Vampires and Unrequited Love

I think, should I ever become a heroin addict, that I shall start by taking 1-6 very conservative shots and then accidentally killing myself with a seventh overdose. I am a somewhat addictive. Fortunately, I limit my addictions to books and tea. The latest bibliographic addiction is the Twilight Series. I am done 2, working on number 3, and I think I understand why they are so rabidly popular, now I need to figure out if I approve.

Bella Swan is a very weak, feminine, human girl. She is afraid of blood, gets motion sick, has the grace of a drunk centipede, she has lousy self-esteem, and struggles with school. A typical young woman with no pressing reason for anyone to fall passionately and self-sacrificingly in love with her. Yet, here comes Edward Cullen, who loves her deeply, loves her so deeply that he cannot leave her and will not drink her blood. Even though her blood is more sweet to him than anything else on the planet.

Here you have it girls. The perfect boyfriend. He will never leave, he can never leave her. He also loves her enough to put her good before his own--he wants to drink her blood and kill her, but he will never hurt her, and in fact drops everything in his life to protect her from all harm. The comparison is fairly obvious, he has a raging lust for her blood yet controls it for her good, contrast this an average stereotype of a boy who has a raging lust for sex, and can either choose to guilt the infatuated girl into sleeping with him or he can not sleep with her, risk losing her, and generally make himself miserable for her sake. To add to this boyfriend's general perfection, he is no wimp. Far from it, he is a perfectly designed killing machine: fast, strong, precise. So, here is a man who who has perfect self-control, has the ability to destroy every living thing in the town if he chose, and is wise enough to fall for a girl who isn't really pretty and has all the feebleness of your average human girl.

In all this, I can see why it is so appealing to large portions of the teen population--though I do admit I have no idea why it is so appealing to boys. But, while painting a beautiful picture of what should be the case in relationships, I wonder if they aren't tainting the the expectations of youth and presenting just too clear a picture of what the reader will not have. I am not sure what I think--but it appears to be a very pleasing lie.