Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson in Catherine Hardwicke’s Twilight: The "Libishomem" Strikes Again
In my post "BREAKING DAWN’s Edward (Robert Pattinson) and the ‘Libishomem’ Legend," which went live on Friday morning, I mention the fact that in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (to be directed by Bill Condon in the fall) author Stephenie Meyer comes up with a Brazilian legend about vampires — the "Libishomem" — that simply doesn’t exist.
That’s during the honeymoon on an island near Rio, where Edward tells Bella (Kristen Stewart) the following: "They have their own legends here. The Libishomem — a blood-drinking demon who preys exclusively on beautiful women." (Ironically, in Portuguese lobisomem means "werewolf" — that would be Edward’s rival Jacob, played by Taylor Lautner.)
Now, my "Libishomem" post was merely a bit of Twilight trivia; it wasn’t intended as criticism of Meyer’s work. However, it was taken as such by a few twihards who wrote me, shall we say, several "less-than-friendly" messages expressing their displeasure with my post, my logic, my intelligence, my sanity, my genes, etc. etc. (Those comments were duly deleted.)
I’m posting this follow-up to my Breaking Dawn / Libishomem post as a response to two (courteous) commenters who basically said — and I’m quoting one of them here: "Breaking Dawn is a piece of fiction, right? Since when does a piece of fiction have to be factually accurate?"
That got me thinking … "Does a piece of fiction have to be factually accurate?"
Well, I’d say that factual accuracy, though not exactly crucial in a fictional work, does indeed help make the setting and/or the characters more believable. In fact, factual inaccuracies could ruin a fictional tale. It all depends on how important to the plot are historical / cultural / geographical details.
For instance, imagine if Edward and Bella had spent their honeymoon on Catalina Island, off of Chicago — never mind the fact that Catalina can be seen from Los Angeles. While on Chicago’s Catalina, a local Aztec Indian named Tripotl shows up to clean up their house and do their laundry. There’s only one problem: Tripotl is terrified of "Grozzlebears." She thinks Edward is one of them.
Edward then explains to Bella that people in Illinois have a legend about Grozzlebears, a kind of vampire that preys on beautiful women, etc. etc.
Of course, in spite of Tripotl and the Chicagoans’ Grozzlebear legend, readers could still enjoy Breaking Dawn and even take its drama seriously. (Personally, I found the book highly readable but ultimately unsatisfying.) On the other hand, if you’re an English speaker and/or know even a tiny bit about American culture, you’ll surely find ridiculous the idea of having an Aztec woman on Catalina near Chicago, where people believe in the big bad "Grozzlebear." Chances are you’ll also wonder why the author didn’t come up with something more plausible.
When she wrote the Twilight books, Meyer’s target audience obviously consisted of US-based English-speakers. She knew the vast majority of her readers would be totally ignorant about both the Portuguese language and regional Brazilian legends.
By the same token, Meyer knew she couldn’t have Bella cross the border into Mexico from Forks — because it’s Canada that’s next door. Her readers would know that. She also couldn’t have the Civil War — in which Jasper played a role — taking place in North Dakota in the 16th century. Her US readers would know that would be absurd.
There’s a limit to dramatic license. It all depends on who you believe will be reading your book or watching your movie. How much (or how little) they know about the subject matter will tell you how much (or how little) "dramatic license" — getting facts, names, places, dates, events totally wrong — you’ll be able to get away with.
Photo: Twilight Saga (Summit Entertainment)
Glad you got it, Carrie.
Thank you for writing.
Now, when it comes to legends, I wouldn’t say they’re totally made up. Bull worshiping and human sacrifices in Minos (Crete) may have led to the Minotaur tale.
The volcanic destruction of Thera (Santorini) and its after-effects may have led to the Biblical stories about the seven plagues of Egypt, among other legends and stories of that era.
So, reality can play a role in legend-making, too…
>>>>>>You’re really stubborn, aren’t you? Ok, well, bravo for you. Stick to your guns. I’d rather you have better aim but so be it.
Hmmm….
That can go both ways, you know?
You’re really stubborn, aren’t you? Ok, well, bravo for you. Stick to your guns. I’d rather you have better aim but so be it.
Good points. I didn’t get the feeling you were attacking the story at all. People(and I mean younger crowd) are just dumb (I mean immature) and quick to take offense. I had no idea Meyer made up a legend, either, but then again, legends are just “made up” stories, too ;)
right, “Hermie”, that was a good one!!
i did read about half of it, then it feels like you try too hard to convince people of whatever facts. when i read the book, of course the question if the legend exists crossed my mind. but it’s not that interesting, could have looked it up, but didn’t bother. it’s nice though that you hope for people to read your article and at least try to write it interesting.
>>>>>>>guess what, vampires don’t exactly exist either, so what.
You don’t know what you’re talking about. You should meet my fangy neighbor Hermie.
>>>>>>>>>i honestly wonder why you would mention it or in fact waste time to write your whole article about it.
So you would read it.
stephenie made up other things too. it just goes with the flow of the story. guess what, vampires don’t exactly exist either, so what. i honestly wonder why you would mention it or in fact waste time to write your whole article about it.