TWILIGHT TEACHINGS

By Jason Pluscec.

When people talk about Twilight, and how much they love it etc, it’s usually girls, or young women. Which is fine, but if you know me, you know that I usually loath anything directed towards this teen audience, because it usually sucks.

I am not getting into Twilight bashing or anything, since I actually liked Eclipse, but I find it fascinating how young girls or women can love it so much.

It’s not the vampire thing, since I don’t see these same people running out and watching Near Dark, 30 Days of Night, or the black and white Dracula movies from Universal, so it must be the whole romance thing.

Ok, so that’s a duh, I knew it was for that. Bella must choose between two different hot guys, one is a werewolf and the other is a vampire – of course their bad-boy image has something to do with it, but they aren’t too bad. Jacob doesn’t writhe in agony when he transforms into a wolf, and Edward doesn’t produce grotesque fangs or experience flesh melting in the sun. So they are the “nice” bad-boys – which is a female fantasy I suppose.

I don’t much care about any of that – if they have that fantasy, then that’s fine. Let them have it. What I find interesting though is that Bella is in high school and no one in the films, including her useless father, ever talks about grades.

I mean these films are basically saying that girls are only complete if they have a boyfriend. Maybe Bella should drop both of those fags and concentrate on studying and getting into a good school so she can have a career. I thought that’s what the woman’s rights movement was all about – equality - not crying over a boy.

It’s funny that little girls take to the series also, which is teaching them that they must acquire a boyfriend in high school to be somebody. Maybe they should be taught that doing their school work is what is important and that leads to a good job and a future in society.

I am all for love, and as I said I am not trying to bash Twilight. A responsible parent will tell their child that this is just a movie and they shouldn’t even be watching it unless they have finished all their homework.

One good thing about Twilight is that fact that teens are actually reading the books. I encourage reading, since I myself find it hard to do (unless it’s comics) but if teens are going to read, then give them something better!

In any case, the movies also depict battered women in the form of the werewolf’s wives. The leader’s wife was once attacked by him and he almost tore her face off, yet she remains with him. Hmm, I thought if you are beaten by a man, you should leave? I guess not if you really love him though – great lesson guys.

I am not saying that this is focused on, but I cannot help but notice it and how it’s very glossed over.

Whatever, just getting some thoughts out of the way, and maybe it’s all explained in the books – something that I have been repeatedly told – well I don’t care about the books, I am reviewing what I saw in the film!

In any case, I don’t see anything that wrong with Twilight and as I said, it falls to the parents to deal with this kind of thing. I mean I watched horror films at a young age and I don’t think killing is right, so obviously young girls can watch Twilight and view it a simple love story, but I sometimes wonder if the parents are seeing what I see and if they were seeing what I see would they allow their kids to watch it?

J-Man.