Does 'Twilight' Endorse Domestic Abuse?
'Team Edward:' one-sided power play or every girl's fantasy?
While theories about the mysterious popularity of the Twilight series films have been discussed and debated and debated some more, Ron Hogan at Mediabistro's book blog, Galley Cat, offers a new angle on the saga's central relationship--the romance of a 104-year-old vampire and a brooding high school girl. In a recent blog post titled, "Is Team Edward enabling domestic violence?," he cites a science-fiction blog, io9, which posted a story that outlines 15 signs of domestic abuse in the teen Twilight relationship.
The conversation at io9... sparked by the original LiveJournal post, is lively. As one commenter interprets things: "Writing a novel about a moody, exotic, pretty, totally awesome vampire guy who is inexplicably obsessed with some random, average high school girl is practically a licence to print money. But, surprise, it also accurately reflects that the kind of relationship that would develop from her desperation: being taken advantage of by a moody, exotic, pretty, totally awesome abuser." Other people say it's just a bunch of books (and movies) for teens, or it's our modern Romeo & Juliet, so back off.
What do you think?
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