Girls Gone Geek

Can we stop with the Bella-bashing, already?

Don't hate me because my man sparkles.

Let me be clear: I’ve read three of the four “Twilight” books, but I didn’t love them. As my Twi-Hard friends know, I’ve got some problems with the co-dependent romance at the heart of the series. In the books, Bella Swan’s internal monologue eventually annoyed me so much that I passed on reading “Breaking Dawn.”

But though I’m less than enamored with Stephanie Meyer’s series, I’m over the constant stream of Bella-is-a-bad-role-model commentary that followed the release of the “New Moon” movie. Yes, the series is hugely popular, particularly with young women. But why does a character in a work of paranormal fiction have to be a role model for anyone? As writer Scott Mendelson pointed out, pop culture is filled with fictional male characters who make sketchy choices, but no one ever says they’re bad for boys. Bruce Wayne lives a double life and keeps even his adopted sons at arm’s length. Yeah, that’s healthy.

The series actually presents a good opportunity for parents to read the books along with their kids and, you know, communicate. A 12-year-old doesn’t know that love and obsession aren’t interchangeable concepts, but a 37-year-old parent is, presumably, equipped to explain the difference. When Bella plunges into a black depression after Edward leaves her in “New Moon,” that’s a great time to discuss the pitfalls of completely losing yourself in a romance — though that is what first love is like — and the healing power of friendship, as shown through Bella’s relationship with Jacob. (Though my husband made me laugh out loud with his assessment of Bella/Jacob: “I’m so through with her. She got dude all revved up, and then she’s all, [whiny voice] ‘I’m in love with a vampire.’)

There are certainly moments when Bella displays brave and commendable behavior, like racing back to Phoenix to rescue her mom when she believes she’s in danger. And as many, many others have mentioned, it’s nice in this day and age to see a portrayal of a passionate relationship that doesn’t immediately lead to the sack.

Stephanie Meyer’s bank account is proof that her saga tapped into something powerful, and millions of readers clearly see something in her moody heroine. If anything, she may have captured the endless navel-gazing of a teenager in love a little too well. But I think my friend J. summed it up best: “Women are kidding themselves if they think, at 17, they wouldn’t have jumped at the chance to be boo’d up with a hot vampire or a ripped werewolf.”

So let’s lay off Bella, and while we’re at it, let’s give young female readers credit for being able to appreciate “Twilight” for what it is: an entertaining fantasy. (By the way, my sources tell me that, in the end, Bella finds her strength and saves everybody. Sounds like a good movie to me.)

We like him when he's angry.

My LCS owner and I were doing our regular news-of-the-week chat when I started griping about the Earth One projects DC has planned for Superman and Batman. Gripe is probably too strong a word, because I’m a big fan of Gary Frank, who’ll be illustrating the Batman arc. However, I said something about being annoyed with the repetition of two very well-worn origin stories, and that as much as I love Batman, I don’t need to see him crouched over his dead parents’ bodies ever again. That’s when the owner pointed out the obvious: “Well, you’re not the target audience for these books.”

Oh.

When I got back into comics in a serious way three years ago, I promised myself that I wouldn’t become the kind of fan who considers a reboot or revision as an affront to his or her childhood. And since I write for a living, I can appreciate the difficulty of keeping a beloved character fresh while being confined by lore and editorial dictates. But there I was, throwing shade on books that aren’t even out yet. God forbid a publisher try to bring newer, younger readers into the fold! While I’d much rather see a great writer breathe new life into a less familiar character, I’m already reading comics. Someone who isn’t in that world is more likely to enter (or re-enter) through a familiar door. And it doesn’t get more familiar than Batman and Superman.

That comic shop exchange reminded me of a Dragon*Con panel about the future of comics that I attended back in September. Panelist Darwyn Cooke, one of my favorite writers, kept it extremely real, referring to modern comic book culture as “an over-35 club.” He pointed out that comic books were never meant to be read by the same audience for 20-plus years. But because the average reader today is more likely to have a mortgage than a homeroom teacher, the demand for continuity, among other things, hangs over many titles. So naturally, someone like me — as opposed to, say, my 9-year-old son — is over Superman’s origin story because they’ve been paying attention to superhero titles for decades. As Frank himself put it, the Earth One project “is a blank slate.”

It’s nice to be reminded that there’s room under the tent for everyone — and that if it doesn’t move me, I don’t have to read it. Besides; despite my grouchy old geek act, they had me at “Gary Frank.”