In love with a vampire?
9th December 2009 by Shandri Brown
Twilight's sequel New Moon has been the thing to see this year. It made 72.7 million on it's opening day proving that most girls, whether they represent 'Team Edward' or 'Team Jacob', have been happy to spend their dollars on gazing at these non-human blokes. Guys too have been lining up to see it (I have a suspicion they secretly want to check out all the scene-stealing muscles too).
I have been really interested in people's reactions to the Twilight phenomenon. There is some intense debate in churches about whether we should be viewing movies with vampires in them. Are vampires worse than wizards? Isn't The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe fantasy? Where do you draw the line?
Personally my biggest issue with the massive Twilight craze is not the vampires, or the werewolves, or the half-naked Taylor Lautner. It's the destructive messages throughout the film that promote insane, obsessive and dangerous relationships. I watched New Moon this week with a bunch of good friends and found Bella to be completely pathetic and desperately in need of a life!!
It is painful to watch how self-destructive she is. I know that break-ups can be hard, and maybe a day of sooking is in order, but cmon... what's with the months of moaning and screaming like she is in a torture chamber! Adding to that some of the absolutely extreme things said by Edward and Bella are treated like casual thoughts that are completely normal. Here's a few lines from the film:
"You're my only reason to stay alive."
"My pain was my only reminder that he was real."
"I'm not a car that you can fix up. I'm never gonna run right."
"I couldn't live in a world where you don't exist."
Seriously, could you add a bit more melodrama please?? Add to these crazy one liners the fact that it is ok for Bella to get emotionally entangled with two different guys and actually needs each of them to be obsessed with her (selfish much?).
Then Bella is totally ok with the possibility of losing her soul to become a vampire. Even when they say their souls are doomed she does a quick check, 'like you mean hell, yeah I am ok with that'. Um hello...
Man this chick and the 'romance' she is wrapped up in are in some kind of scary and selfish alternate reality that should not be admired by anyone.
I get nervous that a lot of young people think it is ok to hang out on your bed in your undies with your boyfriend (Twilight), and lead on two different guys (New Moon). Basically until the dodgy, crazy relationships get sorted out I couldn't care less about whether we believe in vampires.
Certain I will hear from some Bella fans,
Shandri
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Comments
Twilight still rocked my world lol, and i have the same reaction that jacob and edward have on women, i think its because of my rock hard abs and beautiful smile!
there are alot of things wrong with the twilight series that are giving young people the wrong impression of what a healthy relationship and lifestyle should be like, here are just a few across the whole saga...
Jacob falls in love with a newborn baby (peodphilia much?)
Teenage pregnancy- Bella gives birth to the Loch Ness Monster.
Edward beats Bella up during sex (can anyone say abuse?)
Edward gives Bella c-section with his teeth.
Renesmee beats Bella from the inside.
Edward stalks Bella and listens to her while she sleeps. (creepy anyone?)
Bella hears Edwards voice in her head and this is never really explained well. (inasne?)
Jacob's friend falls in love with a 2 year old. (still pedophilia!)
Over 100-year-old dead sperm somehow impregnates Bella. Does Stephenie Meyer understand how sex works?
The relationships shown are abusing and obsessive. Its sad to see girls so wrapped up with it that they think that it could be a reality.
who cares its just a book, there are many books out in this world that are worse, why are we getting caught up and focusing on this book, its harmless, it really is... oh and its not love technically (with that pedophillia thing)
Im not the biggest fan of twilight but i can apprecaite and enjoy it for the story it is.
So lets not be a church that gets caught up in things that dont really matter, let people enjoy this series and if u dont like it then fine, its your opinion.
Like i said im not the biggest fan, but these issues u brought up hardly come through
[Comment removed]
I want to start off by saying it was a very mediocre movie which I almost fell asleep in so don't think I'm defending the movie in any way at all :P
But I personally don't see what about this movie in particular makes it so bad or immoral in comparison to any other that makes it blogworthy... I mean what u have said is perfectly valid but maybey a blog in being careful about what u watch would be more useful.... I didn't notice anything in particular that made it particularly immoral, except a whole load of terrible acting all round..
Not trying to be picky but I guess this is just one opinion about the movie and everyone needs to make their own minds up.... Though maybey a movie review section would be a good addition! :)
god bless
Hey guys!
Good to see some open, honest, respectful discussion happening. There's definitely a lot of different opinions out there on this topic, and I'm keen to hear what more people have to say!
I think the point needed to be made is that if we all understand its just a book than who really cares. Yes Bella is insane a little bit and Edward and Jacob are creepy as but its just a book. If learn not what to do from this series i think we all could have good lives
Shandri I think what you've written in this article is completely valid and I'm encouraged to hear fresh voices speaking to relevant topics such as the Twilight series. I'm surprised by some of the responses I've read above, are we so naive that we really think media, movies, music and the like don't come packed with messages, be they explicit or hidden?
