Wed 20 Aug 2008
When the fourth twilight book came out, I didn’t want to read it. Just like I didn’t want to read the 7th harry potter- in short I didn’t want to see it end, and never have anymore books to look forward to in the series. So, to prolong the inevitable (because I do very much want to know what happens to Bella and Edward. So much that I’m avoiding the internet for fear of stumbling across spoilers), I went back and I’m re-reading the first three books. I’m in the middle of the third at the moment, and I am offended.
I don’t remember if I was offended like this the first time, even though that was only a few months ago. I probably was, I just didn’t have a blog to document the anger :) That might be the key to letting go, but oh well, this is part of my writing advice blog and it is relevent.
***SPOILER ALERT! STOP READING IF YOU DON’T WANT SECRETS Of ‘ECLiPSE’ RUINED!***
Roslaie tells Bella that she shouldn’t become a vampire because vampires can’t have babies. This, Rosalie stipifies, is the curse of being undead. Rosalie regrets not having children, Esme desperately treats everyone as her child to make up for the loss, and Alice doesn’t remember being human enough to know what to miss. Am I to understand, then, that every human with a vagina would be horribly disfigured by the loss of ability to have children? Is that our only perpose for existing? WOW, that’s rich.
Careful, miss mormon author, your special underwear is showing…
Now this might piss me off more than other people because I myself left the mormon church for the very fact that women are treated like baby machines put on kitchen duty. Growing up, girls are virtually brainwashed to marry at 20, have a baby immediately, and continue to breed until 30 or so. There’s no life in that for me, I felt immediately rebellious towards it, and that’s why I now attend the spiritualist church. For me, talk of sacrificing myself for husband/children is no where near as uplifting and fullfilling as meditating. And that’s my personality, so I try my best to understand that some women do want children, and I am usually very good at tolerating that.
What I can’t tolerate is being told that I’m evil, unnatural, and selfish for not wanting children. Twilight didn’t necessarilly go that far (not like some mormon women i’ve met) but I was offended at the assumption that all women care about is birthing. Authors have to rememember that while they have the freedom to create a world wherein everyone is like unto them, but that doesn’t make it very believable or very good.
I love the twilight books, but her mormonism does show. The vampire wants to protect her virture? Bella lives to cook and clean up after her father? It’s hard to believe that everyone is so polite. I’m not sure the book would be as good if the author changed, so I’m not saying that I wish she would remove the ‘mormon screening’ from our narrative lense. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that it bothers me that I can tell she’s mormon, without having to read her mini-bio about attending BYU, having three children and being a SAHM. By giving me signs to link her back to a past that I’m still not to terms with, she’s come very close to alientating me as a reader. The advice there is that if you write well enough it could cover a multitude of your other sins (it’s impossible to offend no one)
Prompt:
What about your work could be considered a ‘hot spot’ to possibly alienate future readers? Write a letter of apology to an angry reader over the hot spot, and explain about why you included that portion. Explore the idea of your work if that hot spot was removed. If it can’t work to remove, then tell that to your offended reader, explaining how it’s essential to your theme, even if it didn’t seem essential to the theme your reader saw.
After that, write a letter to a writer that offended you. Now that you’ve begun to understand both sides of writing offense, you may want to include your insight. For example: I would tell Stephanie Meyer that I was offended by her assumption that a woman’s life is incomplete without children. On the other hand, though, I understand that she most likely meant that children are a blessing rather than essential. Just as I feel like a main character of mine would shun children and the married life, I understand that her women characters express strong opinions that the author carries. Thus, although I feel the twinge of offense and anger, I will attempt to let it go. Especially because it doesn’t do anyone any good.
One Response to “Assumptions”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
August 23rd, 2008 at 10:50 am e
As a former Mormon myself (my dad left the church with all of us because he felt it was too chauvinist), I think SOME of her Mormonism is showing, but more than likely it’s because she IS a mother already. I have two children, and yet I maintain my writing and other activities despite my being at home with them most of the time (I teach adjunct English at the college level).
But most SAHMs do little beyond taking care of their children. They really throw themselves into that role. The fact that she is writing while she’s doing it, and writing about vampires, no less, shows a resistance to the general pattern I’ve seen in Mormon women. That must take a LOT of her time.
I haven’t read the fourth book, either. I had issues with Bella having TWO men she loved…kind of lessened her love for Edward, I think (my own prejudice, I guess).
But there is NOTHING wrong with choosing not to have children. NOTHING at all!