That's not to do with innocence, that's to do with the Mormon religion symbolism. Also see Battlestar Galatica.Gyrefalcon said:You misunderstand. I'm not saying that the movies are "completely innocent". It is that they don't even allow open-mouthed kissing. Think of some of the old black-and-white films like "His Girl Friday" a romantic comedy that doesn't get to sex on the screen.
And whose word do we have on that?Twilight has a guy who is fascinated with the lead female but despite any desires he may have, he keeps them in check. He shows the restraint that is expected of "gentlemen". He doesn't refer to Bella in joking or derogatory terms. He shows Bella that he respects her and values her as a person not a mere toy or something to brag about to his friends.
This is one of the worst failings of the Twilight books. It shatters the writers code of "Show, Don't Tell". How is Edward a virgin? He tells us. How is Edward attractive? Bella tells us. How is Bella smart? Bella tells us.
The entire book's images are derived from the words of a sexually starved attention/drama whore.
Edward's motivation may be truly corrupt and it wouldn't make ANY difference to the words in the book. How do we even know they're in love? Because Bella tells us. This is where the problem is because there is NO evidence in the book to back it up, circumstantial or otherwise.
Really? Well...let me see...It may be poorly written but it has the basic elements of a romance novel. And honestly, I don't think I have seen much done in the horror-romance genre outside of TruBlood so far (and THAT SHOW is anything but innocent by far!)
The Kitty series (Werewolf DJ) - Carrie Vaughn - 7 books
The Zodiac series (Light Hunter) - Vicki Petersen - 4 books
Patrica Brigg's Mercy Thompson series
Rachel Meades' Dark Swan series
Being Human - TV series
Kindred the Embraced - TV Series
Faith Hunter's Rogue Mage series
Rachel Caine's Weather Warden series
Quite a few really.
(And having innocent horror is really a tough genre to write. How about Roald Dahl's work? There's a definite innocence there, but also the occasional hint of romance, and a whole heap of horror)
On the children's side, there's even more: Dianna Wynne-Jones, Sheila McCullagh, Madeleine L'Engle, Ursula K. Le Guin, Storm Constantine.
Edward and Jacob I don't really have a problem with,(Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights is an ugly savage who beats a dog to death!) apart from them being caricatures of men; what really bugs me is that Bella is almost bereft of any positive attributes, and relies solely on her "Help me" cry to solve most of the conflict in the plot.That Edward and Jacob are NOT role-models I would recommend to anyone (I don't like Twilight) it doesn't change what the underlying formula is. Having a guy who doesn't want to love you but can't help himself-that is a classic romance formula, especially for the "bad boy" type ones.
The Bronte sisters would have slapped some sense into Bella a long time ago, or had her burn down in Thornfield manor.
Say what you like about Duke Nukem being the poster-child for teenage masculinity, but at least he takes an active part in solving his own problems.