Las Vegas art student and Twilight fan Lauren Adkins, is all set to tie the knot with a cardboard cutout of Edward Cullen.
“I didn’t ask him to marry me out loud, I didn’t have to,” Adkins told Metro UK. “I knew by his silence he’d said yes. Of course he’d say ‘yes’.”
Despite Adkins’ show of earnestness, and the actual plans she’s making for her invite-only wedding and reception on Jan. 26, the MFA student is pulling the stunt as an extended performance piece. A student at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Adkins calls the piece Love is Overtaking Me. Funded through an IndieGoGo campaign as part of her master’s thesis, the “theatrical performance” comments on the level of devotion many Twilight fans feel for the sparkly, pale vampire—as well as general gender stereotypes in media.
Adkins describes herself as a “fiction junkie, media literacy advocate, and disbelief suspension expert”—all things that come into play when devising a performance piece that involves one of the most successful fictional franchises in recent memory. A previous photography exhibit, entitled You Are My Life Now, features a photo of Adkins and cardboard Edward, locked in an intimate embrace.
Photo via Lauren Adkins
Another, a three-minute film, features an all-too-appropriate snippet of the song “Going to the Chapel”: We’ll love until the end of time.
If all this seems just a bit creepy, that’s the whole point. Adkins is far from being the stereotype of the brainless Twilight fan. She described Edward Cullen to WMC TV as “inhumanly handsome, supportive, and possessive”—an unattainable ideal that can now be yours for about $15, or the amount Adkins paid for the cutout in a Memphis record store.
“Because of personal attachment to and experience with this fantasy or quest, which took a particularly strong hold of me when I discovered the intensely popular Twilight Saga, my thesis exhibition will touch on romantic expectation primarily through the main love interest, Edward Cullen,” reads Adkins’ wedding event and thesis project page.
“It’s absolutely real,” Adkins told Metro UK. She claims to have a beach honeymoon planned, just like the one in Twilight’s final installment.
How much does all this cost? About $2,000, of which she raised $1,200 through IndieGoGo. The list for the bride and groom includes:
- Ceremony and minister fee
- Wedding dress
- Veil
- Bouquet
- Rings (his & hers)
The news prompted a flurry of mocking tabloid articles taking Adkins’ stunt at face value—thereby proving her point about the role of gender stereotypes involved in the way Twilight fans interact with and express their love for the series. “They are rewriting the story on their own volition to fit their perceived idea of this crazy female fanatic,” Adkins told WMC. She snarkily links to “press coverage, accurate and otherwise,” on her website.
One thing’s certain: Satirical or not, her wedding is certain to sparkle.
Photo via Lauren Adkins/Facebook
