MOVIES: "THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN--PART I"

PLEASE SEE A VERY DIFFERING VIEW AT THE VERY END OF MY REVIEW! IT ALSO MAKES SENSE!

“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part I” (the third movie in the “Twilight” series) is a very pro-life, very Theology of the Body movie. I know there are other opinions rolling around from high-profile Catholics, but I really think they’re reading it wrong.

Here’s the storyline (not a total spoiler) for anyone who has managed to escape familiarity with this phenomenon. Bella (human, Kristen Stewart) marries Edward (vampire, Robert Pattinson). Bella could “turn” immortal vampire if Edward bites her, but so far she has not opted to go that route. On their prolonged honeymoon Bella gets pregnant (something that Edward and Bella thought impossible). The pregnancy is very difficult and seems sure to kill Bella.

Jacob (werewolf, Taylor Lautner) who also loved Bella and had hoped to marry her is exceedingly angry about this situation and blames Edward (vampires and werewolves are also sworn enemies).

Bella, from the get-go, although she is scared, loves her baby (even though exactly WHAT the baby is is not even known) and refuses to abort it. (The word “abortion” is not used, but “getting rid” of “it” and other phrases are.) At a certain point, it becomes almost definite that either mother or baby can be saved, but not both. But Bella is steadfast in her St. Gianna Molla-esque decision, which leads to a transformation and change of heart in those around her.

Objectionable parts of the movie would be the sex scenes (even though Edward and Bella are now married). Are we really supposed to watch people making love? Ever? Bella is often scantily-clad, also. The birth scene is kind of violent and bloody, but, um, isn’t the pain and peril of real-life childbirth?

A strange feature (or at least the way the movie portrayed it), is Bella’s continuing, demonstrative affection for Jacob. It’s almost like she has two husbands sometimes.

“Twilight” is pure female fantasy. Obsessive female fantasy. Two men adore one woman. But, you know what? It’s about time. 98% of what Hollywood produces is male-conceived, male-written, male-directed, male-driven, male-marketed, male-consumed.

How does Theology of the Body play out in the “Twilight” series? First of all, a chaste relationship because an honorable man takes the lead. (Good things happen when good men lead.) Second, Bella is truly the “bride,” whom the men in her life (OK, vampire and werewolf) will lay down their lives for. As Christopher West says: “It’s all about you, ladies,” (just as Jesus did everything He did FOR His Bride, the Church). And third, Bella is not a selfish prima donna. She returns “the gift” and is self-sacrificing in her love also.

The theme of immortality and “forever” is so strong in “Twilight.” Echoes of the unending heavenly marriage feast that awaits us.

Jacob’s role at the end of the film is pretty incredible. A beautiful resolution. I left the theater soaring.

OTHER STUFF:

--Do NOT look for good filmmaking or dialogue or acting or anything. This is camp. And it knows it. It’s like a soupy, sappy, tragic romantic comic book brought to the screen in slow motion. (My audience members—mostly young adults—laughed at the jokes in the movie AND at the most serious, melodramatic moments, which is pretty much the whole film.)

--This is a movie that girlfriends drag their boyfriends to. Overheard in line: Boyfriend: “Why am I here again?” Girlfriend: “Because I HAVE to see what happens!”

--So, could this female fantasy give young (and not so young women) the wrong idea about true love? Yes, BUT I really think that female romantic fantasies are closer to the truth about love, and not as potentially harmful as male fantasies.

FEMALE FANTASIES:

• He really listens to me!
• He knows what I like!
• He wants to be with me all the time!
• He thinks about me all the time!
• He likes to cuddle!
• He tells me I’m beautiful!
• He likes to surprise me!
• He’s gentle with me and doesn’t treat me like one of the guys!

--www.decentfilms.com movie reviewer, Steven Greydanus, did an excellent in-depth article in Catholic World Report not long ago about the massive appeal of the “Twilight” series. He ends it by saying that maybe if guys were more romantic, women wouldn’t have to escape into vampire fantasies. Guys: Look at the bullet points above. That’s all we want! It’s not that hard! Sometimes I think guys DON'T do the above simple things because they don't FEEL it and don't want to be hypocritical or insincere. But it's when you DON'T feel it and you do it anyway that it's selfless, pure love! All you need to know is that it means ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING to us, so just DO IT if you really love us! You don't have to FEEL it. We get that you don't feel it. WE feel it. We need it. Desperately. I've heard it said (by a woman) that women are like flowers that need watering and care every day or else we'll wither. OK--maybe the "thinks about me all the time" is asking a bit much.

