Twilight--A Love Story, or a Story Contributing to the Perpetuation of Stereotypes?

Twilight is a novel written by Stephanie Mayer, involving the tale of a love triangle between Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black. Bella is the protagonist of the story, who is constantly torn throughout the series between the love from both males. Edward is a vampire, who is portrayed as a gentle, considerate, and a mysterious character. Furthermore, audience members typically favor Edward over Jacob because he is emotionally supportive to Bella, as well as being portrayed as a gentleman. For example, Mayer makes it a clear point, to emphasize how Edward and his vampire family deliberately choose to drink the blood of animals, rather than humans, since they are not being perceived as ‘animalistic’. Jacob, on the other hand, is a member of a Native American tribe located in Forks, Washington called the Quileute tribe. Rather than transforming into vampires like Edward, Jacob and his family can transform themselves into wolves. Jacob is seen as stubborn, aggressive, and at times overconfident. Additionally, Jacob continuously is shown throughout the film without a shirt on, while other characters in the film comment on his absence of clothing. There appears to be a great overlap between the Native American character Jacob is in Twilight, and the stereotypes about Native Americans that exist in society. As mentioned, regardless of the weather, Jacob is often shown in the film without a shirt. Native Americans in the media, including movies and television shows, are often shown without shirts, and quite bare. However, as mentioned in the film, Reel Injuns, a small portion of Native American tribes actually wore small amounts of clothing, such as Jacob. Rather, the attire of Native Americans depended on the environment they were residing in; moreover, hotter climates meant less layers of clothing, while colder climates resulted in more layers of clothing. However, because of representations that are portrayed in the media, particularly in cinema, males who are Native Americans are thought to have the tendency of not having proper clothing on their upper body on. Additionally, the character of Jacob also conforms to stereotypes about Native Americans through acting in a savage, animalistic, or aggressive manner. The act of portraying Jacob as hot-tempered and as a wolf is contributing and assisting in the reproduction of stereotypes among the Native American population. These aspects contribute to this cycle due to the fact that they are portraying a false image of a population that is heavily thought to be true. Twilight is one of the most popular films and novels of the century, and was viewed by thousands of people across the globe. Therefore, the images audience members saw of the Native American tribe Jacob belonged to, were for the most part, extremely in par with false stereotypes; Mayer could have taken Twilight as an opportunity to properly educate the public of the reality of the culture and customs utilized among Native American populations. Moreover, the Quileute tribe is seen to be an aggressive, animalistic, and quite physical, all characteristics that have historically represented the Native American population in media. Therefore, this representation works to justify the social marginalization of Native Americans by revamping society’s view that Native Americans are very ‘animalistic’ and that in hindsight their historical treatment in this country could be understood by their aggressive behavior. Furthermore, the success Mayer experienced with her Twilight series could have served as an important and vital opportunity to educate the public about the culture and lifestyle of Native Americans, and not negatively contribute to the growth of stereotypes associated with this population.