Warning: This will be a snarky post.
Meyer has found another way to suck. Obviously, my use of the word "suck" has multiple meanings.
First, her books are about vampires who suck blood.
Second, I think her books are poorly written, so, for me, they suck as literature.
Third, I'd rather people buy books that don't make abuse seem exciting and desirable, so, in that respect, the books suck from the status and strength of women.
Fourth, because she misrepresents American Indian sovereignty, her books suck at gains we've made at informing Americans about American Indians.
So what is that new way? First there were the books themselves, and then the movie and all its tie-in items (clothing, the board game, action figures...), and now, Twilight in graphic novel format. Another way to suck more $$ from your bank account.
Sigh.
Established in 2006 by Dr. Debbie Reese of Nambé Pueblo, American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) provides critical analysis of Indigenous peoples in children's and young adult books. Dr. Jean Mendoza joined AICL as a co-editor in 2016.
6 comments:
I haven't read any of the Twilight series, but I still like your comments. For some reason, I hadn't really connected the dots between vampirism and abuse, but of course! Thanks.
Could you say a little more about how the book misrepresents Indian sovereignty? Thanks.
i suck because i did not make the connection of blood sucking and abuse. :-/ and, i have relaxed my filter so much that it might as well not exist, re: sovereignty. :-/
Thank you so much for saying this...she does indeed suck in ways diverse and multivarious. I think it should be noted, for the commenters above, that the abuse is not just metaphorically implied in the blood sucking but happens literally too: the female main character puts up with her love interests belittling her, forcing kisses on her that she doesn't want (that's called assault, yo), and preventing her from going to see her friends - at one point disabling her car to keep her from leaving. She takes this all as evidence of the depth of his twu wuv. Yes.
Anonymous (the second one, heh), thank you for giving examples of abuse in the books. I haven't read them or seen the movies so I didn't realize how bad that aspect was. I find it incredibly upsetting that teen girls are reading this and thinking not only that nothing is wrong with that behavior, but that it's actually romantic.
I found your blog when doing research for my work on Twilight. I am so pleased to find analysis from a critical race perspective that focuses on Meyer's (mis)representation of the Quileute. Thanks for writing!
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