--Stephenie Meyer (author of the “Twilight” books) is a good little mythmaker.

--The human blood Bella has to drink could be synthetic, yes?

--Who "created" Edward and why?

--Does Bella's family know anything about the vampires and werewolves?

--What did Edward bite with his teeth during the birth?

--Full disclosure: I haven't read the books. Only saw movie #1 and #2.

--No media tech. One cell phone. Just people and face time. And wolves howling communications and some vampiric telepathic communication.

--Bella and the Cullens (Edward's family) are definitely people of leisure. They have nothing much to do. They just sit around staring at each other and dealing with their supernatural problems.

--Bella gets married at 18. Like everyone used to. We need to rethink the possibility of getting married younger again.

--Soundtrack pop song: “I find strength in your fragile heart.” Nice. “In weakness, power reaches perfection.”

--For those still fretting that this may actually be an anti-life film in disguise, consider this: Catholics (some of whom I consider to be literalists and alarmists) are condemning it, AS WELL AS super-secular sources like the Huffington Post (who are even warning parents)! What is the “anything goes” HP worried about? The realities of childbirth, for one. Another criticism I heard is that it glorifies violent sex (Edward is super-strong and Bella wakes up slightly bruised on her arms and shoulders). But Edward is horrified and vows never to touch Bella again. Are characters pro-abortion (at first)? Yes! Characters! Not the whole film and not the heroine, Bella! And Bella prevails! What is the problem here?

--Dr. Michael Waldstein (who found the Polish original of Theology of the Body and wrote the extensive Introduction to it) says that we need to get away from the language of “rights” when it comes to pregnancy, even “the right to life,” because we immediately set up an opposition between mother and baby (of course, this can be a dire move just to save a baby’s life). I did a week of studies with him and he talked so much about our “NON-COMPETITIVE GOD,” not competitive within the Trinity and not competitive with His Creation. It just blew all our minds.

--Isn't "intermarriage" historically what always brings about peace? In Theology of the Body, all differences (starting with the sexual difference of male and female) are a call to communion, not strife.

--While everyone around Bella talks about “choice,” “choice,” “choice,” Bella just loves.

--Puts a whole new spin on “the first year of marriage is the hardest.” :]

--Right across from the cinema when I stepped outside was the store: “XXI Forever.” :]

--The only thing wrong with the “Twilight” series is that Bella is married to the wrong guy. :]

--Here are some insightful FB posts from a young Mom:

• Christina Yep Hi Sr Helena! Haven't seen movie yet either and I can see how some people would draw this articles' conclusions, but I think with guidance, today's teens can see through the negative messages and pull out the positive. In fact, this movie raises some of those more intimate "mom questions" that they deal with every day - the question of saving oneself til marriage, marriage itself, who to choose (baby or mother) in extreme pregnancies. Bella and Edward might seem entirely too obssessed with sex, but as with the best of us, their love matures over the course of their relationship and the message that they wait until they are married is pivotal for them.
Saturday at 3:36am • Like
•
Christina Yep Regarding Edward hurting Bella...it needs to be put in context, which books do well but movies generally don't. He has been living an extreme self-control of both his passions for blood and to make love to Bella for years at this point, and has preserved both their innocence intact, so when at last they do try on their honeymoon, the appropriate time, it's hard for him to maintain that self-control. This seems so realistic to the pure married relationship to me! And when they get pregnant, like with a human pregnancy, he doesn't have a bond with his baby yet...all he sees is his wife slowly being killed before his eyes by this creature he doesn't yet love. This too seems so realistic to the human experience of fathers who struggle as a child seems to come between him and his love.
Saturday at 3:41am • Like
•
Christina Yep It's the powerful love of the mother, Bella, who seems to mature overnight with the presence of Renesmee inside her, and who opts for the same type of sacrifice evidenced by St Gianna Beretta Molla, that is the most beautiful of all... When I read the books and having been through 2 pregnancies myself, my first though was, of course Edward tries to force Bella to an abortion! He's losing his wife. In the end, he's not trying to get her to abort...he feels powerless to alleviate her suffering and grasps at the only solution he can reason. The fact that Bella chooses LIFE despite attacks from within and from without is a heroic example, and her reward is both her child and her living. The child herself (half human half vampire) turns out to be a brilliant, sweet prodigy of a girl who demonstrates extreme virtue and love to all those around.
Saturday at 3:50am • Like
•
Christina Yep Perhaps they didn't intend to get pregnant but it wasn't because they weren't "open" to life, they just thought they couldn't. In the end, the book tells me a few messages: 1 save yourself for marriage; 2 who doesn't want that type of passionate married love with their husband? this is possible; 3 no matter how difficult the pregnancy and no matter how many "extenuating circumstances" and how many people pressure you to abort, it's always better to "choose life", or your baby's life to be specific, and God will bless you.
Saturday at 3:53am • Like
•
Christina Yep Sorry, this got really long!!! So of course, watching the movie...these questions are going to be raised and lets hope Mom and Dad are there to counsel teens with some solid answers. It's much harder to transmit a complete message by film. God bless, Sister!
Saturday at 3:55am • Like
•
Christina Yep Oh, one more thing...someone mentioned the Bella-Edward relationship not being ideal. Well-said. I think teens struggle with being objective already and it's hard for them to take a step back from the emotional attraction to a passionate relationship and realize how, yes, we can all identify with elements of their relationship, but mostly it's not a very realistic relationship. The LOVE and PASSION is possible...but the strange plot and predicaments...not so much. A good story only. And the characters themselves are very flawed...but I guess the hope is that aren't we all...and despite that, love and happiness are eventually possible.
Saturday at 4:00am • Like • 1
•
Cynthia Morales I haven't read any of the books and I don't plan to see the movie, but I did read a review in the Chicago Tribune that described the series as "anti-abortion" and "pro-abstinence." Go figure.

