‘Twilight’ helps keep adults in step with teen culture

I used to think being in the Twilight zone was something to be ashamed of. After all, I’m in my 50s and went nuts over Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight books like a love-struck teen.

But then I found The Others — all those other starry-eyed moms who, like me, found love in the pages of a teenage romance novel.

My favorite description of the books was written for SDNN a few days ago by my colleague Maryann Castronovo, who said she was handed the book by a friend who pushed it on her like a drug dealer.

“Just try it,” I remember someone saying to me, in exactly the same fashion.

I was a few years late, but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. So this summer I bought the first book, my excuse being that, as an education writer, it’s my duty to keep up with popular culture.

That worked until I got about 20 pages into it and realized I was completely sucked in (so to speak).

After whipping through all four books and re-reading the first one, my appetite wasn’t quite satisfied. So, after perusing Meyer’s Web site, I came upon an early draft of her partial book Midnight Sun. I was sneaky about that one with my husband loitering around my office. He assumed I was working as I surreptitiously pored through the fascinating account of “First Sight” from Edward’s point of view.

So now that I’ve confessed my obsession, I’m wondering why this simple story holds such allure for girls and women of all ages.

Certainly, Meyer makes all her characters come alive (if you can say that about the undead). And she re-creates the world of high school with eerie precision — reminding me that many of my memories of high school are scarier than dating a blood-sucking vampire.

But it’s not great literature in the lasting tradition of a Jane Austen or a Charlotte Bronte. So what is it about this story that makes it so appealing?

See related: ‘New Moon’ midnight mania | ‘New Moon’ sneak preview video review

Apparently, we are smitten by stories of helpless women who are protected and rescued by handsome, powerful, mysterious men. And what does this say about all that independence and self-assurance that girls and women are supposed to have acquired 35 years after the women’s liberation movement empowered us? Not much. Probably that there’s still a part of us that wants — craves — a strong man to love us and keep us safe.

Rather embarrassing, actually. So it’s no wonder that we sneak it, hiding our secret from our family, in order to lose ourselves in the magic of undying love.

Certainly it’s an escape from the miserable recollections of true high school life, and of awkward, scrawny boys who were deficient in fundamental ways.

Edward, of course, is flawed in more ways than his dietary restrictions. But his self-loathing for his monstrous condition and his inability to control his desire for the girl he loves, no matter the danger to his family, are disarmingly endearing imperfections that make him the boy we all wish we’d met way back then.

But there’s more to it than that. When was the last time you heard of a high school where teenagers went to the beach on a Saturday afternoon and didn’t bring a keg of beer, bottles of cheap vodka, or pot? The fact that Bella’s world includes no references to the drugs and alcohol common to every high school makes the story more unbelievable than the presence even of vampires and werewolves. And somehow more pure and sweet.

And no sex, at least no premarital sex. In fact, Edward insists he must marry Bella before he’ll consider it — because “he’s just that kind of boy.” (I hope I’m not giving anything away here.)

Even profanity is virtually nonexistent. The strongest exclamation Bella makes is to shout “Holy crow!” when she sees how fast Edward is driving in one scene (chapter 9, page 181- - but I’m not obsessed, really).

Sometimes I think that the escape from reality hasn’t so much to do with the world of vampires and werewolves as it does the innocent portrayal of a high school minus the sex, drugs, drinking and all the teenage angst so many of us had to endure.

Despite her moodiness, Bella seems unbelievably well-adjusted and self-aware. And her apparent helplessness, at first rather pitiful, turns out to be deceptively beguiling. Don’t we all wish we’d been so sure of who we were and what we wanted at the age of 17?

Edward dazzles people, Bella tells him, and nothing could be more true. We’re dazzled by the graceful, gorgeous vampires and shirtless, hunky young men in the wolf pack. We drool over the fast cars and beautiful clothes. And we’re crazy for the rather plain, clumsy girl who manages to have every boy in school panting for her. (How does she do that? And why doesn’t that ever happen in real life?)

All these elements of creative genius have sent this mom into the Twilight zone, where I take comfort in the presence of so many others who too are dazzled.

And so it was with great anticipation that five us of 50-ish women found ourselves in the theater opening weekend to watch New Moon with so many breathless teenage girls. Just investigative journalism, I told myself. And it was the best assignment I’ve ever had. I may even go again — just to collect more data, of course.

Marsha Sutton can be reached at: SuttComm@san.rr.com. Or on Twitter.

Tags: Midnight Sun, new moon, SDNN, Stephenie Meyer, twilight, vampires, werewolves

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 2:42 pm and is filed under Education Commentary . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.