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Lesley

Grey Matter

Lesley is also a columnist for UFO Magazine. Check it out !

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3.30.10

Twilight, Abstinence and Blandness

After watching the first Twilight movie, I knew there was something that bothered me about it, something that was just not quite right. Aside from the fact that I found it very boring and couldn't figure out what the big deal was, there was something else that bothered me, but I wasn't sure exactly what. However, none of that kept me from watching the second one. Let's face it - I am up all night, TV really sucks late at night and there is only a very small amount of movies I haven't seen.

Watching the second installment, New Moon, it finally hit me what was bothering me - abstinence. Oh, I wouldn't say they are preaching abstinence, but they are trying to make it seem "cool." The filmmakers or the author did, since they are based on a series of books. That led me to look up the author and whether or not she was religious. As it turned out, Stephenie Meyer, is a Mormon. Well, it made sense then. Mormons don't believe in sex before marriage, so having a lot of abstinence in the stories would reflect that belief.

Of course, there are probably others that have noticed and wrote about this, but I wouldn't be likely to read articles about Twilight.

For those that may have totally missed out (lucky you!) - Bella is an 18 year old girl who is in love with a vampire named Edward. Edward was turned into a vampire when he was 18 or 19 (I forget for certain), but he has lived 109 years. One would expect a vampire to not age physically, but Edward doesn't seem to have aged emotionally either. He doesn't seem to have had any interesting experiences, other than being a vampire, nor does he seem to be very knowledgeable, even for an 18 year old, let alone a 109 year old.

Edward lives with a family of vampires. They all abstain from drinking the blood of living creatures and, instead, live on a diet of bottled blood obtained by the father of the group, who also happens to be a doctor.

It has never been mentioned that Bella is a virgin, but it is pretty obvious. Of course, Bella and Edward can't have sex because he is dead, but they don't even kiss very often. Their entire physical relationship is pretty much non-existent, more like a brother and sister than boyfriend and girlfriend. I find it creepy and not in a good way.

I am not saying sex is necessary to love someone - it isn't. However, it forms a bond between people that is different from merely the bond between family and other people that you love. It is a different level of love.

The werewolf boy, Jacob, is also in love with Bella. One assumes that Jacob can still function as a human (and probably a wild one), but Bella loves the dead guy. Sigh.

Aside from the bland esotericness of it, I really can't figure out what anyone over 12 years old finds is so great about it.

Yes, I grew up in a different time, but in that time teenage movies were all about 3 things - sex, drugs and rock n' roll, but mostly sex. That is why we liked them. I still love me some Fast Times at Ridgemont High or 16 Candles every once in a while. I have no idea what attracts any teenager to Twilight, they are like something your mom would write - see honey, the boy will still love you even if you don't have sex with him. Gag!

Also, since the subject is never brought up (to my knowledge, I don't read the books), we are left to assume that Bella has absolutely no interest in sex. Having been a teenage girl, I find that totally unbelievable. Teenage boys likely think otherwise, but boys and sex are constantly on the mind of teenage girls.

Besides the lack of sex, let me once again mention the bland esotericness of it. The vampires can go out during the day, but they get all sparkly and cause people to notice them. They also can run really fast. Werewolves are apparently only Native Americans and there are vague mentions of Native American folklore of werewolves. Vampires and werewolves hate each other (didn't we already know that from Underworld?). Honestly, there is not much more esotericness to it than that, it is really that dull. Yes, it even seems to abstain from the esoteric!

OK, back to real esoteric topics next week - I just felt a need to get that out there, even though I am not sure why. Well, maybe I will save someone who has better things to do the pain of watching those films.

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