________

BUT GET A LOAD OF THIS VERY DARK AND MENACING READ ON THE "TWILIGHT SERIES." (NOT ABOUT THE OCCULT, BUT PEDOPHILIA!)

SPOILER ALERT: THE ORIGINAL QUESTION ON FACEBOOK WAS ABOUT JACOB--A YOUNG ADULT, "IMPRINTING" (KINDA LIKE ARRANGED MARRIAGE) ON BELLA'S BABY GIRL (IN ORDER TO SAVE HER).

ME: Kinda like Benjamin Button. Aren't vampires and werewolves kinda ageless/timeless? Of course he's gonna hafta wait for her as in the vision AND i hope no one reads this cuz it's a big fat spoiler!!!!

JEN: thanks for your take ...you can delete my post sister .. though I can't imagine anyone who is interested who doesn't already know anything we could spoil - but maybe someone has been hiding under a rock and it will spoil it :o) personally ... it's a bit too pedophilia -ish for me. Benjamin Button was a little different because they were actually the same age ... This part of the Breaking Dawn story reminds me of Lewis Caroll and his feelings for Alice Liddle ... sick. I know it is rationalized in the story as "it's not sexual - it's imprinting" and "she's not like a normal human child" ... I know it's fiction ...but fiction reflects and shapes the mind of society... and these sort of arguments are arguments that adults who abuse children make in the real world.

The prolife vs prochoice conversation in Breaking Dawn is interesting enough but it should not be the primary controversy surrounding this story ... there are so many darker deeper sicker issues in Breaking Dawn. Pedophilia is threaded throughout the entire series.

Edward is hundreds of years older than Bella - who is an immature teen... but okay .. there's no story without it ... but once we accept that story line the slide into blatant pedophilia is swift. Meyer teaches young girls that love is obsessive - that young girls are to be possessed by men ( who look like boys) and that age and experience are inconsequential. She started with the Bella and Edward relationship and continues it in increasingly disgusting ways.

Claire is imprinted by Quil ( if I remember rightly) as a fully human child at 2 years of age - at 16 she will be imprinted to him like it or not. Then Jacob imprints with a newborn. Sorry if that's a spoiler - but educating people about the evil of child abuse is more important than whether or not someones surprise is ruined. This is not just an innocent story - it like many stories has a cultural impact - more so than others considering the record breaking opening box offices.

Our stories become our schemas. We create scripts for living and social interaction largely based on the stories that we step into. This story has many misguided notions about what sexuality should be - physical violence, abuse, obsession - are not elements of healthy relationships. Being willing to damn your eternal soul for a man is not good for a young woman but it's a choice - the pedophilia portrayed in this story on the other hand is not a choice.

