Category: Youth Culture

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I don’t normally spend so much time talking about one film. But it’s amazing how much of a pop culture phenomena the movie Twilight has emerged to become. As I reported in an earlier blog, the film opened at over 70 million, and teenage girls everywhere are falling in love with the “perfect” mate they find in the lead character Edward.

Polarized responses have been flooding in. “It’s not so bad.” “It’s ridiculous! Why would you even fathom watching it with your kids!” “It’s fantastic!”

In light of all the buzz, I wanted to post two fantastic responses I read recently. The first, a personal word from the blog of Christianity Today’s movie guru Jeff Overstreet. I think he really nailed the problem I have with the whole Twilight Saga. Here’s just a snippet:

The love story makes the relationship between Jack and Rose in Titanic seem like a mature, adult relationship. At least those characters had dialogue, when they weren’t just shouting “Jack!” “Rose!” “Jack!” “Rose!” “JACK!!” “ROSE!!”

In this film, there’s not much shouting. They just stare at one another with deeply constipated expressions. Somebody could have a lot of fun on YouTube with the long sequences of Edward and Bella gazing at one another, simply by overlaying the sounds of  noisy, unpleasant bodily functions…

The idea of romantic conversation or intriguing dialogue in Twilight is deeply insufficient as well. A single episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or even Moonlight has better dialogue and stronger characters. Heck, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog is more substantially romantic than this.

Sure, the basic “Beauty and the Beast” elements are at work here. They will always work. I’m not going to deny that the Power of Myth is at work in this story. What disappoints me is how poorly it is developed, how many opportunities for thoughtful storytelling are bypassed for the sake of including long sequences that amount to “How far can we go without actually fornicating?” If you want a good vampire story involving a fascinating, monstrous vampire and an engaging heroine, check out Robin McKinley’s book Sunshine. Now THAT would make an interesting movie!

But don’t tell me that this is a love story. This is a lust story. You have to get to know someone to really be “in love” with them. Otherwise, it’s just hormones. Good luck with everything after.

Then I love this email from one mom to another- a friend (one of the moms) forwarded it to me. This really gives you a peek into the mind of teenage girls in regards to this film.

I don’t think I can explain my full opinion about Twilight without writing a whole dissertation. In a sentence, I think the books/movie are very mixed in terms of being good or bad. It is chaste in the sense that the characters don’t go far, but I’ll tell you also that it is VERY sensual and intense even. I knew (my daughter) was going to see it, probably this weekend, and I took the opportunity to see it with her. We talked about it. I liked the movie, but I like sappy tales of romance. (My daughter) is ga-ga over Edward, the lead role. It’s not hard to see why.

I can’t say I’d recommend it, but if my child were interested in it, I’d definitely see it. It’s not an Oscar worthy movie or anything. I can completely see why teen girls have gone crazy over it. Edward is perfect. Plain and simple. He denies himself for the girl, Bella. He is so taken with her that he watches her sleep. He is strong enough to save her from a car falling on her and other vampires trying to kill her. He sacrifices himself for her, even to the point of death if necessary. I could go on.

(My daughter) said, “I want an Edward.” I said, “Every woman wants an Edward. He’s perfect. I want an Edward. But, he doesn’t exist. Not in human form. Actually, Jesus is Edward. Jesus is the only one who can fulfill every longing, every need, etc.” She listened, but then she said, “Mom, can you just let me enjoy my teenaged moment, here?” I loved that. She was so real, so caught up in the romance. I’m not sure that’s good, but I’m not sure it’s all bad, either. We had such a great conversation about what she is looking for in a boyfriend/husband/mate. It was SO good in terms of what she was willing to talk about BECAUSE the movie opened that part of her up. I’m so glad it was ME who was there to answer questions and talk instead of her friends. Now, of course, she’ll be able to obsess over it all with her friends, but she’d have done that anyway.

I could go on and on. I loved the movie. The books are even better. However, it’s definitely not something I’d just openly recommend. Very mixed. Certainly, many teens and people would find it sappy and stupid and worse. It is. But, it certainly taps into the longing and romance and idealized perfection we, and teen girls, seek. Good stuff for discussion.

That is my very brief (believe it or not) take on the whole Twilight phenomenon.

I thought both of these provided some great insight.

You can read the barrage of comments on my original blog on the subject here.

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Last night (Thursday) I was at a movie screening for the new Disney film Bolt (a great film by the way). On the way out of the screening, the sidewalks around the theatre looked like the front of a Barnes and Noble bookstore the night before the last Harry Potter release. Hundreds of teenagers huddled in blankets (yeah, it’s actually cold here in Sacramento in November) waiting for the doors to open to the highly anticipated Twilight.

The particular Regal Theatre I was at was showing three midnight showings of the film, showings that have been sold out for quite a while.

Don’t be mislead in any way- this film is quite the pop culture phenomenon.

A lot of parents are asking me, “Should I let my kids see this film?” A question I have yet to answer with just a “yes” or “no.” instead, I share my concerns (like in our Youth Culture Window article and my blog about it) and then leave them with, “it’s your call.”

I had two people screaning the movie for our ministry so we could pass our “two cents” on to you. The first was Lynda, a youth worker who volunteers with a small group of girls at her church. Her girls were all going to see the film, so she figured that she might as well join them so they could talk about it. She has read all the books and emailed me her educated two cents at 2:54 AM last night:

Ok… lets just say that normally when I read a book, then watch the movie version, I am very disappointed.  Not the case with “Twilight.”  I thought they did a good job of condensing it down.  There were parts that were added to keep the flow going, but it was done well, I thought.  I felt like I was watching cliff notes for the book.  (Hope that makes sense…)
 
 About the sensuality….  the scene where Edward has Bella tell him that he is a vampire… they talk and end up lying shoulder to shoulder, she is breathing heavy…. (the laying shoulder to shoulder wasn’t the sensual part, it was the looking at each other & her just being “breathy”…) the anticipation, I guess, of what is to come of this relationship.
 
The “bedroom” scene : she is in bed talking to her mom when Edward shows up.  He wants to kiss her, but not sure he can control himself he tries to lightly kiss her, she leans up into him for a more active kiss (that’s when we see her in her underwear), then he ends up pushing her away.  It seemed like it was less than a minute, you saw her in her underwear for like 20 secs….  out of place yes, super sensual, no.  I thought the other scene was more sensual.  They do end up laying next to each other, talking, she eventually falls asleep, and cuddles up next to him.

Todd, our movie review guy shares his two cents in his review of the film here on our movie review page. He really enjoyed the film and gave it a score of “Theatre Worthy.” I love his “two cents” to parents about whether kids should see it. Here’s just a snippet:

I really only found one concern: the sensuality. A very vulnerable young girl is sneaking around with a guy, lying on her bed in her underwear with him, and kissing him. The snuggling stops right there- so you decide if that’s a good message or not. (Is it good that the film has no sex? Or does the film mislead audiences that snuggling in your undies is harmless? Kids are hearing a lot of mixed messages right now. Trojan’s campaign seems to hint that sex is unavoidable and protection is the only answer. Who is right? …or are both messages misleading?) Regardless, these are discussions that you want to have with your kids.

Good stuff! 

INSERT: The film did record numbers in it’s opening weekend, bringing in over $70 million.