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TA TALKS BACK: FALLING IN LOVE WITH A CHARACTER

Posted May 20th, 2009 By: flick 11 Comments »

TA member Edelacruz talks about being in love with a tale, a movie or a character:

 

Falling in love with a character by TA Member edelacruz:

In the movie Sleepless in Seattle, Annie (played by Meg Ryan) looks for love advice from her favorite romantic movie, An Affair to Remember. It is at that pivotal moment in the film that her best friend Becky (played by Rosie O’Donnell ) says to her, “That’s your problem. You don’t want to be in love. You want to be in love in a movie.” The question is – is Becky right?

As women, we are constantly pining for that perfect love – that once-in-a-lifetime, reality-altering, storybook love. Thanks to the mind of Stephenie Meyer, fans have found someone that fulfills this desire (fictionally speaking, of course). Meyer created a man that is so unbelievably beautiful that almost every woman finds herself falling in love for the very first time (or falling in love…again). Whether you’ve experienced a real romantic love affair or you’re waiting for one to begin, just about every female that has read the Twilight Saga has enjoyed the honorable experience of falling in love with Edward Cullen. Like most members of “Team Edward”, I have found myself whisked away into this fantastical adventure. Looking through the eyes of Bella Swan, we are able to fall in love over and over again…to feel that exhilarated feeling of warmth, light and breathlessness…aah, Edward.

Although it has been over a year since I first fell in love with Edward, every time I pick up a Twilight Book I get the same wonderful feeling. I feel that anticipation of losing myself in the story again, imagining that I am a part of this extraordinary love between a beautiful immortal and his beloved human soul mate.

But of course, like all great tales, they are in fact – TALES. Stories that act as a form of escape…of adventure…and of discovering (or re-discovering) more about who we are as people. Edward Cullen will forever take his place amongst the great fictional men of my life – Shakespeare’s Romeo, Austen’s Mr. Darcy, J.R. R. Tolkien’s Aragorn, and S. Morgenstern’s Westley (Princess Bride), to name a few.

While I can’t deny that as a woman, I dream of a storybook-perfect romance, I know life is not always perfect. But you can get very close to it. We can learn a lot from Stephenie Meyer. For those of you that purchased the Borders Exclusive Twilight DVD, there is a feature called Borders Book Club which has a candid discussion group of about twelve girls of various ages with Stephenie. A lot of wonderful insight was shared in this discussion, but perhaps the most endearing thing Stephenie said was when she was asked if there was a real-life Edward out there. Stephenie replied, “There are no Edwards. He’s too perfect. But keep your eye out for a Jacob. There are a lot of Jacobs out there and if you can find one, you’re in pretty good shape”. Her advice got me to thinking about real life romances and their literary counterparts.

Edward is for many – the ideal man. He embodies so many wonderful and extraordinarily rare qualities, that it’s almost impossible NOT to use him as a measuring stick against every other guy in our lives. Despite this, nothing can ever replace the real-life Edwards in our lives – husbands, fiancées, boyfriends, crushes or the guys you simple “like”. These flesh-and-blood guys may have not only watched the Twilight movie with us 100 times, they’ve sat back and let go enough to share us with our “literary boyfriend”. They’ve listened to us chatter incessantly about Edward, boast about how amazing he is and although many guys won’t admit it, I’m sure that many of our fellas have taken a hit on their own egos. (Sorry guys). All of these wonderful guys deserve a pat on the back for their understanding. It’s can’t be easy to take a back seat for Edward Cullen!

So, to refer back to our Sleepless in Seattle problem – do women want to be in love? ABSOLUTELY. Do women want to be in love-in a movie? I say: can’t a girl have both?

Talk back to us…what are your thoughts on being in love with Edward Cullen? Male TAers? What’s it like living with or around a Twilighter female?

Talk Back to us….what do you think?







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  • Chris

    This was really good.

