Masculinity and Vampires in His Chapter on

Masculinity and Vampires In his chapter on "Modern Masculinities" Cooper Thompson defines masculinity by a number of traits, including independence, pride, resilience, self-control, physical strength, competitive, tough, aggressive, and powerful. Violence, as a method for resolving conflict, is also associated with masculinity in most extant cultures. This 'norm' of masculinity is often represented in popular films and the "Twilight" series of vampire films seems to represent an exception to the rule.

The "Twilight" films are based on books written by Stephanie Meyer, which detail the social lives of contemporary vampires and werewolves living among us.

Meyer takes pains to humanize the central non-human characters by expanding their personality tapestry to include emotional vulnerabilities, but does this really differentiate these characters from the purely masculine portrayals that have defined this genre of films historically? This essay examines how masculinity is defined in the movie "The Twilight Saga: New Moon." Meyer's Portrayal of Masculinity Edward Cullen is a member of a loosely knit 'family' of vampires that have chosen not to feed on human blood and are therefore able to remain integrated in society.

Their need for nourishment and the act of hunting is satisfied at the expense of the big game that roams the forest around Forks, Washington. In the movie "New Moon" Edward moves out of Forks to protect his mortal girlfriend Bella, as part of a plan to lure away a more traditional vampire intent on killing Bella. Meyer's vampires have many of the standard traits common to these mythical characters, including inhuman strength and speed, but Edward is also able to read everyone's mind except Bella's.

Bella's mental opaqueness is what initially intrigues, and therefore attracts Edward to Bella, and a romantic attachment developed in the first movie "Twilight" that can only succeed if Edward is able to painfully suppress his innate desire to drain Bella of her life. Edward must carry this burden in isolation and in defiance of the advice of his 'siblings'. Edward therefore has all of the masculine traits that Thompson lists, in addition to a capacity to express vulnerabilities to Bella and his siblings.

Edward's disappearance from Bella's life in the movie "New Moon" eventually forces her to make several failed attempts to find companionship through some of her high school friends. She finally decides to renew her friendship with Jacob, a Native American boy of the same age living nearby, by taking advantage of his feelings for her.

She ensnares him into a project rebuilding two motocross motorcycles, which is intended to accomplish two things: (1) distract her from the painful feelings caused by Edward's absence, and (2) eventually allow her to engage in a risky activity. Engaging in risky activities, Bella has learned, triggers an ephemeral appearance of Edward attempting to warn her away from putting her life and well-being at risk. Bella's painful feelings of loss are therefore insufficient to trigger Edward's ghostly return, but engaging in risky behavior, a decidedly masculine trait according to Thompson, can.

Edward's non-masculine traits seem to have shrunk since the first movie, because he is unable to fathom that Bella's emotional pain causes more suffering than any physical injury could. Jacob goes through a transformation later in the film that increases the tension between him and Bella, and with Edward. Jacob harbors a genetic anomaly that confers to him and other select members of his tribe the ability to become a werewolf, but in contrast to other Hollywood portrayals the "Twilight" werewolves manifest solely to kill vampires.

The gene apparently becomes active in late adolescence and in the movie this happens just after Bella has to face the fact that Jacob wants more than a friendship with Bella. This turn of events forces Jacob to distance himself from Bella so that she won't learn the truth. Jacob meanwhile begins to train with a pack of fellow werewolves, which involves hunting and killing a vampire, and engaging in other masculine adventures like cliff diving in human form.

Any hint of Jacob's more feminine side is almost completely obliterated by his.