Extended Comments: Twilight and Lexi's Blog

In Lexi’s blog post, I think she really brought up some fantastic points on this movie and its portrayal of characters, especially Bella. I love Lexi’s statement of “I do not think this is a love story. I think it is a story about power and the misuse of power in place of love.” I couldn’t agree more. People want to believe that this is a romantic story. They want to believe that Bella and Edward are just two people are not supposed to be together but will do anything to do so because they are in love. People want to romanticize Edward because he is attractive, strong, protective, and in some sense forbidden. It also does not help that in real life Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson have some sort of relationship.

While there is this idea of love and romance in their relationship there is also domination, control, and power. Edward approaches or interacts with Bella in a highly menacing way a few times in the film. In the part that Lexi briefly discussed, Edward asks Bella if she is scared of him. While asking this he is towering over her in a dark, foggy forest. For a split second, Bella does, in fact, look terrified but in the end she claims she is not scared. (Of course she’s not scared because if she was we wouldn’t have the other books and movies!) Edward is the “bad boy”. He is the guy that you couldn’t bring home to meet your parents but could definitely have some fun with. He says this himself in this clip.

Bella is dependent on Edward. He saves her, cares for her, talks to her, and almost makes her who she is. I have never read the books so Lexi’s point really caught my attention. She explains that in the book when Edward is not present Bella literally stops existing and there are blank pages in the book to represent this. What a way to show how dependent women are on men. I mean really, we can’t exist without them! What an awesome love story! (all sarcastic of course)

In connection to Tolam and Higgins piece, Edward’s dominance and aggression can be connected to the “discourse of male sexual drive wherein male sexuality is portrayed as natural, relentless, and demanding attention, an urge that boys and men cannot help or control”. While Edward knows that he is not the best thing for Bella, he simply cannot control himself and stay away from her. This is also exemplified in the above clip where Edward says “I only said it would be better if we weren’t friends not that I don’t want to be. It means if you were smart you would stay away from me.” Bella is now put in charge of not only resisting her sexual urges but also controlling Edward’s.

Twilight also obviously fits into Grinner’s SCWAAMP framework. The story is based on a heterosexual relationship. The cast is predominantly white and all are able-bodied. They are able-bodied in terms of not having a handicap as well as being attractive. Male domination is highly present and the females in the movie are almost cast off to the side. Property-holding is also exemplified by the cars that the Cullen’s drive and their massive glass house in the woods. While Christian and American are not as blatantly obvious there are definitely examples throughout the film.

Lastly, I would have to agree yet again with Lexi. I think it is kind of scary how massively popular these books and films have gotten. Young girls do not need to be told that they need a man to constantly be there to save them. They do not need to be shown how males are simply unable to control themselves but yet are perfectly capable of controlling a girl. With Bella’s submissive role and Edward’s dominating one we are just replaying the same old story. Wouldn’t it be wiser to come up with a female who can stand on her own and be a great role model to teenage girls. Also, if people are really thinking that Bella and Edward’s relationship is the ideal one, we are in deep trouble.

Points of Interest:

All in all I am just really curious to hear what my classmates think as well as Lesley Grinner. I’m sure everyone will have really great points to bring up. Lexi and I are not huge fans of the books or the movies so I want to hear someone’s perspective who is. Hopefully we have a fan in the class who can express their feelings. It is hard to critically analyze something that you like, I think.

Twilight

So the only type of post that I have left is the extended comments. Since nobody has really put up a blog about Twilight at this point I'm kind of unable to respond. By tomorrow I am hoping there will be more blogs up and I will be able to do my response. Again, sorry for the delay!

Reflection: How Being a Good Girl Can Be Bad for Girls, Alice in Wonderland, and Atalanta

In Tolman and Higgins’ article “How Being a Good Girl Can Be Bad for Girls”, the authors describe the good girl/bad girl conundrum that adolescent females are confronted with. In order to be a good girl, females must suppress their sexual feelings and desires or simply ignore them all together. Just thinking about these desires (never mind acting upon them) can ban someone from being a good girl forever. Females are trapped in this in between stage where they are told one thing and then told something completely different. Adolescent teenagers perhaps feel this the most. Tolman and Higgins explain, “girls are simultaneously taught that they are valued in terms of their sexual desirability and that their own desire makes them vulnerable.”

From dominant ideologies, we are taught that males are aggressive, sexually charged, and incapable of controlling their desires. Females, on the other hand, are innocent, pure, and submissive. Boys’ sexuality is seen as natural and something that they simply cannot control. Because of this, girls have to regulate their own sexual behavior as well as their partners. Females are constantly on the brink of becoming a bad girl if they do not fulfill their duties of keeping themselves and their partners in check.