    I’ve done a lot of deep soul searching since this insanity towards Edward Cullen in my own life. I thought back to a few times the “Edwards” were unreachable such as in high school or jr high and how the crush lasted for years but went unrequited. Perhaps all those feelings are being resurrected just for the love of it. Just to make you feel like a girl again. I’m not accustomed to swooning so this one took me by surprise and I’m a wee bit older than Rob. However, I’m perfect for Edward. haha

    Reading the books brought me safely through such a huge range of emotions and at times I thought I would just curl up in a ball and die because it was so sad. And yet the love between Bella and Edward helped strenthen me and even yearn for the kind of love that I think, is only in books and movies. But I enjoy being here. It has shaken up my life and there are things I won’t say because they’re too private but I smile a lot more now and the things bouncing around in my head are beneficial and positive. “Twilight is Healthy for you!!” haha – for the most part anyway.

    So Live, Laugh and especially Love.

  • Norma

    I too am a wee bit older than these characters. But you’re right! Reading the love Bella and Edward share makes you just yearn for a love like that. But like edelacruz mentioned what Stephenie Meyer said about Jacobs out there, I have to agree. Because there are no Edwards, but lots of Jacobs. I do have myself a Jacob! And he’s watched the movie over and over with me and even agreed to send me to Forks to take a tour! Even agreed to wear a t-shirt that says “I’m her Edward”. Not roll his eyes once when I’m reading these books over and over and even cried over and over! These books have made me feel like a girl again and haven’t felt that way in a long long time. They rejuvenated me! I love loving Edward! Thank you Stephenie Meyer for this gift you have given so many of us! Thank you TA for being the greatest site where us die hard fans can come and share our stories!

  • Addicted to Edward

    As I told my husband once, I’ve found my Edward. Not THE Edward. But MY Edward. My soul mate. My true love.

    He earned major brownie points when he agreed (rather easily, actually) to go see Twilight with me opening weekend – his birthday weekend no less. Then to my amazement he read the books. Then started looking at Twilight websites (though not to the extent that I do). He has re-read Eclipse and Breaking Dawn too. And he puts up with all my Twilight craziness. ;-)

    Are there qualities of THE Edward I wish he had? Of course. Do I sometimes wish he would do/act this or that like Edward? Yeah, I admit it. Is my husband the perfect man? Of course not. But he’s perfect for ME.

    Who needs any stinkin’ Jacobs?! LOL!!!!

  • CullenWannabe

    I wasn’t going to respond, but then I read Addicted to Edward’s response and the last line. And I agree with you, who needs any stinki Jacobs?! I couldn’t handle someone like Jacob, he just reminds me of an annoying, immature, teenage boy who (as Bella would say) bugs the hell out of me. (He seriously reminds me of some kids I went to high school with who bugged me because of their immaturity.) I would go insane if I had someone like that! I could never date them let alone want to marry them. I need someone like Edward who’s sweet, romantic, mature, and a good guy. (Not exactly Edward because well we all know he’s too perfect to really exist.)

  • Midori

    Reading about Edward and Bella in Twilight touched a spark in me. It is such a love story, kind of unreachable. Fans adore Edward..Rob did such a fantastic job in playing the character Edward that people confuse him with the character. Edward, the well mannered, intelligent, love vampire. He found his true soul mate after waiting a century for her. Needless to say, he didn’t think he would find her in a human.

    Fans idolize Rob and I don’t blame them. He is quite the idol..handsome, intelligent and very talented. However, underneath it all, he is still a person. A person who at the beginning of his popularity struggled with his stardom. I must give him alot of credit for staying well grounded as he as. I don’t believe Rob will changed with all that’s happened to him. He is a man of moral character and integrity who has a fascinating career ahead of him. I believe the love and support of his family has kept him well grounded. I don’t believe we have to worry about Rob getting lost in the craziness of Hollywood.

