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greylock
Nov. 19th, 2009 12:14 pmYou were wondering why the whole Twilight thing was such a phenomenon with women in general. It's been something I've asked myself and I didn't have an answer for unlill I read this:
Viacleolinda:
"Philosophical ramblings
"So I'm pretty sure this movie's going to make a metric shit-ton of money. You ask me why women will go see these movies fifteen times each--you know I've spent like a year and a half discussing this and trying to figure out the appeal of this series, and you know that I've come up with several theories, most of which operate concurrently. In other words, it's no one thing; it's the sheer combination of so many emotional/psychological factors that's made this thing such a juggernaut. But here's my newest theory to throw on top of the pile: the popularity of the movies is all about the way the two leads look at each other. Well, mostly the way he looks at her; Kristen Stewart tends to play Bella with a permanent look of dazed lust most of the time (not that this is out of character). No, it's the way he looks at her, Edward at Bella (I'd really like to keep the real-life whatever out of this, because that kind of thing always creeps me out; I feel like I've been forced to become a voyeur rather than a viewer), like the sheer magnitude of his love for her is killing him, OMG IT IS KILLING HIM INSIDE, YOU GUYS. And both movies have featured constant, extreme closeups of said looking--entire scenes of nothing but what is basically tormented eyesex. It's emotional porn. That is exactly what it is. And due to the differing natures of various media, you don't get the visual of it in the books, which is why I think the movies have created even more of a monster than the books have.
"Which got me started thinking--I read Kristen Stewart saying something about finding honesty "romantic," which... I can kind of see what she's going for there, but... hm. So I started thinking about romance myself, and I think I've figured it out: the key component of romance is tenderness. Because something can be totally sexyhot without tenderness; it's tenderness that creates the "romantic" atmosphere, the one that a lot of guys tend to turn their noses up at--because tenderness requires you to be vulnerable, to open yourself up and say, I want you, I need you, I am incredibly blessed to even be touching you right now. (Maybe that's where the honesty comes in after all.) So if you buy your girlfriend a dozen roses at the supermarket and toss them at her on Valentine's Day all, "LOOK, here you are, now SHUT UP until next year," you are doing it so very, very wrong, and she probably feels it. It's not about hearts and flowers and chocolates and money spent, and in fact all that ephemera is a convenient way to dodge actual tenderness, because you can feel like you've done something without putting any real feeling into it. And Twilight? Is all about the freakin' tenderness. It's larded with tenderness; feeling drips off the pages and oozes from the film stock and romantics eat it up and then turn around and line up for more. I mean, that slow dance at the end of the first movie, he is crying while they're eyesexing, for God's sake. That's like--the emotional equivalent of--I don't even have an adequate pornographic metaphor for that. (Dayna! A little help here!) And I confess, it gets to me too at times--Lord, let a man someday look at me that way--but I've also got the neurotic sparkle hilarity and the feminist rage issues to keep me sane and snarky. But this is also why I think Team Movie!Jacob will just never be as popular as Team Movie!Edward, because Robert Pattinson is just infinitely better at the angsty eyesex than poor teenage Taylor Lautner.
"And if I'm right about this? Gentlemen of the generally unromantic persuasion, if you take any of this to heart, I have just upped your game by at least 50%. You can thank me later."
And she's right! It's all about the tenderness. That gets over looked a LOT in movies and popular media. Even when I dislike a group of characters and find their love unbelievable, I still get chocked up a little when you see actual tenderness emanating from the actors on screen.
I *am* a romantic and i eat that shit up like there's a drought. And I suspect that's why lots of other women (and men - straight ones even) in the world love this series and the movies. *I* have been fortunate enough to have had someone look at me and treat me that way (more than one someone, quite a few someones) in the past and present - and sadly a lot of people (not just women, but people) haven't. It's a wonderful thing to feel, to remember and to have. You cherish it. Even if it's a facsimile on screen, it's better than never having that feeling at all.
Via
cleolinda: "Philosophical ramblings
"So I'm pretty sure this movie's going to make a metric shit-ton of money. You ask me why women will go see these movies fifteen times each--you know I've spent like a year and a half discussing this and trying to figure out the appeal of this series, and you know that I've come up with several theories, most of which operate concurrently. In other words, it's no one thing; it's the sheer combination of so many emotional/psychological factors that's made this thing such a juggernaut. But here's my newest theory to throw on top of the pile: the popularity of the movies is all about the way the two leads look at each other. Well, mostly the way he looks at her; Kristen Stewart tends to play Bella with a permanent look of dazed lust most of the time (not that this is out of character). No, it's the way he looks at her, Edward at Bella (I'd really like to keep the real-life whatever out of this, because that kind of thing always creeps me out; I feel like I've been forced to become a voyeur rather than a viewer), like the sheer magnitude of his love for her is killing him, OMG IT IS KILLING HIM INSIDE, YOU GUYS. And both movies have featured constant, extreme closeups of said looking--entire scenes of nothing but what is basically tormented eyesex. It's emotional porn. That is exactly what it is. And due to the differing natures of various media, you don't get the visual of it in the books, which is why I think the movies have created even more of a monster than the books have.
"Which got me started thinking--I read Kristen Stewart saying something about finding honesty "romantic," which... I can kind of see what she's going for there, but... hm. So I started thinking about romance myself, and I think I've figured it out: the key component of romance is tenderness. Because something can be totally sexyhot without tenderness; it's tenderness that creates the "romantic" atmosphere, the one that a lot of guys tend to turn their noses up at--because tenderness requires you to be vulnerable, to open yourself up and say, I want you, I need you, I am incredibly blessed to even be touching you right now. (Maybe that's where the honesty comes in after all.) So if you buy your girlfriend a dozen roses at the supermarket and toss them at her on Valentine's Day all, "LOOK, here you are, now SHUT UP until next year," you are doing it so very, very wrong, and she probably feels it. It's not about hearts and flowers and chocolates and money spent, and in fact all that ephemera is a convenient way to dodge actual tenderness, because you can feel like you've done something without putting any real feeling into it. And Twilight? Is all about the freakin' tenderness. It's larded with tenderness; feeling drips off the pages and oozes from the film stock and romantics eat it up and then turn around and line up for more. I mean, that slow dance at the end of the first movie, he is crying while they're eyesexing, for God's sake. That's like--the emotional equivalent of--I don't even have an adequate pornographic metaphor for that. (Dayna! A little help here!) And I confess, it gets to me too at times--Lord, let a man someday look at me that way--but I've also got the neurotic sparkle hilarity and the feminist rage issues to keep me sane and snarky. But this is also why I think Team Movie!Jacob will just never be as popular as Team Movie!Edward, because Robert Pattinson is just infinitely better at the angsty eyesex than poor teenage Taylor Lautner.
"And if I'm right about this? Gentlemen of the generally unromantic persuasion, if you take any of this to heart, I have just upped your game by at least 50%. You can thank me later."
And she's right! It's all about the tenderness. That gets over looked a LOT in movies and popular media. Even when I dislike a group of characters and find their love unbelievable, I still get chocked up a little when you see actual tenderness emanating from the actors on screen.
I *am* a romantic and i eat that shit up like there's a drought. And I suspect that's why lots of other women (and men - straight ones even) in the world love this series and the movies. *I* have been fortunate enough to have had someone look at me and treat me that way (more than one someone, quite a few someones) in the past and present - and sadly a lot of people (not just women, but people) haven't. It's a wonderful thing to feel, to remember and to have. You cherish it. Even if it's a facsimile on screen, it's better than never having that feeling at all.