Gather ‘round campers - I’ve got something to say, so read this before pushing further. This campfire is going to test our limits to be civil to one another, and to state opinions without insults. Truth be told, I'm kind of scared to post it, but I think it could breed an interesting conversation if we're all respectful. So, please don’t make me lose my faith in humanity. Thank you.
Events of the past day (hell, the past few months) have had this subject weighing heavily on my mind. So today, I’d like to talk about shipping. No, not the E/B, E/R, E/C, E/E, B/J, J/B, A/J, E/R, C/R, C/L, J/J, whatever kind of shipping. I want to talk about the kind of shipping that seems to have taken over the Twilight fandom as of late:
Real living, breathing, people-you’ll-never-know human being shipping. Specifically, the ship of which we usually dare not speak. You know what it is - the word that seems to bring out the worst of fandom, even more so than the amalgamation that is the name of the demon spawn from hell.
That’s right, kids. I want to talk about Robsten.
The are they/aren’t they speculation over the actors who play the beloved Edward and Bella has reached a fever pitch these days. We’ve got a buttload of websites that cater specifically to the ‘Robstens’ - all the alleged ‘news’ that’s fit to paste on the internet regarding the goings-on in Rob and Kristen’s personal life. There’s a website for the ‘Nonstens’ too. There are LiveJournal communities. We’ve even got gossip Twitterers fanning the flames with their ‘sources’ and ‘inside information’ and ‘officials’ and ‘just trust me-s’ and ‘I can’t tell you how I know, but it’s just true, okay-s’.
There are offshoot groups of fandom that bandy about the terms ‘trust’, ‘believe’, ‘haters’, and ‘non-believers’ as far as this coupling is concerned, as if the investment into their personal lives is worthy of some sort of religious devotion.
My question is this: Why do we care?
In a fandom that has endless opportunities for entertainment and interesting discussion (fanfic, fanfic wank, the embarrassment that is Breaking Dawn, the embarrassment that is the desire for Breaking Dawn: The Movies - Comin’ Atcha in 3D, any number of Twi things you find on Etsy), why are people so fixated on the existence or non-existence of this romantic relationship?
Is it because they project the characters Rob and Kristen play onto their personalities, and want to see the personification of a real-life Edward and Bella epic story o’ love?
In this day and age, the internet has given us access to information at the touch of a button. Last night, my Twitter feed was clogged with re-Tweets that ‘ZOMG ROBSTEN LEFT A PARTY TOGETHER!!!’, leaving room for personal interpretations of what that might mean. ‘They’re obviously going back to their hotel room!’, ‘They were so excited to get out of there and have hot monkey sex they couldn’t even wait to eat!’, and my personal favorite, ‘I bet he’s giving her is own rising star award as we speak!’, are just a few examples. Yikes.
For two people caught up in something that got so much bigger than they ever imagined and obviously want to keep whatever it is between them between them, why does anyone who is a fan of either Rob or Kristen insist on conjecturing?
These days, you can’t even go on a Rob or Kristen fansite without comments breaking down into a shipper vs. non-shipper war. Kristen looks like she’s gained some weight? There must be a love baby! Rob looks unhappy? OMG, maybe there’s trouble in paradise! Their maybe-romance is cooling off? THE WORLD IS OVER. This isn't even mentioning some of the nasty things that I've seen people say about Rob's upcoming co-stars, because I assume they have trouble seeing him with someone other than Kristen (or seeing Edward without Bella, I'm not sure). Some people just hate on Kristen because she dares to be near him.
Two weeks ago, one of my most beloved friends got married - we’ll call her Mary* (*names changed to protect those who want nothing to do with Twilight). Now, my best friend Joanne* has been close with Mary’s brother Dennis* for the past few months. They go to movies, they do things together. Joanne and Dennis danced together and Mary’s wedding, and, get this: Dennis gave Joanne a ride home from the wedding! I don’t know what Dennis and Joanne did after they left, but whatever it is, must be true love, right?
Now, I love Dennis and Joanne, and I have a vested interest in each of them, because they’re my actual friends (as in, I know them in real life and interact with them on the daily! Imagine that!) and I want them to be happy (and I’m kind of hoping that if they get together, that’ll free up one of their NFL season tickets for me, but I digress). But wouldn’t it be kind of odd for me to start up a DENNIS-N-JOANNE 4EVA blog so that all my friends could get together and gush over how awesome they are together and analyze how that pic of the two of them at the reception make it look like he’s reaching out to touch her hand?
Some people seem to scramble over themselves to gossip over the epic love story of epicness that may or may not be Robsten. What happened to just being young and having a good time? I’ve said in the past that I think invasion of privacy is, unfortunately, part and parcel with being famous. Having the eyes of the world on you must be hard enough without having everyone and their mother wondering what you do in your bedroom.
This post may seem biased, because...I guess it is. I understand the interest, but I don’t understand the shipping. Someone please, please help me understand.