Few phenomena underline the disparity between girl's stated desires and their actual desires more than the obsession surrounding the Twilight series. According to Box Office Mojo the film adaptations of the the first three books have grossed over 750 million dollars, and with the two part adaptation of the final book it should surprise no one when that total passes a billion. Those that doubt the insights provided by game and its description of female desires should seriously consider the type of man a large number of girls are voting for with their money.
When the craze was initially taking off I was working at Barnes and Noble . I saw first hand the interest in the book and borrowed a copy to read. I eventually read all four books in the series, and I admit that it was to see how the whole thing ended, though it did give me something to talk about to the girls who came in to buy it.
Lacking the insights I have now I attributed the popularity of the books to the author's approachable style. There are no challenging concepts, new ideas, or complex sentence structures to slow the reader down. There is nothing to keep a girl from experiencing Stephanie Meyer's fantasies as her own. In fact the lack of characterization for Bella encourages the reader to user her as a proxy, enhancing the fantasy. But these facts only partially explain why the books are so popular. For a complete explanation we have to look at Edward in all his sparkly glory:
-He is a serial killer: During a rebellious period (girls do love a rebel) he went on a killing streak, feeding on humans instead of the more acceptable local wildlife . However this is okay with Bella as he only killed bad people.
-He is dangerous: He wants to kill Bella. As in rip her throat out and drink her blood. He even goes so far as to take her to place where he could kill her. He doesn't, but that is beside the point; he could kill her, he wants to kill her, and it only makes her lust after him more. Also, see serial killer, above.
-He is strong: He is so strong he can make diamonds with his hands. De Beers is currently negotiating with Buffy.
-He is rich: The whole family drives sports cars; (DHV, duh).
-He is manipulative: "No one will believe you".
-He is in control of his sexuality: They never do it until after the wedding. With one exception it is always Ed that stops it before they do the deed. As this particular trait exists only as a means of controlling the relationship, I suspect that any girl who throws herself at a guy the way Bella does is in for a very rude awakening.
-He rapes Bella on their wedding night: The sex is so violent Bella wakes up the next morning with bruises all over her body, and she does not care. So much for being gentle for a girl's first time. Keep in mind that this was written by a Mormon house wife who by all accounts fits every stereotype. If there was anything that confirmed the inner slut theory it would be this. There is even a pair of vampires who explain that they have demolished entire houses because their lovemaking was so violent. It seems that even the sweetest, most feminine women have some pretty violent fantasies.
He has sparkly skin: This of course is an example of peacocking. If he can survive in wild looking like a Vegas stripper then he must have great genes. Darwin says so.
Some would object that Edward has a lot of BETA traits, such as devotion. But keep in mind that women do want these traits as well so long as the guy is sufficiently ALPHA.
As an aside: When the Twilight was released on video a few years ago a local Wal-Mart had a midnight release. As part of the festivities they had a Edward look alike contest. A few of my (alpha) brother's girl friends convinced him to come dressed as a vampire. They went the all the way, covering him with glitter and giving him yellow contacts (gotta have a powerful frame to pull this off). While girls were waiting to purchase the movie he went up and down the line chatting them all up. He even approached one girl and whispered "You are my brand of heroin" in her ear. She lost it. He won a 42" HDTV.
None of the above should come as a surprise to anyone who has ever read Roissy. The whole phenomena reads like a feminist's nightmare. I suspect that many women would say NAWALT to this, and I would have to agree, but it does not matter. If game only worked on a large minority of women it would still be valuable to learn. The fact that so many women have implicitly identified themselves as susceptible to game makes the NAWALT objection trivial. Guys that want only sex need only play the numbers game, since, statistically speaking, they will eventually will run into a responsive girl. Which, based on the type of girl that I saw buying the Twilight books, is often hot (I know, fat chicks are all fans, but many hot girls like the series too). The thing is, despite all the objections to game, all the accusations that game is sleazy, that it does not work on women with high self esteem, as long as women pine after a imaginary alpha, there will be a real alpha, synthetic or natural, who will gladly fulfill her fantasy so she can vote for the type of man she wants. Though for real men, women do not vote with their financial assets.
23 comments:
Edward gives women both their true desire and their excuse. His dark, powerful, evil, and manipulative side is what draws them. The "old fashioned chivalry", as my wife put it, is simply their excuse. If he were ever human (read: weak) and acted so pathetic, they would have zero interest.
One of the keys to women is to understand that to them, their image is more important than their reality. You not only have to give them what they want, you have to give them a justification for it too.
@RM: "The thing is, despite all the objections to game, all the accusations that game is sleazy"
____________
The reason women disdain the concept of game is because it holds a mirror up to them and they don't like the reflection.
