Take a good look at this picture.
What you’re looking at is an engagement photo of Lauren Adkins and her betrothed, Cut-Out Edward Cullen. For those of you side-eyeing your computer screens, yes. This is, indeed, a posed-for portrait announcing and celebrating a couple’s newly engaged-to-be-wed status.
Over the course of the next few weeks Adkins, a Las Vegas artist, will be planning her wedding to a cardboard cut-out of Edward Cullen. There are wedding invitations to be sent, floral arrangements to be chosen, an appointment for tasting cakes to be made and most importantly, the happy couple has recently booked their venue, a chapel in Las Vegas where Elvis will unite them as husband and wife. No, really.
Who does this?
Well, Lauren Adkins does. But is she a crazy twi-fan, similar to the women you’ve read about who have named their babies Edward or Bella; who have entire rooms in their home dedicated to pictures of Robert Pattinson; who have tattoos of Taylor Lautner’s face across the entire span of their backs?
Yeah, Lauren Adkins is a nut.
And she’s brilliant.
Her engagement and wedding, both of which are actual, legitimate undertakings, are the latest of exhibits and social commentary pieces going toward her degree, a Master's of Fine Art.
Now, here’s where this whole thing gets interesting. Ms. Adkins has been active in the Twilight Fandom for a few years now and she’s as quick to poke fun at herself as the rest of us. But she gets it. She didn’t observe the phenomenon from the outside looking in and think “this is batshit.” She is a part of it and in true fandom style, she wants to share her Twilight experience with the rest of us.
The vows she will be taking with Cut-Out Edward Cullen will consist of the traditional, standard marriage vows:
For Better or for Worse: Because haven’t the majority of fandom members stuck by this vow to fandom itself? Sometimes, it’s all happy friendship-forming, great-story-reading, silly, hysterical, gif-sharing fun…and sometimes you’re pulling your hair out, disgusted at the notion that you still show up and participate. Why am I here again? I'm not going back. But you do. You come back. Because it is, after all, for better or for worse.
Forsaking All Others: We’ve all shut out certain things and/or people for the sake of fandom, whether it's ignorning a rambling spouse while reading fanfiction or opting to stay home on a Friday night to follow a post or maybe not doing a damned thing during your first read of Twilight or taking an extra long lunch to read more about Robert Pattinson canoodling with Kristen Stewart.
In Sickness and Health: You’ve been here when this fandom was fledgling. When it was under attack. When it was thriving.
Love, Honor, Obey: Speaks for itself, no?
Obviously, this is to be taken as a whole lot of hyperbole. No one laughs more at this ludicrous undertaking than Adkins herself. She and her beloved cut-out have done those things you do when you're getting married to the one you love, like drop by Macy’s to buy wedding rings (because they did, and it was wonderful).
When I took the time to really reflect on what Adkins is doing here, I found the social commentary to be brilliant in that thousands of Twilight fans have spent years devoted to this phenomenon by adamantly defending and protecting and serving the fandom, fighting with the fandom, and loving the fandom, for better or for worse. Meanwhile, the Future Mrs. Cut-Out is biting the bullet and just flat-out marrying herself to the entire thing because, in an off-beat sense, many women have already married themselves to the multi-faceted Twilight fandom.
The difference between me sitting in my chair reading fanfiction and the bride-to-be is that Adkins is going to stand at an altar in front of Elvis and actually say the vows some of us already obey. This is obvious-cliché-art-symbolism at its very, very best.
Over the course of the next few weeks, A Different Forest will follow Lauren and Cut-Out Cullen through their wedding prep right up to the actual ceremony through video, pictures, and commentary from the future Mrs. Cut-Out herself.
Have at it. Ask her questions, leave your thoughts, giver her your hearty congratulations or wish her luck :)
a message from lauren: