A little background to my question...
As you may know, I have recently become obsessed with the Twilight Saga. I also happen to be, and have been for many years, obsessed with Jane Austen's (JA) works - especially Pride and Prejudice (P&P).
I began to read some 'fan fiction' (fanfic) recently related to Twilight... then have moved on to include some Jane Austen stuff. I really don't like anything that changes the original story, but do enjoy reading the story from another person's point of view (POV) - which includes things that one did not experience with the original novel because the novel was following another person's point of view. For instance, if the two characters were apart for a period of time... what happened during that time for the character who the novel was NOT following... now that is very interesting to me.
I found a wonderful JA fanfic site which I joined and have read some of one author's stories. I have not moved onto anyone else's yet since I really like her writing style and wanted to finish her stories first... and she is absolutely brilliant. She has two long stories from Mr. Darcy's (the 'hero') POV. They are a sort of 'alternate universe/fantasy' type stories since they really don't follow the novel, but somehow she seemlessly braid these stories into the novel's storyline so they don't bother me - they never change the original novel (and actually help to explain some things that had been confusing to me during the 100 times I've read P&P, believe it or not!)... and they are just so creative I cannot help but like them.
In both these stories, the heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, has her life threatened... once even by having her carried off by flying monkeys and ending up tied up spread eagle while being almost eaten by a huge, mythical, shapeshifting, man-eating serpant. (I know... if you are a JA fan reading this you are thinking, "HOW ON EARTH could this be related to P&P?"... but it is, lol)
(Oh no... lol... I just realized I'm talking about shapeshifting lizards again, aren't I? Hmmmmm....)
Anyway... it is not violent in the sense that Elizabeth is injured very badly, but the threat of violence is there and Darcy kills several mythical beasts who take on the form of people they both know.
So... on to what I'm confused about....
I posted to the "Introduce yourself" thread and a conversation ensued. I mentioned that I liked fanfic for Twilight (after asking permission to mention other authors on the site), and also mentioned that one of my favorite Twilight fanfic authors is attempting to somehow meld Twilight with P&P (not sure how she is going to do this!) and even though it sounds strange to me, I am looking forward to reading it.
The JA fanfic author who I spoke of above freaked out on me! She says (paraphrasing) she is extremely disturbed by anything Twilight because it promotes violence against women hidden under the disguise of romance... and how she is afraid for our future generations.
***Spoiler alert for Twilight****
Now... yes Bella gets hurt in the first book... and three female vampires get killed in the other books... but the main story is that Edward and Bella are opposites who overcome many major obstacles, including their basic instincts, to be together. It is a love story with action and adventure. The romance is not disguising violence in any way, shape or form.
And, by the way, vampires are mythical creatures.
What am I not understanding about this woman's problem?
Should I be feeling so guilty about posting, as I do?
Could it be the fact that Bella gets hurt by a male vampire that is bothering her so much... but since in her book the only things that get killed are in the form of males when Darcy kills them - who (in the instance of the monkeys and serpent anyway) were sent to kill her by a woman, so that is ok???
Is this hypocritical or am I not seeing something???
I'm not sure how to react to this at this point. I posted an apology for offending her and asked if I should edit out any references to Twilight in my posts... and she said not to... but very curtly.
I get the feeling I'm about to be kicked off the forum now. Ugh...
What I Did Wednesday #29
10 hours ago
Wow- that is crazy. Has she even read the Twilight books? I've only read the first two, but Bella has never struck me as a weak character (except for that whiny period with death wish at the start of book 2). I don't get the violence against women part... I like that there were capable, scary female villains (although being vampires, do they count as women?). How does any of this differ from what you described she wrote? Which seems way scarier in the attack-women sense.
ReplyDeleteAh well, you've never lived until you've been kicked off a forum or two. LOL
LOL! I didn't ask her if she read them since she was so upset and said she refused to talk about it anymore. I think it is crazy, too, but thought maybe it is just me. I'm glad you agree.
ReplyDeleteI just really don't want to get kicked off because the writing is so well done... and I have lots left to read. I guess I'll just read and keep my mouth shut (or fingers quiet, lol)