Teenagers are literally going crazy over Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga. Why are her heroes — vampires — so cute to our children?
Teenagers literally got hooked on Stephenie Meyer’s saga «Twilight»: more than one hundred million copies of the book were sold in the world, more than 20 million viewers watched its version in Russian cinemas. Why do her heroes, vampires, attract our children?
Of course, the bloodsucker Edward looks like a pale copy of the legendary Dracula, his famous ancestor. But he also became an idol for thousands of schoolchildren. “A teenager easily identifies himself with a vampire, because they have a lot in common,” smiles psychoanalyst Svetlana Fedorova. “The first is lost between childhood and adulthood, while the second wanders through the ages and cannot find a place for itself in time and space.” Both of them feel lonely and have to hide their emotions and fantasies. And everyone has their own drama.
“A vampire, like a child forever in need of a mother’s breast, sucks the victim’s blood and lives off it,” the psychoanalyst reflects. — His desires are contradictory: the vampire seeks to merge with the victim and at the same time destroy the object of his addiction. Teenagers experience something similar. From the very beginning, the child developed in symbiosis with the mother, receiving the substances necessary for life through the placenta with her blood. Growing up, he longs to be free and suffers from his unwillingness to psychologically separate from her, feels rage because of the need to obey. Fantasies about a vampire who lives forever and has infinite power are close to him: these properties could give him independence.
“The sadomasochistic actions of a vampire attract with their “immaculate” sexuality,” adds Svetlana Fedorova. — A vampire does not have sexual contact, his aggression is not as forbidden as sex. After all, teenagers also often hurt themselves, pierce their skin, bite their nails … They are looking for ways to satisfy themselves, they want to feel their own body. Sexuality is something dangerous for them, especially if such an attitude is supported by parents. A teenager feels guilty about his awakening attraction. The protagonist of the Twilight saga, Edward, is also in conflict with his desires. He forbids himself to bite Bella, realizing that the person he loves does not exist in order to satisfy his needs. By presenting adolescents with their real-life experiences in a fairy-tale form, vampire stories help to embrace these ambivalent feelings and fantasies.
* S. Mayer «Twilight» (AST, Astrel, Harvest, 2011).