All That Glitters Is . . . Edward Cullen? Seriously?

I am so tired of hearing about the ubiquitous saga of mythological creatures! Junior highers love Edward Cullen. So do a lot of girls at Vanguard, apparently. Honestly, what is so thrilling about this precious Edward? I've read the first two books and then stopped due to my low regard for the series as quality literature. I may be one of the only girls to hold this opinion, but I hold it proudly: Edward is not the type of guy that I find desirable. From what I can tell, girls seem to like him based on his 1) incredible good looks, 2) unwavering devotion, and 3) he, umm . . . glitters?

1)Incredible good looks, hmmm? Everybody loves to look at pretty things and beautiful people. That much is obvious. Something within us responds deeply to beauty--look at how many pictures and paintings of sunsets there are. People like things to be gorgeous and they like shiny things. We just do. Edward Cullen, however, is portrayed as suspiciously and unrealistically good-looking, supposedly having the proverbial "perfect" body, "perfect" voice, hair, whatever. But see the problem? The sickeningly perfect is nearly impossible to relate to. It's true. Have you ever tried to relate to a sunset? I would have a hard time trusting somebody who was totally perfect. It's weird. Unnatural. Some girls go so far as to say that a "real" man looks like Edward Cullen. Now, that makes me angry. I mean, yes, like most people, I might consider some guys to be better looking than others. I'd be lying if I said well-built upper bodies were not attractive. But that is completely irrelevant to the concept of a "real" man, and that is why I get angry at girls who think it essential.

What is a "real" man? A real man (oh, misguided Twilight fans) is a man that loves the Lord more than anything, and puts God and His will above everything else in his life. A real man is nothing more, nothing less. Let's look at two broad, general stereotypes for the sake of my point. Yep, both broad and general. And vague. There could be this Edward Cullen-ish guy you know. Maybe he goes to your school. He is most likely talented at sports or lifts weights really impressively. And he goes out with all kinds of pretty girls. You might know another guy, who does not look like Edward Cullen. Perhaps he is scrawny, rather nerdy, and clumsy. Everybody probably makes fun of him constantly. But let's say that this guy really loves the Lord. With all his heart. And maybe he has never been on a date, and maybe he wants to wait for the girl God has picked to be his wife. You know what? That guy is a "real" man. He is much more of a man than the first stereotype will ever be. Much more of a man than Edward Cullen. Well, he's a vampire, not a man, but still. And he does wait for Bella. Hmmm. I find a lot of this first reason for Edward's wonderfulness a bit contradictory. Girls are always getting mad at guys for looking at heavily made-up women with perfect bodies, yet I hear girls saying they wish their boyfriends could look/be more like Edward, who is cold and pale and sparkly (gag me). So really, how can girls expect guys to try to be wholesome and not only look at a girl's appearance when these same girls can't stop telling them to be like Edward? If I had a boyfriend, you know what I would tell him? I would tell him to not be like Edward. I would tell him to fall more passionately in love with God than he ever could with me. To be like Jesus. That is rare. I'd respect him enough not to throw some fictional fantasy in his face. I don't get why girls do that. When guys go on about girls with a perfect body, I feel like I am not good enough. I think of the ways in which I differ from that notion. So maybe guys feel bad when girls go on about Edward Cullen. Maybe some Twilight fans don't think of that.

2) Unwavering devotion. Yes, Edward seems to love Bella more than his own life. A perfectly admirable quality, in one sense. I mean, relationships fall apart all the time because of people going around and having affairs--you can't turn on the news without hearing about Tiger Woods. God intended couples to be faithful to one another: till death means till death. God hates divorce. That is not where obsessing over Edward Cullen could be a problem. The problem is when that wonderful loyalty expands into an expectation of complete emotional fulfillment. I mean, look at what happens when Edward leaves: Bella's life is practically over. She cannot function properly. She gets no joy out of her existence, mopes around all the time, and is just generally unpleasant. Personally, that is how I would feel if I didn't have God, not a person. I don't have a boyfriend, and I don't feel empty or lonely or achy. I feel peaceful. I do like somebody, but I understand that God holds my life, so I don't need to worry about how it will go. When people don't find their security in God, or feel like it, they look for it in each other because that's their only other choice. (Well, some people look for it in things like money, but that's not the point). This is what some Twilight fans do not seem to understand. It is perfectly natural to want to be cared for and adored and thought of as the most beautiful and special girl in the world. Every girl wants a guy to think of her like that. But if God isn't your constant source of . . . everything, you will put that burden on someone else. People let us down, even Edward Cullen. But God never does. You can't expect a human being to be everything you need, because what happens when they fail? You feel let down, perhaps crushed.

If Bella loved God, when Edward left, she would've realized that she should let God pick her husband. But that's less dramatic. We like drama in our fiction but not in our reality. Instead of wanting some guy to love me more than anything, I want him to love God most. Because I can't be everything to somebody, I'm just this girl. If someone expected me to be his everything, I'd feel terrible. Because I'm not. I love God and I love people. But sometimes I worry over silly things and talk too much and get distracted and interrupt people. And write really long, rambling blogs. I'm not perfect. I realize all of the above is quite easy to type and to know but more difficult to feel and live out. But it's true.

3) Glitter. "No comment" is, in fact, a comment. So, "no comment."

Edward Cullen might be fun to read about to all these girls, but let's leave him where he belongs after we close the books: he is as fictional as he is appealing. Fictional people may be fun to dream about, but God makes "real" men. Who aren't flecked with shiny little sparkles.