Like the series or not, this fanged version of Romeo and Juliet is sucking in revenue at bookstores and movie theaters everywhere. So let's talk about it, and engage this modern phenomenon with the Sign of the Cross (not just for the presence of vampires, but because we Catholics like to bless everything before we taste it).
We'll start by addressing the monster stuff for a moment, which seems to either attract or repulse some people. The vampire and werewolf mythology (of which Ms. Meyers takes a real revisionist approach, I should add) is a vehicle for getting at something much deeper of course. But like the magic and sorcery of the Harry Potter series, it's murky waters. Why wrap a love story up in such iconic symbols of evil? Traditional vampires are cannibals. Aberrations of the desire in us to be consumed in love, they turn to consuming out of lust.... blood lust, in fact. And werewolves are adulterations of the eros of the human heart, our God-given attraction to what is good, true, and beautiful. Here it twists into an animal passion, prowling and hunting for prey. Ms. Meyer's puts her heroes in these shady disguises. Admittedly, the two leads are not evil, they are quite noble, just a bit tortured by their "condition."
Nonetheless, these trappings tend to obscure the lesson of love, in my opinion, that could be told here; love in fact is nearly overshadowed by an insatiable lust. A lead character confesses, in fact, that the human girl is "my own personal brand of heroin." For the audience this series has targeted, teenagers, I don't think the interpretation of love as an addiction is very helpful. Is that really love?
But I'm getting ahead of myself here. I believe at the core of the Twilight series is a shadowy quest for understanding what it means to be human and what it means to love. So let's focus on the "heart" of the matter.
At the center is an intense story of infatuation involving a teenage girl, Bella Swan, and her romantic involvement with two "unusual" boys:
1. Edward Cullen, wealthy, really white, really handsome, and really dead. He's a vampire.
2. Jacob Black, indigenous, charming, physically ripped, and a real animal. A werewolf, in fact.
This is an interesting distinction, a friend of mine observed; the attention given to the fancy cars and opulent home of the vampires contrasted with the rustic reservation life of the boys who are werewolves. But that's a whole other thought train.
Let's look at this love triangle. I believe the author's Mormon faith, as she has admitted in interviews, has certainly influenced her writing, but perhaps more deeply than we might suspect. What we see here in mythological disguise are the two ancient enigmatic questions of mankind; are we animals, or are we angels? Should we be of the earth, hot-blooded, and mortal, or are we above it, angelic, immortal, and almost limitless in the power of our mind over matter? How do we reconcile our bodily life with our immortal souls?
Enter Bella, a mixed up and misfit teenager “who can’t dance” (as she herself confesses). Courted by Edward the ice-cold vampire (whom Bella herself calls an “angel”) and Jacob the hot-blooded werewolf (a beast), she must make a choice as to what kind of life she will live. Now in Gnostic thought, a kiss means incorporation into a secret world. Oh what's a girl to do? Bella kisses passionately both Edward and Jacob, it's just the temperature of the kiss that fluctuates.
What person, especially the teenager, hasn't struggled with identity issues? Who among us hasn't wrestled with choices we feel may shape the rest of our lives? Ms. Meyers has inserted her series like a surgeon’s tool right into the adolescent heart. The question is whether or not this is good medicine.
From the moment they first meet, Edward’s effect on Bella, and her effect on him, is charged with an unhealthy passion. If there were ten red flags in relationships, Bella would be waving close to all of them. She is emotionally dependent on Edward; she is listless and reckless about her life when he leaves, almost dying in fact on a motorcycle ride and a cliff-diving incident in an effort to see him again. She lies to people to keep the relationship going, a relationship that seems to be based purely on physical attraction. Friends think he is no good for her, but she disregards them. She incessantly whines to Edward to make her like him, a vampire. Bella implores Edward to sleep with her in the third film, though he quite beautifully resists and challenges here to chastity (I must say that was a refreshing scene that leaves most teen romance movies in the dust). This girl is no role model for her peers.
Edward is a bit nobler. He's a complex character who is struggling to resist his blood-lust. He was transformed into a vampire over a century ago when he was on the brink of death by Carlisle, a kindly physician and strictly vegetarian vampire. Edward is the victim and the perpetual youth in angst, having unwillingly entered into this new state of being a vampire at 17 years of age. This adds a tragic note to the story that is a powerful one. He must use his will to overcome the addiction for human blood. Carlisle has initiated others into the Cullen Clan, but all of them resist their fallen nature and serve the humans, protecting them from "bad" vampires.
