Book Review: The Gospel According to Twilight

**Fair Warning:  if you haven't read Twilight, this post contains SPOILERS about the entire saga and Ellen A. Heath's book.  

The Gospel According to Twilight: Women, Sex, and God by Elaine A. Heath

I read this book because, ashamedly, I really enjoyed reading Twilight.  I know.  I am a terrible feminist.  I have also seen all the movies, and again, I am ashamed to admit, I own them.  It's so very entertaining.  Would I rather my daughter grow up emulating Hermoine Granger than Bella Swan?  100 times yes, absolutely. I read one mom say she would allow her daughter to read Twilight only under the condition that she would write a paper after each book explaining the problems with each character and story line.  And yet.....  However, I'll save my Twilight apology for another day.  Or how about I never, ever bring up Twilight again on this blog?  Agreed?  Agreed.

So what did I read about?  The basic gist is Twilight is not very good news for girls, and yet, it is so relate-able because Bella is the epitome of what the media tells girls they are.

From page 38:

"The feelings of self-doubt, shame, and inadequacy come from being indoctrinated with the message that we are not beautiful enough, graceful enough, thin enough, curvy enough, talented enough, athletic enough, rich enough, or sexy enough to actually count.  We girls and women are given a thousand messages a day from television, movies, magazines, and the Web that we are deficient.  Our thighs are too big, our teeth too yellow, our hair too thin, our eyelashes too pale.  Bella is all that.  No wonder so many readers love to hate Bella.  She is us when we are enslaved to the lie.  She is the socially constructed false self that we hate but from which we find it hard to escape."

Another theme that Heath looks into is violence made normal in this love story.  Almost every female character in the Twilight saga experiences some kind of violence by the hands of a man or men, but let's focus on the (so-called) heroine of the story Bella.  The saga would be much less problematic if Edward's and Jacob's violent tendencies were not constantly justified by their "love" for Bella.  Heath discusses characteristics of Edward that are Red Flags for anyone familiar with domestic violence*.  First off, he is controlling as all get out (is "all get out" a southern expression?).  He demands to know where Bella is and who she is with;  he even uses Alice when he can't read Bella's mind.  He stalks Bella by sneaking into her room and watching her sleep.  Heath links the justification of these qualities with the justification of domestic violence:  He just loves her so much.  He wants to protect her.  He can't control himself because he loves her.  "[A]busive men," explains Heath, "use manipulation, 'reasonable' explanations, and other maneuvers...to keep their victims confused and under obligation to forgive and endure unacceptable behavior." 

 Elaine A. Heath's book analyzes Twilight under the microscope of women, sex, and God.  I will admit to skimming over the God section because if it is one thing that annoys me as much as Mormons preaching culture as doctrine, it's a non-Mormon teaching me about Mormon doctrine.  Heath pulls a lot of Let me explain LDS theology in her book, and I just don't dig it.  Other people might, I just find more often than not, when a person analyzes a religion they haven't studied in depth, she tends to get it wrong.  As a whole, I wasn't super impressed with this book.  It was very basic without enough analytical depth for my taste.  Two stars out of five...maybe? 

*When I use the term "domestic violence," I am referring to violence that occurs within an intimate relationship, whether it be spouses or paramours.