Jacob and Nessie are obviously eventually intended to have a sexual relationship sometime in the future. Earlier in the story ...Jacob imagines being the father of Bellas children ...and likewise she imagines the same. Jacob is going to be intimately involved in raising her. She is going to be raised by the pack - he's to be her father, sibling , uncle, moms former paramour and eventually her own lover - no conflicts there. The argument that she develops faster and will be an adult by age 7 ...is a common argument from pro pedophiles ... people develop and mature at different rates - so chronological age doesn't make a difference. Nessie may develop physically mentally faster than the rest of us - but with this situation of being raised by the man she's expected to mate with - she is bound to develop into a truly messed up person - she'll just do it quicker than most abuse victims. Similarly Quil is called Claires "best big brother" - a brother who she is expected to start mating with at 16.

This notion that somehow a child victim can be developed enough to be a willing participant is why we end up with real world situations like the Penn state situation - in which ( according the the grand jury report) on at least two occasions adult men walked in on another adult man abusing boys 10 and younger - and walked away without removing the child from danger - as if they had walked in on two consenting adults.

Although Meyers sets up the canon that the male imprints - later she seems to want to imply that the baby imprinted on Jacob first ...this is why Bella wants to to be around him and such. This is a common pedophile mindset - it is the victims fault .. he is helpless over his need. This reversal of victim hood - the idea that the victim exerts more control over the abuser than he does over the victim - is extraordinarily common. We don't like to admit it but we live in a blame the victim world.

The imprinting seems to have left Nessie with no free will. Another common thought process of abusers - the victims will doesn't matter.

Jacob gives her a token of his promise to force him to be his forever ..and were supposed to think this is sweet? BTW he gave a similar bracelet token to her mother - who he was passionate about and abusive towards ...when he can not have the mother the way he wants - when the mother does not adore him - he takes the child. This is unfortunately an all too true reality for many real world daughters.

And as happens all too often in the real world the child's parents do not protect her. Edward and Bella shrug it off.Edward even calls him "my son" ... the whole thing is pretty sick and not very TOB at all.

ME: Wow! Thanks for this in-depth read. It makes sense. Isn't it interesting how something can be superficially one thing (OK) and at a slightly deeper level--not OK at all. Jacob does it because it's "the only thing that can save her," (but, yikes! Doesn't that sound like a pedophile's argument, too?) I'm going to take this into serious consideration. Thanks so much!

MOVIES: “TWILIGHT”

YYYY

Romances are very difficult to create today. Why? Because to maintain romantic tension, the lovers have to be kept apart by something, and hardly anything is taboo in our postmodern culture. Gender, race, class, parental wishes, societal mores, customs, monogamy, commitment, money, etc., used to be major obstacles, but not when the zeitgeist is: "even publicly and legally, anything goes." (Age, that is, underagedness, might be the only remaining no-no. For now.)

"Twilight" successfully solves this problem by creating a kind of interspecies romance between teen human Bella (Kristen Stewart) and teen vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson). The result is a kind of goth "Pride and Prejudice." "Twilight" is based (very tightly) on the mega-selling book series by Stephenie Meyer (a practicing Mormon) so look for a film sequel. I will be. I did NOT want this movie to end.

The rainy, lush Pacific Northwest is perfect for the dark feel of this tasty tale. Teenage girls and their moms have gone gaga over the books, but the movie tested well on teen male audiences also. It's full of special effects because of Edward's suprahuman powers.

"Twilight," although not a "message film,"--it's great entertainment--definitely models for teens (and the rest of us) the wound of love, the restraint of love, the risk and danger of love that begins from the very moment we fall in love. (Kind of like when a baby is born—you're attached to the kid with a new umbilical cord of responsibility and worry and selflessness for the rest of your life.) The continual self-sacrifice involved in love is expressed through the apt metaphor of a vampire-turned-vegetarian who must always be self-vigilant, and a young woman who trusts in the best self of a "monster," a "killer," a "bad guy." This is not some easy "good girl falls for bad boy" stereotype, it's about the potential of humans (and other beings) to change, to exercise willpower, to transcend self.