  • Paige

    It’s not that i WANT to fall in love with a fictional character so much as i CAN’T help it. It’s not an easy thing to know you’ll never actually meet the man you’ve fallen in love with. Sometimes it makes me really sad. Sometimes i wonder how different my life would be if i’d never picked up Twilight…

  • patty

    I have fallen inl voe wti hrob and Edwward. of coreu there er ela lfie guys out who are like Edward minis the vamprie part of course

  • lulu

    paige:

    oh, your response made me so sad! i understand a part of your feelings. i got so wrapped up in twilight that i was just so sad and resisted every time i had to return to reality. i wanted them all to be real, and i knew that was crazy and not exactly healthy. although i love, love, love twilight, i think it is bad for one’s own sanity and happiness to get too into it (like hours and hours every day!). it helped me become more happy about it and less sad and empty-feeling when i toned it down and put more time into other things (for me, writing piano music, playing racquetball, hanging out with family and friends, cleaning the house–haha). maybe that can help you too?

    everyone else–especially those with significant others:

    i’m 27, and happily married for 8 years to the man i really see myself with forever. i could see it would be easy to “fall in love with edward cullen” when i started reading twilight, but i didn’t want to because i felt that wasn’t fair to my husband. that’s just me personally, and i don’t expect that opinion to be agreed with or held up as a standard for others. but i am glad that i always held onto that.

    although i don’t actually think edward is perfect (he really was a bit controlling), i knew i would be setting myself up for sadness if i let myself get attached to him like that. he does have tons of really great and attractive qualities, and i didn’t want to compare my husband to someone who wasn’t real. it just isn’t fair. instead, i looked at what i enjoyed from the story (e.g. how he treated her so tenderly, like she was the most beautiful, breakable flower in the universe) and i let myself mentally make a list of how i would love to be loved. then i looked at my relationship and found what was lacking and decided to let my spouse know here and there in small ways what meant a lot to me.

    now, i get more random love notes with a flower from our yard. we try harder to put each other first instead of just letting a fight erupt over silly things. he looks into my eyes more and tells me i’m the most beautiful woman in the world. aww, it’s making me smile just thinking about it! :) BUT just as equally important, reality means that i need to be that person for him too. so since coming home to dinner means a lot to him, i’ve been trying harder to have that ready at 6pm as often as i can. i also try to listen more and let him know often that he’s handsome, that i love him, and what he means to me.

    basically, our relationship has really gotten…sweeter and more romantic. honestly, i have twilight to thank for that and i know that sounds crazy! i guess i’m saying i hope we all are careful about falling too much in love with fictional characters. years can be wasted loving someone who can’t return that affection! instead, recognize what attracts you to these characters. how do you want to be loved? is it realistic? are you willing to work and reciprocate that affection? then the next thing is look for that guy or recognize that he’s there in your life and work together to love each other sweetly like bella and edward did. you just have to realize that there will be sadness or difficulties, and that that’s ok. experiencing hard things usually illuminates and enriches the good (just like it did for bella and edward). this kind of love doesn’t have to only exist in pages or on the silver screen!

  • Jessie

    i think your right, we have all fallen in love with Edward. Its simply the idea of him, he’s THE perfect guy; charming, handsome, thoughtful, generous, kind, considerate etc. and what i think is ruining this for girls every where is that we need to stop searching for THE Edward and start searching for OUR Edward, true love is what i mean.

    Personally as much as i would love one i dont think i could handle THE Edward, hes too perfect. I would much rather Jacob, sweet, funny and generous but lets me do my own thing too. I need a happy person like Jacob.

    We need to stop comparing our husbands, boyfriends etc to Edward. these are the flesh-and-blood, wonderful guys who we will be with for the rest of our lives, this alone, that they stick by us and love us, makes them 100,000,000 times better then any Edward

  • Norma

    Jessie and lulu I couldn’t agree more!

  • Paula

    I often “fall in love” with a movie character. I know they aren’t real, but it’s diverting. I don’t compare hubby of 32 years to them, there is no comparison. As wonderfully delicious as Edward is, he will never change my oil!
    Keeping fantasy and reality in their proper place is important. If Edward were real, he wouldn’t be Edward. He’s also a bit controlling and bossy.

 

 

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