Call the first witness

I just had the good (maybe) fortune to witness an INTERNET ARGUMENT!!!! about why Supernatural is apparently more damaging and sexist than Twilight.

Exhibit A: Internet argument.

Now, I have my issues with Twilight (YES, KATE, WE KNOW say the readers) and my issues with Supernatural, as much as I love the show and my boys.  But the two series are not really comparable.  They may both be paranormal stories aimed at a teenage audience, but the most important thing is the way the characters are presented to the (mostly teenage female) audience.

Exhibit B: Dean Winchester

I will not deny that Dean Winchester is a sexist pig who doesn’t know the first thing about respecting women.  He continually refers to the female characters as bitches, whores, and sluts; he’s not there for his romantic interests (the love ‘em and leave ‘em type) and he makes fun of his brother’s emotional side by making sexist comments.  If I knew Dean in real life, I would knee him in the balls the moment he opened his mouth.

However. Dean is also a very flawed young man.  (You would be, too, if you spent your childhood killing demons with your father.)  And he’s portrayed as such.  When is it ever implied that Dean is an entirely good person, a healthy partner in his relationships?  It doesn’t excuse the things he says, but I think we can all agree that Dean was never meant to be a role model or be the perfect boyfriend.

Which brings us to:

Exhibit C: Edward Cullen (+ hanger-on)

Edward Cullen.  Here is what girls have to say about Edward Cullen:

“He makes sure you know that you are all he thinks about and that he would find some way to die once you were gone”

“I think all guys should read the books and maybe even watch the movies and should strive to be like him, the books should be like a dating bible.”

“if one realizes that Edward is an immortal being who has fallen in love with the clumsiest most accident prone person in the universe, then I think his behaviour would be justified and then some”

You know why none of the fans will admit that Edward has abusive tendencies?  Because Stephanie Meyers presents him to us, the readers, as THE PERFECT BOYFRIEND.  Caring, totally obsessed with a girl, and protective of her to the point where he will do whatever it takes to keep her.

You know what that sounds like?  An abusive relationship.  Oh, he only keeps her from seeing her friends and RIPS THE ENGINE OUT OF HER CAR because he loves her and he’s jealous!  Yeah, I’ve heard that before.  “He only hurts me and controls me because he loves me.  He knows what’s best.”  Jealousy taken to that level is not cute or romantic: plain and simple, it’s a control tactic used to hold power over Bella.

Not once, not once in the series does the author address the fact that Edward and Bella’s relationship is controlling and semi-abusive, and not ideal at all.  Barely any of the fans of the series share this opinion.  To S. Meyers and her readers, Edward Cullen is the perfect man.

And this is where Dean and Edward differ – in presentation.  It’s one thing to write a character with problematic views purposefully and demonstrate these problems in the series, and quite another to pretend the character has no flaws and can do no wrong.  Supernatural may be sexist, but at least some of it, and practically all of Dean’s character, is on purpose.  Twilight doesn’t show or comment on the blatant sexism, and it almost seems that Stephanie Meyer doesn’t even know the implications of what she’s writing.

In conclusion: the Winchester boys need to stake Glitter-boy through the heart, and fast, before any girls end up hurt because they’re just looking for their own jealous, controlling Edward.

And Dean needs to take Womens’ Studies.

twihard with a vengeance

Most of you have probably guessed by now that I’m, um, not the biggest fan of the Twilight saga.  And no, it’s not just because Robert Pattinson’s eyebrows look like caterpillars that are apt to crawl off his face mid-interview.  Nor is it that when it comes to pretty vampires, I’d take Thomas Raith over a Cullen any day.  My problem is, thankfully, a little less superficial than that.

