Then, for just a second, I saw that same odd vision of Edward and me on a porch swing, wearing clothes from another kind of world. A world where it would surprise no one if I wore his ring on my finger. A simpler place, where love was defined in simpler ways. One plus one equals two….
—
Eclipse, chapter fourteen, page 325
So I’m about two-thirds of the way through my edit of the Mark Reads Eclipse eBook. It’s taking me longer than I anticipated because of life getting in the way, it being a longer book, my growing desire to change every word I’ve ever written, and this. By “this,” I’m referring to the fact that I have lost the ability to make fun of Twilight at this point. I had forgotten that Eclipse and Breaking Dawn are severely lacking in laugh-inducing absurdity. Instead, Meyer trades this in for bigoted wank that is barely hidden below the surface. In fact, in the case of this quote, found on page 325, I am completely shocked that even the Twilight fandom didn’t shake their heads before devouring the rest of these books with glee.
I don’t even feel it’s subtle. She spells it out. Bella wishes she could reverse time one hundred years in the past in order to live in the world where it’s okay for a woman to be super young (remember, Edward is over 100 years old) and marry an older man. Additionally, Meyer posits simplicity as something to be desired, and in those days, marriage was only between one man and one woman, and the variations on this hardly existed as they do now.
I have a lot of hatred for this series, and adapting my reviews for book form has reminded me of a lot of things that make me want to sit Meyer down and shriek in her face about what an awful thing she’s done. (Oh god, the Jasper racism chapter is HORRENDOUS, as is everything involving Leah Clearwater, and NEED I SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IMPRINTING ON NEWBORNS AND INFANTS sweet fucking christ.)
Not all of it is blatant and I recognize that. This is. Meyer wants to view history through a revisionist lens in order to paint it as a time of romance and chivalry. I would like to remind her that a great deal of people don’t have the luxury to do so.
Oh, and fuck you, Stephenie Meyer.
(via panasonicyouth)
Love Mark so much.