These messages can of course be positive, life giving and brilliant, and on the other hand they can be full of garbage! Twilight, whatever your take on it, is continuing to prove itself as extremely successful franchise (film, literature, online and much more) and its influence is all over youth/young adults culture in the Western world.
My main conern from above responses is that there seems to be an attitude that we shouldn't critique things such as Twilight cause they're harmless? I cannot agree with this kind of an attitude and in fact I'm convinced the moment we stop critiquing popular culture and what messages/influences enter our lives we're in a dangerous place. If we don't stand for certain things we can fall for anything, thanks again Shandri for the helpful article/thoughts.
Nathan Moulds you get the "YAY" for the day, couldn't agree more with your comment. I pray we don't get so tolerant of things that may seem or appear to be 'harmless' that before we know it we are in way over our heads. Lets not be fooled into enjoying things of the world, if we who believe that Jesus came "that we may have life and have it to the full" (Jn10:10 don't take a stand who will?
Again i think we should go back to what joe said: that if your going to blog on this particular movie then you will have to blog on every t.v. show and movie that may display issues that we face in this world or even just blog on being carefull about what we watch
It isnt our place to say what movies can and can not be watched, we must as Christians trust the view of the parents then also encourage healthy discipleship and share about Christians morals and how that some of the themes that come across in t.v. and movies are often not morally right and we shouldn't expect this to be our life, and we shouldnt live our life according to what happened on t.v. or in a movie
But don't single out twilight because in nitpicking you have only picked up a few issues that are harldy mentioned or focused on. I expect now that the 'more' site shall have a new blog on every movie and t.v. show we shouldnt watch. let me help u out by listing a few:
Family guy
Simpsons
Americas next top model
harry potter
sex and the city
wizard of oz
gossip girl
glee
juno
john tucker must die
sweet 16
The list could go on for ages, the above t.v. shows and movies have alot of the themes mentioned above but u didnt blog about them.
Lets also give credit to our young people, espicially our Christian young people who arent stupid enough to think that something that happens in a t.v. show or movie espiically one like twilight will happen in their reality.
I can respect your opinion as we are all entilted to one i just dont think the more site is the place for blogs on personal opinion. You can tell you own kids and kids you may have in your life group not to watch a movie but let the parents and youth pastors of the rest of the kids that read this site to inform their young people on what movies should and shouldnt be watched.
This was not blog worthy, rather just a abuse of power and a persona opinion being shared.
Sorry if this came across disrespectfull, because i do respect your opinion just not blog worthy.
Also i may of submitted a comment which expressed the same things but accidently submitted it prematurely this is the real blog
@Jake Clanfield:
Hey Jake!
Mate, that's a great post with lots of really solid content. Thanks for taking the time to put together a thorough, well-articulated argument! I think open, honest discussion is a really healthy thing for us to be having on the site!
I wanted to respond to two things you'd said...
1) I can respect your opinion as we are all entilted to one i just dont think the more site is the place for blogs on personal opinion.
Actually, the entire premise of blogs (universally, not just on our site) is that they're about personal opinions, or stories, or experiences. That's why we post stuff like this in the 'blogs' section rather than the 'articles' section, and we're happy to put our names on the bottom and then get involved with whatever conversation happens afterwards.
Actually this whole conversation is about personal opinions... Shandri started off with her opinion, and since then a number of people have chimed in with their own personal opinions and responses - and now I'm doing the same.
Personally, I enjoy hearing other people's viewpoints and opinions. It challenges me and gets me thinking about stuff in new ways.
2) This was not blog worthy...
One of the main roles of salvos.org.au/more is to help people connect and discuss different viewpoints on stuff that's happening in the world. We want to start conversations. There have been a lot of great, diverse responses to this blog, and so in my mind that would make it one of the most valuable and 'worthy' blogs that we've seen on MORE to date.
We don't pretend to have all the answers, and we know that we're just as likely to stuff up and get it wrong as the next guy. But I celebrate conversations like this - I think they help us grow.
Being a youth leader and one who is very much interested in all sorts of movies myself, I have come across many discussions of the like.
For example...I like the Harry Potter Series. However, I have a 19 year old girl I am leading who has not been allowed to watch it as she lives at home and her Mother doesn't want that sort of film shown in there house. Fair enough. If we live under our parents roofs, we need ot respect their rules and values. And I've had the circulated conversation of "there are wizards in Narnia and Lord of the Rings", two very well known books written by Theologians!
But what I bring it down to is the maturity of the viewer and the influence it is having on them. If I watch Harry Potter myself, does it influence me to do spells and get into witch-craft...right now at my age and full understanding of where I am in God, No. But when I was a teenager and the Craft came out, yes it did have the negative influence on my life that took me off sound-thinking in God.