Back to the complexity of this relationship... Bella, the perplexed and forlorn teenager says she’s always felt unfinished, and clumsy. What teenager doesn't? Now she has the offer of an everlasting life in which to work it all out! And a perpetual cute teenage boy to do it with! This is a place many teenage girls, I dare say, would like to fall into (and a good number of ex-teens it would seem as well. Twilight has a huge following of "older" women). But ladies... he's a vampire. A cute monster is still a monster. “I’m the world’s most dangerous predator," Edward tells her. "Everything about me invites you in. My voice, my face, even my smell… I’m designed to kill… I’ve wanted to kill you. I’ve never wanted a human’s blood so much in my life… Your scent, it’s like a drug to me. You’re like my own personal brand of heroin.” Not exactly the kind of guy you want to bring home for Sunday dinner.
Jacob is the werewolf, struggling to be top dog in Bella's world (sorry, I couldn't resist). In my mind he is a bit more likable. He's a member of a shape-shifting tribe of the Quillayute, with the ability to change into a wolf, heightened senses, and a sometimes hot-blooded temper. He's Bella's best friend early on, before we see his secret, and he shared childhood memories with her. When Edward abruptly "abandons" Bella (for her own safety we later learn) it is Jacob whom Bella finds companionship with, and solace in her isolation. I'd have to say it seems like puppy love for this werewolf at first, then he steals a rather forceful kiss from Bella, much to her disapproval. Eventually, he develops a real concern for Bella, for her happiness and safety regarding her attachment to Edward. Both beaus reveal this altruism in time, pondering what's best for her. This is refreshing in light of the boys who can be both wolves and vampires in the high school arena today. Edward and Jacob truly rise above their twisted natures.
Bella however remains a self-centered character, and flip flops for a good deal of time between Edward and Jacob. "I love him, but I love you more," she tells Edward after passionately kissing Jacob. OK then. Back to the earlier question; is all of this good medicine for the teenage heart? The books are wildly popular, winning heaps of awards, like the British Book Award for “Children’s Book of the Year” and the 2009 “Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Book.” They have sold nearly 90 million copies and been translated into almost 40 languages.
You can read more on the topic, you can "test everything and retain what is good" as St. Paul encourages us, (and there is some good here) but I personally feel the series preys on the infatuation teens can fall into, and offers foggy advice if any on how to determine love from obsession and lust. As Pope John Paul II states in his epic teaching Theology of the Body, lust “is not always plain and obvious; sometimes it is concealed, so that it passes itself off as ‘love’…. Does this mean that we should distrust the human heart? No! It is only to say that we must remain in control of it” (TOB 32:3).
Teen infatuations can be tumultuous waters to ride. But let's note that there is nothing inherently wrong with sparks of passion, and the sexual attraction we feel for those of the opposite sex that draws us out of ourselves. It's been called by Pope John Paul II "the raw material of love." The problem comes into play when this blind passion is all you've got. Pope Benedict stated in his first encyclical letter God is Love, "True, eros tends to rise “in ecstasy” towards the Divine, to lead us beyond ourselves; yet for this very reason it calls for a path of ascent, renunciation, purification and healing."
What Edward promises is not truly life together, but unending death. And Jacob's bark is stronger than his bite. Who can truly fulfill Bella's heart, or any teen seeking a lasting love for that matter? God knows.
I'd say let's use this rekindling of a desire for unending love as an invitation for all of us. Let's step into the enthralling journey of real love, not obsession and lust. For "Love is indeed “ecstasy”, not in the sense of a moment of intoxication, but rather as a journey, an ongoing exodus out of the closed inward-looking self towards its liberation through self-giving, and thus towards authentic self-discovery and indeed the discovery of God." (God is Love, 6)
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Originally published in the Catholic Standard and Times
8 comments:
While very well written, I'd have to say that I tend to look beyond the unending death factor here. I see Edward as more of a true lover who seeks only what is good for Bella. He makes any and every sacrifice necessary to love her. Perhaps her becoming a vampire by choice could be seen as a conversion to love unending. Jacob, meanwhile, only pushes for what he wanted. He doesn't seem to truly care for Bella, as much as lust after her. Edward may have those feelings, but he redirects them in healthy ways of love. In my love, I could only wish to be like the Edward Cullen character.
Paul, I think you make a very good point about the redeeming characteristics of Edward, in fact the characteristics that all men should strive for. However, I think it is a mistake to overlook the unending death factor. I think Bill is right to say this a point where we can invite people to see that they are really looking for and desiring. However, to then pass by all the negative point is not what that means. When you are discerning marrying someone you would not "overlook" that they are abusive nor "overlook" that they are a murderer, etc. If your daughter brought home a new boyfriend you would not "overlook" that you just saw him on the most wanted list on the news. The fact that he is a vampire is a serious part of the book that should be taken seriously. I think we all need to know more about the occult and be far more weary when educating our children. Even if people reading the series believe that they are "overlooking" the fact that he is a vampire or that Jacob is werewolf, they are still being saturated with these occult symbols and having them presented as attractive and those are not the kind of things that should be dabbled in.