Anyone watch Supernatural (on CW - I know, gross)? One of their episodes last season had a group of vampires luring women to be their blood banks via acting like broody, secretive Twilighty vampires. Their victims were actually shocked when the vampires used them as food, and not as precious snowflakes to cherish.
Made me think that if vampires actually "came out" in the real world - they'd have it made. In America, at least.
"-He is manipulative: "No one will believe you"."
On the Rifftrax for Twilight I remember in that scene they said "and that line comes directly from the abusive boyfriends handbook"
"Though for real men, women do not vote with their financial assets."
Yes, they do.
"The reason women disdain the concept of game is because it holds a mirror up to them and they don't like the reflection."
And theoretically, vampires don't cast reflections SO THEY ARE THE PERFECT FANTASY LOVERS!!!
Now I get it!
All you need to know in order to understand Twilight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4uuGvmAxTI
@jay c: You are correct. I was making the point that they vote with their other assets. Probably should have said that they do not vote with only their financial assets.
Most women won't admit to a liking for romance novels. But they feel cultural permission has been granted for them to admit they love Twilight (per some of my Facebook friends updates anyway).
They don't seem to realize what a large opening into their psyche and manipulation points they reveal by that admission. Must be that hamster working, again.
I used to say I need to write romance novels, because it's the easiest genre to write. You just use the same basic formula, except with Pirates/Scottish Lairds/etc and if you get popular like Nicholas Sparks all your stuff will sell millions of copies to your fanbase. This is another potential application for understanding game.
Edward is a feminist nightmare? No, he's a feminist fantasy.
@NateM: You could write a romance novel about a wereseal with game and women would lap it up. Just make him a lean and dangerous wereseal with big canines that he longs to sink into a woman's soft flesh. Give him sparkly whiskers and purple eyes and the ability to hunt down and consume killer whales. Make him so powerful he singuarly has the ability to destroy the delicate balance of the ocean's ecosystem, but he doesn't do it because his love, Placenta, is a Stanford educated enviromentalist and a strong, independent woman who would be upset if he lost control of his impulses. She's such a great woman he does this for her.
2 words: Wuthering Heights
What'a amusing is that women actually think Twilight and Titanic are love stories.
Whoa! LP in culture shock!
The content above is actually in the books and movies?! I had no clue, this is really bad.
I saw the first movie and thought was another flakey teen flick more reflective of a declining society. I thought it was more fodder contributing to the reality that we have a generation of possibly mentally ill females.
I am officially sick: feminist organizing voter drives at...Sex in the City premieres?
Did I read that correctly?
This whole thing is nuts. The movies, the emo porn, the moronic acting, feminists, voter drives, I cannot take it, lol.
@The LP 999/Linda said...
I am officially sick: feminist organizing voter drives at...Sex in the City premieres?
__________
And guess which political ideology the ill-informed, immature, vampire-stalking crowd supports in droves?
Note to self, be more aware of NAWALT.
I'll try to answer Trust while I am terrible at cultural references in modern movies, books and music...
The liberals are peddling this nonsense as inter personal/relational reality?
It seems like fallen human nature in bad acting and poor writing fused with the blood of the loser vamp scene?
(Yes, I know I am way off today, hard week.)
@The LP 999/Linda said...
Note to self, be more aware of NAWALT.
I'll try to answer Trust while I am terrible at cultural references in modern movies, books and music...
The liberals are peddling this nonsense as inter personal/relational reality?
___________
I was referring to which ideology benefits from registering "Sex and the City" and "Twilight" fans. While most of those registered will vote liberal, i'm sure many conservatives are happily peddling emotional porn for their own financial profit.
The benefiting ideology is socialism (and it's siblings communism and fascism). A core component of socialism is to provide broad suffrage because ill informed and the socially dependent are easily manipulated into letting the state handle everything.
Trust:
Agreed. Thanks for clarifying :)
Very nice read with Game in mind, I don't agree with everything but its interesting enough also any man american man that reads Twilight wins tons of good will in my book :). I would clarify that is not rape is violent sex. Rape imply nonconsent and you know that Bella was enthusiastically consenting with all the power of her horny teenage body!
Don't give feminists even more definition of rape...please?
Amen, Stephenie. There's a lot of shit around this site, among others the idea that women have no direction, must have a male guide and should almost never be listened to or regarded. Also the one that every woman secretly wants rough sex and an evil man. This is the problem of many confused, alpha-less secular women, but not sound and healthy women.
Oh, Game pretty much is an AWALT thing, in the sense that EVERY WOMAN is attracted to strength and confidence. But not every woman is attracted to jerks, creepy guys, or men who make them perpetually hunger for affection; those are the unhealthy traits that warrant a gigantic NAWALT. In fact, fathers should train their daughters to avoid crap like that.
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