I mean, there are movies and TV shows I don't watch today in the chance they will have negative influences on my mind and heart to lust over someone who is not my husband. So I make an choice that it is not healthy for my life and where God wants me to be and don't put myself in a place to view it. But there are others who won't lead into a path of struggling by watching those particulars shows, and that's great for them. My conviction is my own.
Paul says, "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly." 1 Cor 3:1-3
"In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." Heb 5:12-14
Shandri I agree with you. Unfortunately those things you point out to corrupt the minds and hearts of young girls and encourage negative lifestyles. And we should be protecting them by leading them into the truth of God on the matters of relationships and dependance. I think it is a fair issue as a youth leader to address. I don't see it as an attack on the actual novel, as everyone has different likes and dislikes in stories, but as a personal concern for the lives of girls who can be effected by such a display.
We should definately be concerned for those we lead and especially new Christians (on milk) to make sure they are finding God's truth as the way to model their lives from.
WHO CARES!!!!!!! i haven't seen it and i don't want to. WHY CANT PEOPLE BE OBSESSED WITH JESUS NOT THIS STUPID MATERIALISTIC BULL THAT SOME WRITER CAME UP WITH. IM PRETTY SURE JESUS HAD A SEXY SIX PACK AND BIG MUSCLEY ARMS!!!!!!!!!! U GUYS NEED TO GET OVER IT! FIGHT FOR GOD NOT EACH OTHER!!!!!!!!!!!
I really enjoyed the books,I thought that "yeah this is a great read" but that was about 3 years ago.This book is based on fantasy not on reality.This was just a story,more fool on them if they take it seriously.It is a materialistic obsession that is having it's 15 minutes of fame then something else shall come along and influence the easily distracted.I agree with Nathans comment all the way.(IT IS A GREAT READ BTW)
Shandri, I just really want to encourage you for bringing this up. At the ACT Youth Councils when Soper spoke on influences in our lives I had some discussion with the teenage girls in my small group. One of them had said Twilight was an influence in her life, this was among many other TV shows and books or magazines the girls read/watch. Another chimed in with "I love Edward Cullen!" I personally have read all the Twilight books, and apart from being some of the worst structured literature to exist I firmly believe the books are evil.
When I pointed out to the girls that Edward Cullen sneaks into her room at night, after greasing her window so he can't be heard, to watch her sleep whilst she is unaware; that he removes something from the engine type parts of her car so she cannot go and visit Jacob one night; that Bella's whole world breaks down after he leaves, etc etc etc they looked like they'd come out of a stupor. That the possibility of Edward Cullen and Bella's relationship being anything other than perfect had never occured to them.
God does not want His daughters to be in relaionships like that. That is not what He has in mind for us at all! The aboslutely insane obsession with Twilight scares me. This level of fan-obsession as far as I know is almost unparalleled. Twilight has so greatly affected how young, and not so young, girls find value in relationships and what is morally ok or even just safe in a relationship.
As for it being evil, I will stand by that comment. No matter what anyone else tries to say about it. I am not someone who is easily influenced by books, nor am I prone to flights of fancy. But reading Twilight was almost all consuming and I could feel myself being dragged into it. I know adults who chose not to read or watch things that may influence them in ways that are not Godly, and there is no way that they could have remained without influence from these books. Anything that is not of God is something we should fight against, but something that has created such a cult following is something we must speak out against.
I hope that made sense...
Hey guys, thanks for adding some helpful food for thought and good discussion around the topic. I knew I had picked a touchy subject, but if we never address those things that people get sensitive about, then what a shame.
A few people now have mentioned that this topic is not blog-worthy. Indeed I think if you look at my other blogs you will decide that none of them are. I want to reiterate something Jarrod mentioned above. Blogs are indeed personal opinion, all of them are. Blogs are a great opportunity to comment on what we see happening in the world around us, and to share our thoughts with others. This was not written as an article, though even articles are often loaded with personal opinion. If you want to read something that is totally hard and fast true, with no personal bias, check out the Bible. It's a great read.
Jake you brought up some good discussion points. I like the idea of us reviewing movies etc more often however it is unrealistic and unnecessary for us to review all movies and tv. And just because we won't do all does not mean we can't ever mention just one. After all this was the most popular movie of the year, reaching millions of young people and having amazing effect. It would be irresponsible to pretend we had not noticed.
I do agree that many of us are mature enough to decide what influences us, and many could watch this movie impartially but I always appreciate the opinions of other Christians concerning what I watch and read. I am certainly not saying in this blog that young people can't or shouldn't watch this film - after all I watched it myself! I do however want us to think about the things this film is suggesting. Media has a powerful influence regarding what we come to accept as normal.
Thanks again for your comments guys. Good conversation. Shandri