December 5, 2012

• Twilight and the F-word

  A couple weeks ago I saw the final installment of the Twilight Saga on the big screen.  And for the most part, I can see why so many people love it.  It’s got love, intrigue, and action.  Some weird stuff going on with a vampire civil war…..It’s almost anime-ish in concept.  It’s no Vampire Hunter D, but there are some similarities between Twilight and the second Vampire Hunter D movie.  A forbidden love between a vampire and a human?  Yeah, it’s been done before.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0hq8jzLw1M

  But now on to the topic of the blog.  The F-word.  Twilight glorifies being a vampire.  Not only are you endowed with super-human strength and speed, but all senses are heightened.  You can see the smallest detail as if you had binoculars attached to your eyes.  You can hear the faintest of sounds, and oh…what you can feel.  There’s that too.  The sex.  Mind-blowing sex.  Never mind that when she was human, Bella was having sex with a dead guy, undead to be more accurate, but definitely dead.  Normally people would be freaking out about the living having sex with the dead, but now that Bella is also dead, I guess it’s ok right?

  This brings me to the actual F-word.  FOREVER (that was said Sandlot style btw).  Not where you thought I was going eh?  Part of romantic nature of the series hinges on a love….forever.  And people want this, a love that lasts forever, which is somewhat ironic since marriage vows hold until death do us part.  Maybe it’s the elusive nature of finding such love in the real world combined with the desire to find a lasting love that makes the series popular, but I don’t think people really think about what forever means.  Twilight certainly promotes foreverness as a good thing, but living forever has not always been a good thing.  In fact, it has been viewed as a curse.

  Who can forget this scene between Heather and Conner in The Highlander?

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNKZATZHWZI

  She grows old, while he remains young.  They cannot have children.  Twilight brushes this all aside with a half-vampire child, and of course the ceasing of aging.

  Then what about Duncan and Kate/Faith from Highlander Endgame?  Yes, I know…probably none of you have seen it, so I’ll tell you.  Both love each other and are to be married.  They speak of loving each other forever, which for Duncan is quite possible, but for Kate, requires the leap into immortality.  You see, Duncan is immortal and so is Kate.  He knows because he can sense it, but she doesn’t know it.  In order for immortals to be “born,” they need to die a violent death.  So, on the marriage night, Duncan kills her so that their love can be forever.  She naturally freaks out and for most of the movie hates Duncan.  She resented not being able to have children and to be able to grow old with the man she loved.  Twilight does similar things, but without the unpalatable insinuation of murder…or suicide I suppose.  Either way, Bella must first die before being able to live forever.  It’s just told in a way that glorifies the relationship, a love worth dying for.

  In the process however, people ignore the potential consequences of living forever.  Is it not possible that after some time even vampires will not love forever?  What about all the death they have to watch?  What about never growing old?  I mean, haven’t people considered Elrond’s warning?  Oh that’s right.  Only a certain segment of the population will have seen Lord of the Rings….so here the link.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6mc3Fv7vDM

  It is disturbing to think that people seem to be quite content with giving up on being human, that to exceed the bounds of a finite life is what they want.  If you don’t believe me, talk to some people in the medical industry who are trying to cure aging, or people who believe in transhumanism/post-humanism.  Consider that there are researchers in Texas who want to replace your heart with two turbines that will pump blood throughout your body…..so long as the battery is working.  There seems to be a trend that denies humanity.  I mean, who wouldn’t want a world free of aging and death (since..well…you’re already dead), where one is super human in strength, speed, agility….and baseball skills?  Who wouldn’t want to become vampire beautiful (compare the human quality of skin to that of Bella’s post vampire transformation)?  Who wouldn’t want to be able to have heightened sensual pleasures?  All…..FOREVER!

  Well.  I would be remiss of me to not write about some theology here, especially since we are talking about being “born again” and having “everlasting life.”  The key difference between Christian concepts of afterlife is the endpoint.  Twilight promotes an escape from human life, but the everlasting life promised by Christianity is not one of escape, but dealing with the problems of human life.  Contrary to an “opiate for the masses” that promotes a resignation to human frailty, Christianity attempts to engage it in a way that promotes the value of human life.  Christianity is not about getting to heaven.  It is about having an assurance that lets us deal with the reality of our lives.  That Jesus, God incarnate, would die (a love worth dying for btw) is an affirmation of human mortality and that bodily resurrection is an affirmation and vindication of the human condition. 

  In the end, I suppose Twilight is just a story…entertainment.  And it is.  Twilight had all the elements of Dawson’s Creek (even the music was similar) except with vampires and there is an entertainment value to that.  But that fact remains that sometimes entertainment hits closer to our desires than we’d like to admit.  Twilight is no exception.

  • 5:40 pm
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