The Twilight Saga:New Moon The Break Up Scene!

From the Rome film festival, the complete breakup scene!

Hat tip: Christine (Thanks!)

Vampires as Gay Men?

Esquire has published a provocative article stating the reason that the current Vampire craze is not like the scary vampires of yesteryear:

Vampires have overwhelmed pop culture because young straight women want to have sex with gay men. Not all young straight women, of course, but many, if not most, of them.

The author cites not only Twilight, but the new CW TV series Vampire Diaries and even Bill from True Blood. These new vampires are much more normal and non-threatening than anything Bram Stoker dreamed up.

Edward, the romantic hero of the Twilight series, is a sweet, screwed-up high school kid, and at the beginning of his relationship with Bella, she is attracted to him because he is strange, beautiful, and seemingly repulsed by her. This exact scenario happened several times in my high school between straight girls and gay guys who either hadn't figured out they were gay or were still in the closet. Twilight's fantasy is that the gorgeous gay guy can be your boyfriend, and for the slightly awkward teenage girls who consume the books and movies, that's the clincher. Vampire fiction for young women is the equivalent of lesbian porn for men: Both create an atmosphere of sexual abandon that is nonthreatening.

So, what do you think?  Does Stephen Marche have a point?  I suppose there could be something to it, but I think young preteen and early teen girls just find sex in general scary.  Vampires have always had to do with sex, the transfer of blood (eek!  bodily fluids!) and the puncture of the teeth has obvious connotations.  But gay sex?  I think girls that age have been attracted to androgynous non-threatening males for a long time, because they can be romantically dreamed about but they aren't dripping with sexual power and machismo.  Orlando Bloom, anyone? 

His theory, however, falls apart for all us Twilight Moms, because it wasn't all 12 year olds who read those books and went to the movie.  We aren't in it for the gay sex, I don't think, all though I can't speak for everyone.  ;)  It's the unabashed romanticism that appeals.  In this day and age, what the hell can keep lovers apart and keep the sexual suspense going?  Historic Romance novels are huge because there were different rules then, and the lovers are not going to fall into bed on page one (or at least mostly).  Paranormal Romance is also a huge genre, and it isn't all vampires.  There are werewolves, witches, fey creatures and shapeshifters of all kinds.   We may not want a macho alpha male in our real life, but it's fun to read about them and vampires and werewolves tend to take what they want, and (maybe) apologize later.  I'd bet Stephen Marche hasn't read much adult Paranormal Romance, and I can assure him that most of those adult vampires are anything but gay (J. R. Ward novels excepted.)

I'm not saying vampires have nothing to do with gays.  The Anne Rice novels surely held allegories to gays and AIDS, and Allen Ball is pretty explicit in True Blood with drawing parallels to vampire persecution and gays.  The GOD HATES FANGS sign is right in the opening credits, and the Church of the Light campaigns against the "vampire lifestyle" in the show.  It's there, but it's not the only thing that's there.  Vampires are simply about sex, both gay and straight.

Tell me what you think!

Just You ... and your Edward Cullen Shadow

We've gone way beyond glitter cream, now! The latest in Twilight products? Get your own 6' 2" lifesize Edward Cullen shadow vinyl sillouette for your wall or door from Etsy:

Let everyone know that you are a true Twilighter by giving Edward Cullen a home! Or you can keep him to yourself... put him on the back of your bedroom door so he can be intrigued while you sleep! He'll be keeping an eye out for any roving carnivorous vampires searching for a snack, while reminding you to "Be Safe".

It doesn't say that it glitters in the sun, but you can order it in Silver Metallic.

That all seems very tame compared to The Vamp sex toy. (NSFW, duh!) Not only does it sparkle, but

by popular request... Yes the The Vamp retains hot and cold temperature. Toss it in the fridge for that authentic experience.

Oy.

Forbidden Fruits Twilight Candy

Cinematical has a great post on some of the crazy new Twilight merchandise out. I had not heard about the new Forbidden Fruits Candy:

The latest tie-in comes from the makers of Sweethearts (aka Conversation Hearts) and go by the ridiculously awesome name of 'Forbidden Fruits'. But these are not your mom's Sweethearts; these babies are covered in glitter and have Twilight themed quotes like 'Bite Me', 'Lamb', and 'I Trust You' written on them.

And check out the Edward Cullen body glitter. Yeah, if you walk into any Hot Topic store, you will be overwhelmed with all the Twilight stuff!!