Edward's desire for Bella's blood is a perfect kind of metaphor for the true love of sexual restraint. At a certain point, Edward MUST exercise this restraint to both save her life AND refrain from killing her. Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Edward's "foster father," fellow vampire and friend urges him: "Find the will to stop!" However, let it be said that in the movie, Bella and Edward woulda if they coulda.* They were ready to go for it in her bedroom. And what was she wearing (or not wearing) anyway? T-shirt and panties? (Not her fault, Edward barged in through the window.) In the BOOK--I am told by "Twilighters"--Edward makes it clear to Bella that he wants to marry her before they have sex, because he is an old-fashioned gentleman--in the best and fullest sense of that word--(he's from 1908).

Stephenie Meyer has tapped into some deep stuff: myths, food, conversions, free will (even vampires have free will!), love, immortality. The mix of mythical and human creatures is a perfect playground for the imagination to work out emotional and moral sticky-wickets. It's a great Theology of the Body film also, although some conundrums would be purely hypothetical. "Twilight" is all about laying down your life for another, whether Bella for her Mom, Edward for Bella, Edward's family for Bella, Carlisle for Edward, etc. It's a chain that just goes on and on.

There's no God so far in the world of "Twilight," but the principles are definitely Judaeo-Christian. There are promises and pacts made that reflect an unquestioning sacredness for human life and relationships.

"Twilight" doesn't quite hit its stride until about twenty minutes into the film. As a matter of fact, it takes itself too seriously until then, and is humorous in places it's not supposed to be (Edward looks like he's going to throw up rather than being overcome with passion when he meets Bella. Edward looks like the Snoopy-vulture cartoon, over-obviously staring and brooding in the background). The "buttons"--how a scene ends--should be punchy, but they're very weak in the beginning. But stick with "Twilight," and it gets good. It's total suspense because we have no idea what's coming next, and Act Three turns drastic as Bella becomes the obsession of a sinister band of human-hunting vampires. I gave the movie four stars despite these problems, because, as in life, it's not how you begin but how you end that counts.

QUESTIONS/PROBLEMS:

--I'd like to know—beyond "love at first sight"—what Edward and Bella see in each other. WHY are they so attracted?
--The Bella/Edward "meet-cute" could have been much more artful than the Cullen vampire family filing into the school cafeteria while Bella's new friends gossip about them.
--Why do vampires bother going to school? And WHY would they want to be stuck in high school forever?
--How can Bella and Edward "live a long life" together if Edward will always be 17? (I'm sure this will be resolved….)

A word about the DIRECTOR. Catherine Hardwicke, who was raised Presbyterian, ("Thirteen," "Lords of Dogtown," "Nativity Story") gets teens. Her four movies celebrate teens. If there's a particularly feminine sensibility in her work, it's the interaction, conversational and otherwise between her characters. She started her movie career as a production designer and is known for her use of color ("Twilight" has a blueish tinge, especially in its outdoor scenes). Incidentally, she went to UCLA (yay!), and "Twilight" is the biggest opening weekend for a female director ever. You go, girl!

A word about the ACTORS. Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen) of the "fwoopy hair," is sort of amateurish, but this fact coupled with his stiff Britishness and struggles to cover his accent actually assists in making him "otherly." Kristen Stewart (Bella), an arguably better actor, is sometimes too twitchy, and once in a while overacts (out of character with the feel of this movie)—like the scene where she's in the hospital bed. Robert has more chemistry with her than she has with him (which evidently was also the case on the set).

A word about the MAKEUP. Can you spot the vampires? Yes you can, because they all have (unfortunately comical) white mime makeup, lipstick, and anchorperson starched hair. Almost all bear an uncanny resemblance to Grandpa Munster. However, their eyes—which they use for communication and warfare—totally hit the mark.

COOLEST SCENE: The vampire family baseball game in the thunderstorm.

COOLEST VAMPIRE: Victoria (Rachel Zoe fashion chops). NOT a vegetarian.

COOLEST LINE: "Being a vampire vegetarian is like a human only eating tofu. It gives you strength, it nourishes you, but you're never fully satisfied." –Edward

NON-COOLEST SCENE: Edward does some fancy car maneuvering, but it's in one of today's ugly little "every-car-looks-like-a-Honda-Civic-even-if-it's-a-Cadillac-and-who-cares-how-much-you-paid-for-it-it-still-looks-like-half-of-a-bowling-ball" cars.

BEST ACTOR: Bella's new friend, Jessica (Anna Kendrick)

CLOSING THOUGHTS: Get the soundtrack!

*Edward wasn't "strong enough" NOT to suck every last drop of her A positive hemoglobin out of her succulent body when he got too close to her.