Theresa...I totally understand your point. What I personally see here, however is a deeper meaning than a vampire. Rather, he who supposedly has no soul...proves to have one. A redeeming one at that. Perhaps he isn't this vampire he's been presented to be. Tolkien used wizards to represent good. Same idea here, I'd think. Of course, many people don't shoot down that verion of occultism bacause the message wwas received the way he meant it to be.
While much has been written about Twilight, I’ve waited a long time for someone to write about it in comparison to Theology of the Body. I knew there was something there, and I’m thrilled that it was Bill who wrote it. I love both Twilight and TOB (TOB is definitely more dear to my heart although I’ve read the Twilight series more times than I’ve read JPII’s original TOB text). I’m one of those ex-teens that Bill mentions “who obsessively turn it over and over again in their hands.” Bill has revealed some underlying themes I was unaware of, and I think he makes a valid argument about whether Twilight is “good medicine for the teenage heart” in light of the Theology of the Body. Nonetheless, I do have some questions as well as comments and corrections I would like to make, and in the end, I’d like to explain why I think Twilight should be embraced and why we should overlook the monster factor.
1. Your point about the socio-economic discrepancies between Edward and Jacob is definitely worth exploring at a later date. However, I would like to point out that Bella doesn’t want Edward for his money. In fact, she won’t let him give her gifts. The only gifts Edward was able to give her was a CD he burned of him playing piano, and a piece of jewelry that originally belonged to his mother (only because he didn’t purchase it and it was more like a “hand me down”).
2. Really loved your questions about being animals or angels (reminds me of a Christopher West presentation on TOB). I think this should be added to the list of “Discussions for a Later Date.”
3. I agree that Bella is not a great role model for teenage girls. However, Bella grows from the most vulnerable character in Twilight into the strongest character at the end of Breaking Dawn. Also, why does every fictional character in a movie and/or book need to be a role model? Please add that to the list of “Discussions for a Later Date.”
4. Werewolves as “adulterations of the eros of the human heart”: I must admit I was lost on this point. I need some further clarification on this.
5. Edward wants Bella to stay human. He wants her to have all the human experiences that he didn’t have since he was changed into a vampire at the age of 17. He makes her go to prom. He wants her to go to college. He keeps asking Bella to prolong her transformation into a vampire. Edward wants Bella to grow old with him. He doesn’t care that she’ll be old and wrinkled while he’ll always look like a 17-year-old. Edward wants to be with Bella for the person she is, not because she looks a certain way. Isn’t that part of TOB?
6. Regarding Bella’s flip flopping between the 2 guys, Stephenie Meyer explains it as the two different ways people fall in love. Bella had never been in love before she moved to Forks. Then she fell madly in love with Edward. She fell hard and fast. It was all Bella ever knew of what love was, so when she becomes friends with Jacob and their relationship develops into more than that, she doesn’t recognize it as falling in love. She knows it’s a strong relationship, but she doesn’t really see it as being in love. Not until Eclipse does she really understand it, and when she finally says good-bye to Jacob, it breaks her heart (read Eclipse Chapter 27). (Side bar: Even if Bella had chosen Jacob, there was the issue of imprinting. Jacob hadn’t imprinted on anybody yet, so when he did, he and Bella could no longer be together.)
7. I don’t agree that the book series “preys on the infatuation teens can fall into.” I think Stephenie Meyer wrote a series that speaks to the hearts of teens and ex-teens alike. However, the movies and the marketing campaign that ensued “preys on the infatuation teens can fall into.” The books alone can only do so much in terms of sparking websites and online discussions. Add a movie franchise with very attractive men (“Face it, I’m hotter than you” Jacob to Edward in Eclipse) and a capitalistic marketing machine who knows a cash cow when it sees one, and it’s lambs to the slaughter for these infatuated teens with no masochistic lion to save them (couldn’t resist the pun). Team Edward sheets and blanket anyone?
8. TOB calls us to control our lust. Edward exhibits this control as a vampire and as a man. He talks about overcoming his bloodlust in order to be with Bella as a matter of mind over matter (Twilight 301). As a man, Edward resists sexual temptation and chooses to be chaste until marriage.
