When I had a number of teenage girls ask me to pray for the Twilight Movie late last year prior to its opening I thought I had better investigate this series further. I went and bought the books and locked in a time to go see the movie with one of my Mustard Colleagues so we could get an idea as to why Twilight has sent teenage girls from all over the world just a little bit loco.
It was when I walked into the cinemas at Donny that I realized that this thing was bigger than I had first thought. I was the only male in the cinema surrounded by teenage girls and a number of young adult women, you could feel the anticipation in the air as we watched the 15 minutes of ads and movie previews – they couldn’t wait to see Edward Cullen ‘in the flesh’ and on the big screen.
The movie began and all eyes were fixed on the screen – not daring to blink or speak in case they missed something. When Edward appeared, when he made a joke or when he said something romantic you could hear the giggles, the sighs and see the looks of satisfaction on every face. It was surreal – I was convinced that the majority of young girls and women present believed they were in love!
From a practical point of view I have to say that most of the time when books are turned into movies the response from its readers is generally under whelming and they leave the cinemas disappointed that the movie just didn’t stack up to the way they had imagined it, in this case, however, I would say that the Characters were well cast and the transition from page to screen was done reasonably well with the movie containing just as much sexual tension, awkward silences (and at times acting) and teenage anxt as the book.
Just like the book, the movie moved quite slowly, without much happening, until the last 20 minutes but it served well as a setup for, what I am sure will be, the many sequels to follow and an introduction to the characters.
Remembering that I am a 29 year old guy I have to admit that both the book and the movie took me back to my teenage years; a time before it was popular to be ‘emo’, before mobile phones were accessories (ones that were smaller than bricks anyway!), when Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place dominated the Television Airwaves and when the characters played by actors Keanu Reeves, Luke Perry and Christian Slater were every girls dream du jour… They were good times, simpler times - when hot, “normal” guys with ripped abs and “dreamy” eyes captivated the imaginations of teenage girls and made the average teenage boy feel inadequate. Now even Pitt and Clooney just don’t cut it anymore. ‘Vegetarian’ Vampires that sparkle and stalk 17 year old girls are the latest ‘hyper-real’ desire for not only teenage girls, but for young adult women, everywhere.
I have absolutely nothing against the books or the movie as a form of harmless escapism – I still love Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Star Wars – but I wonder whether, on some sub conscious level the Movie serves to propagate the idea that love is simply a feeling you can fall in and out of rather than a commitment that is given and demonstrated irregardless of feelings or circumstance. I wonder if young women and teenage girls are buying into the unattainable and impossible ‘reality’ they are being sold through stories and movies such as Twilight because when I look at the astonishing divorce rate, when I speak to young people in high schools, when I hear the criteria they hold to for relationships and what love looks and feels like they seem to share Bella’s perspective – and that scares the crap out of me.
Here’s the type of love I believe in and desire to grow in – it’s harder, its more dangerous and it is less self serving and maybe less romantic but is every bit as, if not more, passionate, committed and powerful than any other love story ever told…
“Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself…your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not demand and cling to His rights as God. He made Himself nothing. He took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminals death on a cross.”
– Phillipians 2:3-8
I can understand why the movie and the books are popular with teenage girls and young women – I say keep enjoying them if that’s what you get your kicks from but I say it with a cautionary tagline – ‘remember its fiction’.
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