Dan and I love to read books together and discuss them. We have read Harry Potter together, many of the Star Wars together, Artemis Fowl, Percy Jackson, etc… When I decided to read Twilight to see what all the hoopla was about, Dan read that series as well.
I found it was not as bad as people were saying. The writing aspect of the book accomplished what it was suppose to: create a powerful, emotional experience and explore the question, “What if a vampire loved me?”
But the question Dan and I talked about was the appeal. Why were millions of girls (and mothers) swooning over this series? Dan, I think, came up with the best answer: because we long to be loved by something we perceive is so much greater than ourselves.
Bella is a klutzy, moody, average looking teenage girl. She isn’t on the cheerleading squad and she isn’t class president. She comes from a divorced family and goes to live with her father in the backwoods of Washington. There is nothing special about her.
But for some reason, she is the only one who attracts Edward, a handsome and most desirable vampire.
I think every woman feels this way to some extent: that there is nothing special about her. Average, perhaps klutzy, moderately smart, and maybe only good at cooking. But secretly, inside her heart, she wishes to be something more. To be special enough to attract the one man/attention/award/_____ everyone wants.
Now I’m not going to end this post saying that something special is offered to every woman (and man), even though it’s true. We are sought and loved by something much greater than ourselves. God. But it is one thing to know God loves us in our heads, and to learn to embrace that truth in our hearts.
I’ll be honest. I’m still learning to embrace that. Sometimes it seems it would be easier to have a handsome vampire fall for me than to have faith in a God who I cannot see and believe that He loved me enough to die for me. Why? Because I could see it. Faith is hard, my friends!
But if you compare the two loves, even though God’s love is invisible to the eye, it is way better than the love of a vampire ;).
Morgan L. Busse 
I think you have captured the thoughts of the hearts of women. As a single women I feel unatractive, unintelligent,unworthy; and I long to be special to that one someone. But by His grace and love, I am learning day by day to abide in the Love of the One Who saved me. Thank you for reminding me of the Love of the Father to send His Son.
I think the appeal is honestly more than that. While I take exception to your “back woods of Washington” statement as I am from and love the Pacific Northwest, a lot of the appeal comes from Edward’s behavior towards Bella and women in general. Stephenie Meyer isn’t a great writer by any stretch of the imagination but she did manage to take the evil, soul less undead vampire and completely re-format how people now see the vampire. She redefined a vampire into a likeable, compassionate character.
Added to that, let’s face facts, today’s young girls do not have much to choose from in the male species. Sloppy, hat on backwards, oversized clothes, baggy pants, greasy hair, “yo bitch” mannerisms…by contrast Edward Cullen is Prince Charming. Despite his thirst for blood, he exercises extreme self control and discipline. He was born and raised in another era and still clings to those values when it comes to how to treat women: with respect and reverence. He doesn’t chase the girls at school even though he can read their minds and could have satisfied his physical needs with any or all of them. He doesn’t flirt, doesn’t play head games with them, treats them all with respect. When it comes to Bella, the woman he was destined to be with, he exercises even more self control and removes himself from her presence out of fear of harming her.
When he realizes he actually can be around her without hurting her, he still tries to keep his distance understanding the physical differences between them and also becomes protective of her. He can have her but that’s not the way a gentleman behaves with a lady. He is the one to put the brakes on the Sex Question. He says no. He is the one that says he will wait until marriage to engage in sex. He is the one who protects Bella’s virtue even when Bella is content to go along with society’s lax rules regarding premarital sex.
Given the way high school boys, college boys and men behave towards women in general today, it is a telling statement that females swoon over Edward’s character. If given a choice in reality over a courtly, gentlemanly vampire or the tattooed, pierced, “yo, yo, yo” swaggering, head game playing types today, we’d probably be seeing a major influx of newborn female vampires.
Hi Elizabeth,
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I did not mean to offend by my statement of backwoods. I am also from the pacific northwest and love it. I merely used that statement to show that most girls when moving from a large city, would consider a small town like Forks, WA, “backwoods”.
HI Morgan,
I’m not offended really. :)I just really don’t see Forks as “backwoods” and I could be alone in that perception. I grew up in a big city where people don’t even know their neighbors but really enjoyed Bellingham, Wa, where my husband and I were married. Bellingham is a lot bigger than Forks, Wa but not by much. Bellingham, like Forks, is small and everyone knows everyone else and all of their business. And that, of course, comes with its pros and cons. Pendleton, Indiana is just one such small town. 😉
People often ask if I’ve “been to Forks, Wa” when they find out I’m from the Pac Northwest. I always answer… “you don’t really go to Forks. If you’re on your way to Port Angeles, you go past Forks but no one really goes to Forks unless they are lost, they are on their way somewhere else or they mean to go there. Forks is a logging town on the west coast side of the Olympic National Forest. Since the Olympic National Forest is a national park, you cannot go through it… you have to go around it. There are two ways to get to Forks from Bellingham- Port Angeles Ferry or go all the way up through Seattle and Tacoma and around the forest and THEN on the west side of the ONF to go to a town that doesn’t have a McDonald’s. (But I believe they have a Dairy Queen).
I’m a rain baby. I love the rain, the dampness, the overcast skies. So it annoyed me both in the books and in the movie to read and listen to Bella complain about the weather. But…it’s the perfect climate for a vampire who has a romantic streak. 🙂