9. One issue I have with the arguments you’ve made is that you’ve only referenced the movies and not the books. If you’re going to talk about a series that’s read “hand over hand”, then your analysis should be more about the books and less about the movies. The books contain the essence of the characters and the real story that has sucked teens and ex-teens into it over and over again. The characters in the movie and the characters in the books are actually very different. Both Stephenie Meyer and fans refer to Book Bella versus Movie Bella when discussing the books and movies. The same can be said about Edward as well. Of course, there is so much that they just can’t fit into the movies. For instance, you note that the bedroom scene puts any teenage movie to shame with its push towards chastity. In the book, that particular scene is so much more in depth than what they show in the movie. There’s a discussion about their souls and their virtue and about getting into heaven or not. Bella and Edward have been having the soul debate since New Moon (she believes he has one; he doesn’t). Despite his belief that he doesn’t have a soul, Edward knows there are some rules for getting into heaven, and he knows he’s broken a few of them (thou shalt not kill, steal, covet…). The one rule he hasn’t broken, and “this is the one area in which I’m just as spotless as you are” is sex before marriage (Twilight, 454). He wants to leave one rule unbroken not so much for himself but for the sake of Bella’s soul. She hasn’t broken any of the major rules like he has, so he’s trying to keep her record clean, so to speak. What teenage novel do you know that contains that type of discussion, or sparks that conversation amongst its readers? In Breaking Dawn, there’s another key religious theme that ignites discussion amongst the characters as well as its readers. (I won’t spoil it; read the book; movie will be out this month.) By basing your arguments purely on the movies, your supporting evidence isn’t always true. For instance, in the movies, Bella and Jacob know each other from childhood (“We used to make mud pies when we were little.”) However, in the book, Bella and Jacob meet when she moves to Forks. Even though their fathers are friends, Bella was friendly with Jacob’s older sisters Rebecca and Rachel, not Jacob. Jacob is the youngest of the siblings. Bella and Jacob meet up for the first time when Bella and her friends go to the beach on the reservation. From then on, their friendship develops. They don’t have a lifelong friendship or common childhood memories upon which to build their relationship. Bill, I know reading TOB is much more enriching and beneficial than reading Twilight, but I think you should give it a try to get the full scope of the Twilight phenomenon (Hmm…I wonder if there’s a way to write about the phenomenon-ology of Twilight series versus JPII’s phenomenology. Sorry, but I just couldn’t resist.)
10. Here’s the reason why I love the series and why I’m willing to overlook the monster factor. Edward’s a virgin. Bella’s a virgin. He’s making her wait till they’re married to have sex. What more could you want from a series that has sold almost 90 million copies and translated into 40 languages? Teens and adults are devouring this series, and there’s no sex in it until they’re married. Hello?! What more could you want from this popular a series?! When I first read it, I was jumping up and down, practically screaming because there was something that was a huge part of pop culture and chastity was part of it! Holy Mother of God! That in and of itself is amazing! Granted, in a perfect world, the characters would have been totally human and would have been Catholic and JPII would be quoted along the way in it as well. But, this is an imperfect world, and if it takes a vampire to sell the concept of chastity, then so be it because no one else in pop culture or mainstream media is promoting it. For the past few months, there’s been a marketing campaign on bus stops in the Bronx and lower Westchester (in NY) featuring human teens promoting the use of condoms and birth control together to prevent pregnancy, AIDS and other diseases. There was an ad in last weekend’s paper featuring a human teen boy and girl (they looked no older than 13) promoting the HPV vaccine because it protects both boys and girls (but only girls take it – another discussion for another day about how we just keeping pushing pills on girls). So here are my options: human teens promoting sex, condoms, and pills or a vampire teen promoting a chaste life? I pick the vampire.
Hi MA,
Thanks so much for the thoughts you've shared above. This is fascinating stuff, and I'm finally able to respond to some of your thoughts! Please excuse the late reply :(
4. Werewolves as “adulterations of the eros of the human heart”: I must admit I was lost on this point. I need some further clarification on this.
Well, I envisioned the image of man turning into a beast as that stooping of the person to the level of the animals again. That's it. Eros is our God given attraction to all that's good, true and beautiful, and it's directed up into the selfless love of the Trinity. When it's disfigured, it sinks low to the level of instinct and desire only. Again, these stories have characters fighting these inclinations, so as fiction there is a nice lesson to be learned in that we're not bound to those instincts.
Your #5 insight was a beauty!
#6 was interesting. I am foggy about the imprinting stuff, but I like the two faces of love; infatuation and maturation. The flash fire and the steady burn.
#7 point well taken. Books are always better than films, except of course with the Toy Story series... :)
#8.... YES!
#9.... thanks for your patience. You are absolutely right. My critique is limited in that I am not "going by the book," so to speak. The highlighting and discussion of chastity in these books is exceptional. Thank God for that!
#10..... I love it. It seems the fantasy world has indeed become a key player in the New Evangelization! We are learning about virtue from vampires, humility from hobbits, wisdom from wizards, and sacrificial love from Lions (that being the great Aslan from Narnia). Who knew!?
"Humanity in every age, and even today, looks to works of art to shed light upon its path and its destiny."
- Pope John Paul II, Letter to Artists
Thanks again for your thoughts and insights!!
Peace,
Bill
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