Bella and the Beasts

Ever watch a movie and think “Is it just me or is Hollywood trying to convince young women that their lives are only as valuable as the men that they love” ??????

I have recently watched a movie which had me asking this very question, it’s title (drum roll please) The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

One of the first things that came to mind as I watched this movie was “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood. Not unlike the women in Atwood’s dystopian tale young Bella is completely dependant on the men in her life. Unlike the women in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” however, Bella actually has a choice in the matter and she chooses to depend on men for everything from financial support to mechanical support. It is as if Bella cannot do anything on her own except pout and throw temper tantrums. That she is indifferent to the fact that one of Edwards siblings has tried on two different occasions to kill her illustrates just how willing she is to accept unacceptable behavior in the name of love. 

Of course this makes sense to Bella since she has no interests other than the lackluster Edward. Bella does not play sports,read, listen to music (unless Edward likes it), and is  involved in no extracurricular activities in or out of school. Let’s face it, if Bella actually does graduate high school before the evil redhead vampire gets her (one can only hope) she will not be voted most likely to succeed, smile, or do anything remotely interesting with her life except constantly beg Edward to take it. Yet, Edward, Jake, and the guys at school are hopelessly in love with her. Why? She is beyond boring. Honestly, I’d rather spend the afternoon with a dead squirrel than have to spend five minutes with Bella. The message here seems to be that if a woman has a cool enough boyfriend then there is no need for her to have a life (i.e. interests, opinions, dreams) of her own.

To perpetuate the notion of Bella’s co-dependent personality when Edward leaves Forks, Bella is so consumed with grief that she does not eat, sleep, or interact with other people for three months. Eventually Bella  tires of her perpetual pouting and decides to rejoin the land of the living. She does so (not surprisingly) on the arm of Jake since the girls at school are clearly tired of Bella’s melodramatic shenanigans. It is obvious that Bella  has no real interest in Jake, she just wants him to fix a motorcycle for her so she can, once again, try to kill herself. These suicide attempts, by the way, are enacted  so that Bella can see a ghostly form of Edward telling her to be careful. Really? The writers of this movie could not come up with a more misogynistic way of telling women worldwide that without the love of a man it would be better to end their lives (or get on the back of a motorcycle with a possible rapist)  than to move on ?

Apparently not.

And just so the audience does not think that Bella is the only woman in the movie willing to endure physical pain and the threat of death for the love of a man along comes Emily, the disfigured fiance of Sam, Jake’s mentor.  Jake tells Bella that Emily (aka “the wolfgirl”) was standing too close to Sam when he got angry and as a result Emily is scarred for life. Literally. But because Emily loves Sam she has learned to live with the trauma of having had half of her face ripped to shreds with no apparent emotional repercussions. In fact when we (the unfortunate audience) witness Emily and Sam  together they look as happy as June and Ward Cleaver on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Message to young women: As long as he’s sorry about the abuse it’s ok.

All in all I was annoyed and disappointed with New Moon and would recommend it to no-one because other than some beautiful scenery there is nothing remotely interesting, enlightening, humorous, or enjoyable about this movie.