As an aside, you nailed the reason I deleted the prior post or at least one of them. I hadn't intended to come across as "anti-happy" endings, nor really anti-romantic endings per say. My difficulty with Twilight was, not sure how to put it exactly, I sort of touched on it briefly above. The series ends much the same way some Buffy fanfics that made me shudder ended. In that the woman turns into the monster that the man is, she submitts entirely to him, bears him a monster child, and makes his world her own - he in contrast gives up nothing. She becomes his in body and soul, like him. And is blissfully happy, because her world is him and the child and nothing else. Meyer doesn't understand how that is anti-feminist. A lot of people don't. And that frightens me. Buffy and Harry Potter in contrast made it clear that we are not defined by our romantic relationships or our children, that there is a lot more to life than that. And we should not allow someone else to take us over completely. Spike wanted to take Buffy over, he wanted to possess her. But to do so meant losing the very things he loved most about her, he'd have to hurt her to do it and that drove him nuts. So he went to change himself, thinking, he could obtain what he wanted that way. Angel - was the same way, he wanted Buffy, he wanted her to be his, to control everything, but to do so, would literally destroy her. He could not change to be with her either, because that destroyed him. It's an interesting and very realistic message. Not necessarily tragic or unhappy though, unless of course you think that the only possible happy ending is to end up with someone. People seem to think being alone and celibate is a tragic fate, it's not. There are far worse things - the conclusion of Twilight is certainly amongst them, as many a victim of Domestic Violence has discovered.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2008-08-11 10:41 pm (UTC)Meyer doesn't understand how that is anti-feminist. A lot of people don't. And that frightens me. Buffy and Harry Potter in contrast made it clear that we are not defined by our romantic relationships or our children, that there is a lot more to life than that. And we should not allow someone else to take us over completely.
Spike wanted to take Buffy over, he wanted to possess her. But to do so meant losing the very things he loved most about her, he'd have to hurt her to do it and that drove him nuts. So he went to change himself, thinking, he could obtain what he wanted that way. Angel - was the same way, he wanted Buffy, he wanted her to be his, to control everything, but to do so, would literally destroy her. He could not change to be with her either, because that destroyed him. It's an interesting and very realistic message.
Not necessarily tragic or unhappy though, unless of course you think that the only possible happy ending is to end up with someone. People seem to think being alone and celibate is a tragic fate, it's not.
There are far worse things - the conclusion of Twilight is certainly amongst them, as many a victim of Domestic Violence has discovered.