Twilight and its abusive propaganda

by Talia Jae

So I wrote a very long blog all about this and then it got deleted. After recovering from angst over this I am going to write another version of what I said.

Nick and I rented Twilight last night. I knew I wouldn't like it and probably be offended by most of the content but I had no idea. The relationship in the movie is a self proclaimed, "dangerous version of the classic star-crossed lovers" and i supposed in a sad way they are right. Although, probably not in the way they intended.

Between banter about his inability to control his rage and lust for her blood and her growing love for this dangerous boy, it seems that the whole relationship is one torrid love affair sprinkled with abuse and control. Its a perfect example of how media influences the way we expect relationships to go when we are in one.

She loves him more and more as he pushes and pulls her, stalks her, watches her sleep, violently expresses how dangerous he is, threatens to suck her blood and boasts about how he can kill her with one bite. Yes this is fantasy, no it is not new. But hell, she begs him to kill her in the end so they can live eternally together. The more possessive he is, the more she attaches to him and loses herself in order to be with a boy.

It makes me sad for young girls who see this movie. I would never let my girls see it. It is the best example of an abusive relationship I have seen in any recent movie. We wonder why women get into abusive relationships and why they stay. One huge part of it is the way the media portrays "Love". It is shoved in our faces every day. The man is strong, aggressive, explosive, possessive, unable to control his desire and rage. The woman is meek, submissive, available, dependent and weak. We are shown that true love is passion and rage to the extreme and the more a man controls the relationship and us women, the more he loves us.

This is a toxic combination. Every day, three women are killed by intimate partners. Every minute a woman is abused. Every day shelters put women and children on waiting lists because they are busting at the seams with women escaping domestic violence and a man threatening their lives.

Then we turn on the TV and this abuse is glorified and desired in the name of love. No thank you. I had a prince Eric. He left me with a baby, no home, and emotionally and mentally beaten. Our relationship was that of Edward and Bella's. These stories are not happy endings and to expose young women to them is to warp their views of their own self worth and the way a relationship should be.

Inspire the women of tomorrow to stand up and fight off these images instead of embarrassing them.

Men do not lose control and abuse, they use control to abuse.