New Moon Sexist, Say Critics

New Moon is basking in the glow of its success, but the second Twilight film, and even the headlines about its box office records, are sexist, some say. Vampire love interest Edward is “overbearing,” and heroine Bella “quite literally lies down and takes it,” write Carmen D. Siering and Katherine Spillar in Ms. “This is a film full of gender stereotypes—testosterone-driven male aggression, females who pine away over lost loves, boys who fix motorcycles, and the girls who watch them.”

And the media attention paid to the film isn’t much better, writes Rachel Simmons on her website. Headlines like “OMG New Moon Has $140 Million Opening!” use teen-girl-speak to talk about the film’s success, but Simmons doesn’t find it cute. It “feels like an attempt to both mock girl culture and detract from the very butch success of this women and girl-driven phenomenon,” signaling that Hollywood may be intimidated by a “guy-proof” film franchise.
(More The Twilight Saga: New Moon stories.)