I am hungry, food will nourish me.

Fear of death and the unknown is something that some people do not possess, but I've never been able to have blind faith in anything. If that means my fear will continue, then I'll learn to deal with it. As long as I'm still here tomorrow, that's all that matters.