First Exposure to Twilight
Well, last night Charity was out with some of her friends. I got the kids to bed by 8 and was in the mood to watch a movie. Of course I dislike paying for them, so I was looking through the free ones on Comcast on Demand. I saw that Twilight, the first one was showing. There was nothing else, well I did plan on watching the first mighty ducks if there were no other options. So I thought I would experience what this Twilight fever is all about. I have really little experience with this mega hit, mostly just short conversations with teenagers about this stuff. I have heard both sides of the story, this is good stuff, and some who say this is all evil. So I wanted to make up my own mind, even though it was one video, but I am glad I watched it. It seemed like a basic love story, though it is pictured as especially intense. It seems that Edward and Belle must be together at all cost. There was not really a lot of action in the story, except when James hunts down Belle. It is really about relationship. It is the classic case of attraction and distance. This couple should be distancing themselves from one another, but the pull is too great. This creates this intensive relationship. We all want what we cannot have. It was an interesting experience thinking about this movie from the teenage perspective. I was wondering what are the lessons that these teens are learning from this series. Any thoughts?
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Matthew,
Interesting that you posted this… I just watched the second movie, having seen the original a few months ago. Haven’t read the books, but here are the trends I see that probably explain at least some of the popularity of “Twilight:”
1. Belle has a broken home and emotionally distant parents, which is fascinating considering her attraction to the emotionally distant vampire, Edward.
2. Lots of brooding… I don’t recall if the first movie was this way, but in the second I don’t think that either Belle or Edward ever smile, even when they’re supposed to be happy.
3. Back to the emotional distance thing… Belle and Edward struggle to find genuine ways to express their love for each other.
4. Anxiety about the future — what if she grows old and dies while he remains young? What if his love can’t protect her from the evils of the world — or even himself?
So, I guess what I get out of it is that teenagers are brooding, anxious, emotionally distant, and struggling with their identities and meaningful expressions of love. Now there are some news flashes (ha!).
John
I watched both Twilight and New Moon with my wife. I agree with John on the brooding thing, especially in New Moon. It’s definitely a teenage girl’s love/fantasy type story
From a worldview perspective, I was intrigued by the concept of a vampire, a creature that is supposed to be evil, choosing to life a not-so evil life.
John, thank you for the insight into this, and I feel you are right on. I really liked your thoughts, deep and true. This is a good look at culture because these themes must connect to this generation.
Eric, there are a lot of interesting themes, one that I thought about was the need for Edward to control himself with Belle, wanting to drink her blood, could not help but see this as a sexual reference, of having to control himself with her.
I feel like I’m constantly looking for interesting things to read about a variety of subjects, but I manage to include your blog among my reads every day because you have honest entries that I look forward to. Here’s hoping there’s a lot more great material coming!
Matthew, read my daughter’s comments on Twilight. She was 14 when she wrote this: http://wjcsydney.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/the-suspect-morality-of-twilight/