Thursday, November 20, 2008

'Vegetarian' Vampires Show No Mercy

Imagine if Stephanie Meyer had written about a family of vampires who feed only on the blood of merchants of death, those sinister types found in corporate offices, on military bases and in other places of ill repute in Washington state. What a powerful message Meyer could have sent her millions of female teenage readers: the good vampires of the Cullen clan neutralize the Pacific Northwest fat cats, defense contractors and environmental despoilers, making the region a safer and more livable place for future generations.

Instead, Meyer thinks the best way to make her “good” vampires more likable to her rabid teenage fans is to turn them into “vegetarian” vampires — in the case of the Twilight series of books, though, vegetarian means the vampires only abstain from hunting humans. The wild animals that roam the woods of the Pacific Northwest, however, are fair game for the “good” vampires’ next meal.

Meyer sacrifices the wild animals for the sake of selling the tale of a 17-year-old girl named Bella who falls in love with Edward Cullen, a member of the family of “vegetarian” vampires. As with general society’s treatment of nonhuman animals, Meyer’s message through this plot development is the lives of the nonhuman animals are cheap and not worth exploring. There’s no hint of reverence by the Cullens for the animals whose blood they drain and whose bodies are left behind unceremoniously. There’s no meaningful, lasting sense of emotional involvement or satisfaction with the animals who give the Cullen vampires their food for life. There’s no respect or giving of thanks for the life the wild animals give to sustain the lives of the vampires.

The lack of respect for the nonhuman animals is in contrast to the real relationship between Edward and Bella. Too bad in the movie version of Twilight, which opens at midnight tonight, we won’t get to see Robert Pattinson’s Edward using his vampire super-powers to hunt down the suburban developers who are plundering Washington’s environment. Pattinson’s Edward could take a heroic turn by becoming an even paler version of Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne, who battles the powers-that-be on behalf of his dear Marie and Nicky.

Instead, Edward becomes the guardian angel of clumsy and self-absorbed Bella. To resist sacrificing Bella, Edward often takes leave from school to go hunting with his family in the woods. If only Edward could show the same restraint he displays with Bella in his conduct toward the wild animals.

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