The authors then go on to explain some of the legal sanctions that these ideologies affect. In cases of rape and sexual assault, lawyers and juries will often bring the females’ sexual past into question or imply that perhaps she wanted to have sex or to “fool around”. If a female exhibits sexual desire or if she initially wants to participate in an activity and then changes her mind, she is not being a good girl. She is cast off as a bad girl and is often deemed as deserving of any consequences that may come from this desire. This is a blatant attempt to blame the victim based off of irrelevant past information. The authors put it perfectly when they said “to want anything is to consent to everything…the expression f her desire undermines the credibility of her refusal.”

The inconsistencies between men and women are further examined in the double standards that are present in our society. Men are praised for their sexual conquests, high fived by their friends for sleeping with a girl, and are expected to sleep with multiple people. If a girl does the same thing she is a “slut” or a “whore”. One of the women whose stories was told in this piece explained it very well by saying, “I mean the guy expects the girl to be a sweet little virgin when he marries her, and then he can be running around with ten other women, but when he’s getting married to her, she’s not supposed to have any relationship with anybody else.” In order to find a man and get married (which is apparently the only goal a woman should have) she needs to stay pure until she finds her perfect match. She is not allowed to express herself sexually or have relationships with whomever she wishes, if she does then she better be ready for the consequences and the names that she will be called.

Alice in Wonderland and the story of Atalanta attempt to break down these walls and challenge these dominant ideologies. They show the audience that a girl does not need a man to live happily ever after. These two films show how a girl really should be in charge of her own destiny and make decisions based off of what she wants and desires. The main characters break away from their pre-chosen path and do whatever it is that makes them happy. Alice and Atalanta refuse to simply become housewives and seek out their own wonderful adventures.

Alice is the portrait of a strong, powerful female character who challenges traditional gender roles. She first does this by running away from her engagement party to go and decide if she even wants to marry Hamish. She is expected to get married, have children, and be a house wife but that is simply not the life that she desires. By putting on a suit of armor, battling the Jabberwocky, and becoming the action hero she defies expectations and learns that traditional gender roles do not have to define what she can and cannot do. She also challenges gender stereotypes and is both beautiful and strong. Her physical strength increases throughout the film but it does not compromise her beauty. The film shows that a female can be both strong and attractive. Lastly, Alice’s happily ever after does not come from a man or getting married but from her own desires and her amazing adventure.

Atalanta’s story is similar to Alice’s. She also does not want to simply accept her fate and marry whoever her father chooses. When her father decides to have a race to determine which suitor will have her hand in marriage, Atalanta proposes that she compete in the race as well. Breaking down gender stereotypes, she trains for, competes in, and ultimately wins the race against the men. Her decision is simply not to marry at all and instead to go see all the great cities of the world. She wants to have her own personal adventure and do whatever it is that she desires. Atalanta explains that perhaps when she comes back from her journey she will marry someone. For now, however, she is doing what makes her happy and carves her own destiny.

Talking Point

I think it is interesting to compare the new Alice to previous depictions of the same character. Tim Burton obviously chose to change the story up a little bit and make Alice a more powerful character. That character’s depiction in this film is unlike any other one. I would be intrigued to see how the class feels about this and why they think Burton chose to portray her in that way.

Another Project Idea!

So another idea that just popped into my head was to examine songs that either have teenager in the title or are in some way about teenagers. I want to see what these songs have to say about teenagers or if they contain any dominant ideologies and stereotypes. (Which I have a feeling they will). I look at a variety of songs from different genres, artists, and time periods. Examining the music videos to these songs will also be interesting to look at. I will connect the readings that we have done and the topics we have covered to the lyrics and their depictions of teenagers. I think this is the one I'm going to do!

Final Project Ideas

So I have a few ideas of what I might want to do for our final project.

- Teenagers and tattoos/piercings/body modifications

- Teenage pregnancy

- Teenagers depictions on television over the years

For tattoos/piercings/body modifications, I want to look at how many teens actually have some form of these. I also would like to explore why they get tattoos, when tattoos became a form of rebellion, and parents’ reactions to their children getting tattoos or piercings. Media depictions of teenagers with modifications and modifications as a form of expression are also things that I would like to cover. I have found a great deal of books, articles, blogs, and websites related to this topic. (Some books include: Tattoos in Modern Society, Body Marks, The Body Art Book)

In terms of teenage pregnancy, I want to explore how views of it have evolved over the years. Shows like Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant, and The Secret Life of the American Teen are changing the way that we look at pregnant teenagers. I want to examine those shows as well as some earlier media depictions of teen moms and dads. Mainly I would look at television shows like the ones named above.

I think it is interesting how teenagers have been shown on television shows throughout the years. I am especially interested in Nickelodeon and Disney channel shows from the 80’s, 90’s and today. I would examine some of these earlier shows for my project. I want to see how we went from shows like The Secret World of Alex Mack and Even Stevens to shows like Skins and Degrassi. I have already looked into some books that explore television shows. (These include: Teen TV, Teen Television, and The Cult TV)

Whichever topic that I choose I want to see if the Chicken Soup for the Teenagers Soul series has anything to say.

I am really leaning towards the tattoo/piercing/modification idea or the television and teenagers. I am really looking forward to doing this project!