Twilight: psychological analysis (and pitfalls) of the success of the saga



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Hands that did not see at least one of the movies in the series Twilight ! Paired as a teenage literary phenomenon and then faithfully transposed into a series of films (5, to be precise), the saga that features a family of "vegetarian" vampires – who try to settle for livestock for their livelihood – makes us talk for over 10 years, on the wave before the stratospheric success of the books of Stephenie Meyer then respective films, which launched the protagonists of the Olympus of notoriety (partly influencing their career ) Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson

A saga, that of Twilight which owes its exceptional success to a number of factors, affecting many sensitive emotional chains, in especially in this period of life – adolescence – in which one begins to know oneself through the intense and contrasting sensations provoked by the first love. In the case of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), a timid and shy girl, just left sunny California – where she lived with her eccentric mother – in her father's city, the dark and rainy Forks from the state of Washington, the difficult insertion into the new school reality is quickly upset by the unexpected and irresistible attraction to the Institute's alien, as timid and reserved Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).

But why this story, much more than others, has created a fandom of gigantic proportions, resulting – among other things – from the birth of another saga, this time erotic shamelessly – that of Cinquanta Sfumature ?

Twilight : The eternal fight between Eros and Thanatos

  Twilight saga Cinematographe.it

The basis of the emotional impact of the saga of Twilight [19659003] seems to reside mainly in the unconsciously pregnant relationship between Eros and Thanatos two forces – as already claimed Sigmund Freud – intended to be complementary, even in their apparent incompatibility. Life and the death drive under conditions of normality, compete constantly, in a vain attempt to resolve the ambivalence that belongs to each being. human. Similarly, Bella struggles to reconcile the rational need to protect herself from the danger of life that involves a relationship with Edward (and of which the boy himself is concerned) with the irresistible desire to join him, which causes the problematic Objective

Bella, against all rational logic, fails to renounce Edward minimizing an almost total incompatibility and defying daily fate in the name of an essential feeling, more powerful than her instinct sound of conservation. In addition, the total and unconditional confidence that the girl feeds to her beloved vampire nurtures the adolescent fantasy of a perfect love, to which she can abandon herself completely and thanks to which – paradoxically – one can feel secure, protected from all the dangers of the outside world

Another element that justifies the success of the saga of Twilight and then the way the number of is addressed feeling of Membership and self – acceptance fundamental especially in the age group of the relevant public: Bella is a fish out of the water that just arrived at Forks. Despite the kindness and curiosity of new clbadmates, he feels deeply different, unable to integrate into the peer group, certainly more carefree and frivolous than her. The meeting with Edward and the Cullen family, however, magically resolves the feeling of strangeness felt by the girl, who finally finds her place in a reality – certainly unconventional – but within which Bella finally manages to to be herself, with all her quirks. Not only that, the strength of family ties among members of the vampire family also appears as a healing element in relation to the suffering experienced by the protagonist because of the separation of the parents: now she has a solid and compact nucleus to himself, ready to give his life for his happiness and his salvation.

  Twilight Cullen Cinematographe.it

Twilight : ideal love or dangerous idealization?

Twilight thus becomes the mirror of the unconscious desire of fusion at the base of any affective relationship. Together with & # 39; ambition of a love able to provide all the answers about themselves, thanks to which an ugly duckling can always turn into a beautiful swan (as underlined the nickname of Bella, Swan ), thanks to the omnipresent power of a relationship without which we can not live and give life.

But the irresistible pbadion aroused by Twilight and by the charming Edward, who became a horde of fans a true obsession, is a phenomenon based on an idealizing movement certainly not without pitfalls, where the magic of attraction seems to exceed the value of any other evaluation in the encounter with each other. The danger is to validate a vision of love that is not only unrealistic because it lacks the basic factors for the success of a relationship. If we eliminate for a moment the blinding filter of beauty and Edward's apparent devotion to Bella, we notice (especially in the literary version of Twilight ) many undesirable characteristics in the personality of the male protagonist, badyzed in more detail.

WARNING: NEXT SPOILER ON TWILIGHT SAGA

Edward (a sweetened copy of the pseudo-narcissist Christian Gray of Fifty Shades – explicitly inspired by the vampire saga) is a dark and authoritarian boy, who most often imposes his own point of view at the expense of that of Bella, who – like Ana of Fifty Shades – seems rebellious but up to a point, accepting conditions that are anything but desirable , in order to continue the relationship. Edward decides what is best for the two, abandoning Bella, in the heartbreaking second chapter of the saga, New Moon depriving her of a real explanation that can help her get along. calm down, then give in to desire. save him in Italy before the vampire commits suicide, believing that she is dead

  Twilight saga Cinematograph.it

Later, in Breaking Dawn Part 1 Edward renders Bella pregnant, abandoning her again, but this time by a cold emotional detachment, provoked by her refusal to accept a pregnancy that could endanger her beloved's life. Still an attitude that is undoubtedly reflected in substance, but without the minimal emotional attentions that should characterize a relationship, where decisions are made in two and where one must always take care of the feelings of the other.

The relationship with Edward, moreover, for Bella, she has the cost of renouncing not only her own human existence, but also to her relationships with her family, which she must, to a certain extent, detach – a once become a vampire – to avoid hurting them. A choice that Bella realizes freely, indeed, formally against the opinion of Edward, who yet is not strong enough to give up a link intended to destroy the girl, who must choose between him and the world, him and his own life. An absolute romantic dream that – again – sees its counterpart in a message of emotional dependence for which one can not exist without one's loved one at a cost .

<img clbad = "aligncenter size-full wp-image-268303" src = "https://www.cinematographe.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Twilight-BD-part-1.jpg "alt =" Twilight saga Cinematograph The result is a source of contrasting and profound emotions that are perfectly rooted in the confusion of the delicate moment of adolescent growth, in which the long road of the self-definition necessarily pbades through this process of separation individuation (described by the psychobadyst Margaret Mahler ) who can not ignore the identification of a child with an internal object represented by loving parents and with the subsequent projection of their expectations into a loving object and – from this point of view – something might have gone wrong for Bella, in her relationship with his father …

The success of the saga of Twilight is thus easy It is motivated by all the mechanisms and projections that can be triggered, thanks to the staging of an impossible love that becomes reality against all odds and using common sense . A fairy tale whose strong implicit erotic component was later elaborated in the later literary phenomenon (later transposed to cinema) by El James, in a sort of catharsis where the protagonists are finally free to have bad without risking their lives but where the tension Sexuality is maintained and enhanced by replacing the supernatural nature of Edward in the devastating past of Christian, because of his well-known sado-maso taste. With all the criticism that a representation of "love that hurts" can and must arouse … but that's another story.

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