If you’ve ever met a “Twihard”, ever set foot into Hot Topic, ever frequented a paranormal romance message board, you’ll know that the fans divide themselves into two groups: Team Edward and Team Jacob.  (Not counting the small fraction of fandom that’s into the whole Bella-and-James thing, which is just a whole other can of WRONG AND ABUSIVE.)  According to fans – and, hell, the books and films themselves – the heroine (AND I USE THIS TERM QUITE LOOSELY HERE) Bella must be with one of the two.  She MUST have a man.  So much for letting a girl love the single life – that’s ridiculous.  She can’t live, let alone have a happy and fulfilling life, as a single woman, or at least that’s what the books imply.

But wouldn’t our lovestruck protagonist be better off on her own?  I mean, look at the choices.

Hundred-plus year old vampire Edward is the first choice.  Yeah, I said it, he’s over a hundred.  You know how old Bella is?  SEVENTEEN.  That, my dear readers, is as far as I know ILLEGAL.  And also statutory rape and pedophilia.  Ebebophilia?  Whatever.  That’s still, like, a century’s difference.  Ick.  Also, he watches her while she sleeps and follows her around, controlling who she can and can’t be friends with.  Oh, and did I mention that in the final book, when he, ahem, deflowers Bella, he BREAKS THE HEADBOARD OF THE BED and she wakes up covered in bruises?  DOES ANYONE ELSE FIND THIS AS DODGY AS I DO?

On the other hand, there’s Jacob, a werewolf.  (With quite fabulous hair in the first film, I must say.  If only Taylor Lautner didn’t have an eight-year-old’s face and a male model’s abs…)  Now, I like Jacob quite a bit better – he’s the snarky, less flashy everydude to Edward’s perfect and eternal sparkliness – but even he’s a bit of a jerk.  Despite Bella’s protests, he forces her to kiss him, which is icky enough and then when Bella’s father finds out, he congratulates Jacob and laughs.  LAUGHS AT HIS DAUGHTER BEING PRACTICALLY SEXUALLY ASSAULTED.  What the hell, Stephanie Meyer?

Quite honestly, the only thing that could lessen the overwhelming aura of squick that surrounds Twilight for me would be if “TEAM BELLA” T-shirts started popping up.  If Meyers herself admitted what a twisted and semi-abusive relationship her leads share instead of presenting them as the picture-perfect, albeit undead, couple.  If Buffy somehow found her way into Forks – okay, now I’m going into personal wish fulfillment territory.

But seriously.  It would be awesome.

It’s okay because he’s pretty.

A friend of mine recently informed me about an incident where British scenester and alt-heartthrob Oli Sykes (the emo-haired, tattoo-covered frontman of hardcore screamo band Bring Me The Horizon) tried to get a girl to sleep with him.  Now, there are many girls who would give an arm and a leg to have intimate relations with such a well-known celebrity, but this particular girl turned him down.  (Probably because she didn’t want to get chlamydia.  I’m just sayin’.)  And instead of moving on to the next hot girl with a shrug of his shoulder, or even going home and jacking off to On-Demand porn, this charming man decides to PISS ON HER.

YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT.

HE.  PISSED.  ON.  HER.

And where was the outrage from the band’s fans when this happened?  Nowhere, actually.  They were too busy making Facebook groups titled “I wish Oli would pee on me too!” and such.  I wish I were making this up.

And why did he get away with this?  Oh, right, because he’s a good-looking, popular celebrity.

This happens a lot.  Korean pop star Jay Park, formerly of 2PM, was kicked out of the chart-topping boy band because of homophobic and racist comments made on his MySpace.  Fangirls?  Still standing up for him and trying to justify what he said.  And according to rumors now circulating the Japanese entertainment community Arama They Didn’t, Nishikido Ryo recently kicked a girl he was wooing out of their taxi because she didn’t want to sleep with him.  Predictable, ATD’s comments weren’t the most… enlightened things ever:

Oh lmfao. Ryo I love everything about you and your life. Fierce he is fierce.

How dare she turn down the Nishikido peen. Ho obviously had it coming.

This makes me love my Ryo-chan even more ) I’m not surprised even a tiny bit!

I just… Ugh.  I can’t think of an intelligent way to finish this post.  So I’ll see you again when I get back from punching babies and kicking adorable puppies. >8(