Twilight: The 'Eclipse of God'
For those of you who have been trying to figure out the Twilight phenomenon, I wanted to share this article with you. My mom passed it on to me because I have told her how much I admire the character of Edward in the Twilight series. In fact, the whole Cullen family is to be admired. Many people hear vampires and automatically turn off to the series, but it really is so much more.
This is an interesting look at Twilight.
Published on National Catholic Reporter (http://ncronline.org)
Twilight: The 'Eclipse of God'
By Jamie L Manson
Created Jul 01, 2010
Is it just a strange coincidence that on the date of the release of “Twilight: Eclipse”, the pope announced the creation of a new pontifical council to address what he calls the “eclipse of God”?
The pontiff is so concerned about the crisis of secularization that he has created a new office dedicated to re-evangelizing the Christian West.
Obviously, he wasn’t in attendance at the premiere of “Twilight: Eclipse” in downtown Rome a week ago when screaming fans were reduced to tears and hysteria at the very sight of Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, two stars from the series.
Yet, the sweeping, global success of the “Twilight” series is hardly evidence of the triumph of secularization. It is more a sign of a new generation’s intense hunger for something both beyond the secular and beyond the institutional.
On the surface, “The Twilight Saga” seems little more than another tale of adolescent love and angst. But the fact that this romance involves a human girl and an immortal vampire escalates the story to a metaphysical level. The films are based on a series of novels by Stephanie Meyer, a devout Mormon. Meyer’s faith is interlaced through the story, making for themes that even a pope might approve. Though the main characters, vampire Edward and human Bella, are so desperately in love, they remain scrupulously committed to maintaining their chastity until marriage.
The symbol of the vampire has deep religious roots. Jungian scholar Robert A. Johnson explains, “the medieval Church used folk beliefs about vampires to explain the Eucharist in a straightforward way. The Church explained that just as the vampire drinks the sinner’s blood and possesses and devours his spirit, so the righteous Christian could drink Christ’s blood, be filled with his holiness, and be incorporated into his mystical body.”
In many ways, Edward fits the archetype of the Christ far better than that of the vampire. Edward comes from a family of more enlightened vampires that sublimate their desire for human blood by settling for animal blood. Rather than life-sucking, Edward’s love for Bella is chaste, constant and immortal. With his superhuman ability to know when Bella is in danger, Edward always arrives just in time to use his superhuman powers to protect her. Fearing that his innate thirst might lead him to hurt Bella, Edward at one point even sacrifices his desire for her to ensure her safety.
Mircea Eliade, one of the most influential scholars of the relationship between the sacred and the profane, wrote that popular art forms such as film and literature served a critical religious purpose in secular culture. In a world where human spiritual sensibilities are under-stimulated, people will reach out to drama and entertainment to satisfy their intrinsic spiritual yearnings.
For those coming of age in a time where religion holds little influence over their formation and imagination, the idea of someone offering love that is all-powerful, all-protecting, sacrificial and eternal is not only foreign, it’s irresistible. (Of course, it doesn’t hurt that all this goodness is wrapped up in a package as handsome and intense as Robert Pattinson.)
“Twilight: Eclipse” demonstrates vividly that an eclipse of God is not imminent in the spiritual imaginations and longings of those living in the West. And “Twilight” isn’t operating in a vacuum. Most of pop culture’s biggest successes -- from “The Lord of the Rings” to “Avatar” to “Oprah” -- deal rather explicitly with themes of morality and the spiritual path. For a good while now, secular culture has been compensating for the deprivation created by corrupt or out-of-touch institutional religions.
[Jamie Manson received her Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School where she studied Catholic theology, personal commitments and sexual ethics with Mercy Sr. Margaret Farley. A writer based in New York, she is the former editor in chief of the Yale magazine Reflections. As a lay minister she has worked extensively with New York City's homeless and poor populations. She is a member of the national board of the Women's Ordination Conference.]
The pontiff is so concerned about the crisis of secularization that he has created a new office dedicated to re-evangelizing the Christian West.
Obviously, he wasn’t in attendance at the premiere of “Twilight: Eclipse” in downtown Rome a week ago when screaming fans were reduced to tears and hysteria at the very sight of Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, two stars from the series.
Yet, the sweeping, global success of the “Twilight” series is hardly evidence of the triumph of secularization. It is more a sign of a new generation’s intense hunger for something both beyond the secular and beyond the institutional.
On the surface, “The Twilight Saga” seems little more than another tale of adolescent love and angst. But the fact that this romance involves a human girl and an immortal vampire escalates the story to a metaphysical level. The films are based on a series of novels by Stephanie Meyer, a devout Mormon. Meyer’s faith is interlaced through the story, making for themes that even a pope might approve. Though the main characters, vampire Edward and human Bella, are so desperately in love, they remain scrupulously committed to maintaining their chastity until marriage.
The symbol of the vampire has deep religious roots. Jungian scholar Robert A. Johnson explains, “the medieval Church used folk beliefs about vampires to explain the Eucharist in a straightforward way. The Church explained that just as the vampire drinks the sinner’s blood and possesses and devours his spirit, so the righteous Christian could drink Christ’s blood, be filled with his holiness, and be incorporated into his mystical body.”
In many ways, Edward fits the archetype of the Christ far better than that of the vampire. Edward comes from a family of more enlightened vampires that sublimate their desire for human blood by settling for animal blood. Rather than life-sucking, Edward’s love for Bella is chaste, constant and immortal. With his superhuman ability to know when Bella is in danger, Edward always arrives just in time to use his superhuman powers to protect her. Fearing that his innate thirst might lead him to hurt Bella, Edward at one point even sacrifices his desire for her to ensure her safety.
Mircea Eliade, one of the most influential scholars of the relationship between the sacred and the profane, wrote that popular art forms such as film and literature served a critical religious purpose in secular culture. In a world where human spiritual sensibilities are under-stimulated, people will reach out to drama and entertainment to satisfy their intrinsic spiritual yearnings.
For those coming of age in a time where religion holds little influence over their formation and imagination, the idea of someone offering love that is all-powerful, all-protecting, sacrificial and eternal is not only foreign, it’s irresistible. (Of course, it doesn’t hurt that all this goodness is wrapped up in a package as handsome and intense as Robert Pattinson.)
“Twilight: Eclipse” demonstrates vividly that an eclipse of God is not imminent in the spiritual imaginations and longings of those living in the West. And “Twilight” isn’t operating in a vacuum. Most of pop culture’s biggest successes -- from “The Lord of the Rings” to “Avatar” to “Oprah” -- deal rather explicitly with themes of morality and the spiritual path. For a good while now, secular culture has been compensating for the deprivation created by corrupt or out-of-touch institutional religions.
[Jamie Manson received her Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School where she studied Catholic theology, personal commitments and sexual ethics with Mercy Sr. Margaret Farley. A writer based in New York, she is the former editor in chief of the Yale magazine Reflections. As a lay minister she has worked extensively with New York City's homeless and poor populations. She is a member of the national board of the Women's Ordination Conference.]
Comments
It's an interesting analogy for sure. Don't forget the Saga "Star Wars" as far as morally clean and honestly the base story is good vs Evil. I see a pattern as well. Star wars to me has a lot of excellent comparisons to religious beliefs.
Nice post!