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Read Twilight: There are crucial lessons to be learnt from fifty shades of pale
by Jeremy Fernando
Twilight. You know the movie. Now read the books.
I'm not claiming that Stephanie Meyer will know literature if it smacks her in the head. But I will categorically state: Meyer's The Twilight Saga is essential reading.
Yes, despite her bumbling attempts at writing, Meyer inadvertently offers us a glimpse of the intricacies of human relationships. Everyone knows the basic plot: Vampire (Edward Cullen) and werewolf (Jacob Black) -- who are natural sworn enemies -- fight over human girl (Isabella "Bella" Swan).
At this point, do momentarily set aside any feminist instincts and refrain from lunging at the fact that it is banal to name the female protagonist "girl".
And put aside the fact that this is basically the storyline of Romeo And Juliet. Shakespeare's error was in developing rounded characters but Meyer makes no such mistake. By offering us flat, one-dimensional, caricatures she demonstrates to us the modern condition of communication.
Where speech between people does not reveal anything, is not meant to have any meaning, but is instead merely for effect; purely performative.
In other words: It's phatic communication. Which is not to say that it is not important.
We know that it is not always a "good morning". That uttering it to each other is merely ritualistic. But try not saying it the next time you run into an acquaintance, a co-worker, or your boss. The very reality of your social existence depends on that performance.
USE YOUR ILLUSIONS
For, it is not that illusions, or appearances, allow us to deceive ourselves, ease our reality. Reality itself is sustained by illusion. This is the lesson of Stalinism.
When Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin at what is now known as the Secret Party Congress in 1956, the reactions ranged from congress members collapsing in shock, a few dying of heart attacks later, and a couple more committing suicide. All because Khrushchev called Stalin a mass-murdering dictator -- something that everyone already knew.
But just because one knows it, doesn't mean it can be said. (Ever tried being honest when someone you know asks if they've put on a few pounds?)
Thing is, in reading The Twilight Saga, we should not make the error of most detractors -- who focus on the weak plot, complete misunderstanding of the vampire myth, the insipid romance, et cetera -- and instead take the appearances for what they are. And listen closely (in true Edward Cullen mind-reading fashion) for what the protagonists are attempting to do through what they say.
This alters the usual notion of meaning from signification (semantics, semiotics) to significance (the effects of words on the discourse, and more importantly on other people).
SEDUCTION BY DOING NOTHING
And this leads us to the core of the series: In particular, the much-maligned notion of celibacy that Meyer is supposed to be promoting. Her critics zoom in on the fact that it is rather incongruous to mix abstinence (until marriage) and a mythology that is clearly sexual. But this is where they have all missed the point.
There is no contradiction between celibacy and sexuality here. In fact, the entire saga is about nothing but sex: There is bestiality (Bella and Jacob), necrophilia (Bella and Edward), (alleged) interspecies attraction (Edward and Jacob) -- if not always actualised, certainly strongly suggested. And celibacy is the hinge around which all of these desires rotate.
Philosopher Jean Baudrillard wrote in his book, Seduction: "The great stars or seductresses never dazzle because of their talent or intelligence, but because of their absence. They are dazzling in their nullity, and in their coldness ..."
It is not that Bella actively attempts to seduce Edward or Jacob. It is precisely by doing nothing that she is so seductive. In that way, she can be whatever they want her to be.
This is not nothingness as an absence; this is nothingness as full possibility. By doing absolutely nothing, but saying practically nothing, Bella has made herself into the perfect object.
The Twilight Saga is what author Neil Strauss' The Game could have been: If only it did not take itself so seriously. Being caught up in a "hunter" mentality, Strauss' error was in supposing that the one seduced had to be pursued -- in short, he completely misunderstood the game itself.
The one thing that he got right is that there is always a prize at stake. His blunder was in not realising that the seducee sets herself up to be pursued: That she is not a stake, but instead a lure. What is at stake is your very self.
Oscar Wilde famously quipped: "Women are not meant to be understood, they are meant to be loved." One should never make the mistake of taking this to be advice - it is a warning. For one can only love an object.
It is only by making themselves truly enigmatic, truly unknowable, that women are transformed into objects. That is their secret -- the alleged weakness that is their strength.
In Stephenie Meyer's saga, we catch a glimpse of how.
Jeremy Fernando is the Jean Baudrillard Fellow at The European Graduate School. You can find his writings at www.jeremyfernando.com. This article first appeared in the Singapore Review Of Books website (http://singaporereviewofbooks.og)
Meanwhile, did you notice this item in ST (Nov 28)?
There surely must have been a lot of red faces (and I mean "red" as in embarrassed, not as in communist) at the People's Daily! They are newspaper people and they have not heard of The Onion, famed for its spoofs?
Anyway, here's a follow-up AFP story, on the xin.msn site:
China paper backpedals after falling for Kim spoof
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There is great excitement over the film premiere of the first of the Hobbit trilogy. But, looking at this ST Life! headline, someone wasn't a fan?...
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Okay, on to more serious stuff. Both ST and TODAY ran this insightful New York Times article on what Japan has started to do in the face of a rising China:
The above is ST's headline; TODAY's headline for the story was "Japan, faced with rising China, shifts its strategy":
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One last article worth a read, also from TODAY:
Return of emerging market political risk (by Ian Bremmer)
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