Sunday, March 22, 2009

Twilight.... the Controversy



Oh yes... I was excited about this weekend!!! Why - Twilight finally came out on DVD... I was so anxious for the behind the scenes stuff. Love always watching the "making" of things. So excited to see the movie again too in the comfy of my own home.


I have to say though - lately, Twilight has been quite a controversy in my life. Why? Because being a youth leader, & working with the youth seems to clash with the idea of this being a "vampire" movie.


I can understand when people say that vampires are evil or wicked, & I totally appreciate that everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it. Truly - you're not going to find anyone else more willing to listen to your opinion - doesnt mean I agree though :-)

I have heard it was strange that being a youth leader, that I went with a group of girls from church was odd. The thing for me - these girls asked me to come along, & I'll be happy to spend any time with them doing anything.... & they are the ones who recommended me read the book & got me hooked...Of course, I'm interested in what attracts these kids & was totally sucked into the story.... I can totally see why people get drawn into this.... the story of trying to find happiness - the story of a family surviving together - the story of a romantic, perfect man?


I was even given an article from a Christian magazine saying how "wrong" Twilight is in the Christian community. I have to say - the article was obviously biased & one sided & I just had to laugh & toss it aside. Again, I understood the points it was making, but if you KNOW kids are watching it & reading it - why not put an article about how you can TEACH from it instead of pointing fingers on why you SHOULDNT watch or read it? We, as Christians, know that MILLIONS of girls are watching & reading this - why judge anyone for it? Instead, find a way to reach those MILLIONS to redirect focus on another aspect of it!

That right there, I guess is my issue & my stance .... while I do believe its not a movie like "Fire proof" or "Facing the Giants" - its what the kids are watching & while it may have some issues - there are really some good things there. I am for finding the GOOD in things - not focusing on the BAD! After all - there are witches or evil in every Disney movie... what do you do with those?
I even told my fellow youth leaders that I can see incredible points that could be used as a Bible Study.


*Bella is looking to this perfect man who can offer eternal life... not saying that a vampire is the way - but cant you see where that can spurn off into a great discussion about how we need Jesus for eternal life?


*The obvious battle between good & evil....& yes, they are vampires, but the "father figure" believes they still have a soul & should do anything to protect others & they dont harm people themselves.....


*The Cullens - the good vampires - do everything they can to not "conform" to the world they are EXPECTED to be in as vampires... what a lesson there!



*The head of the family, Charlisle, was a minister before he was turned.... depth in that message - he remembers who he is - the reasons he believes he still has a soul - he has so much compassion for people

*The idea of Edward & how he is willing to protect Bella for any cost - that he is always there watching her & there to offer her security in dangerous situations.... another point to make to reflect how Jesus is ALWAYS with us - no matter where we are - & he wants to protect us - protect our hearts... I'm telling you - I can go for days with how things could be turned into something GOOD!



*And being a leader for young girls - I do want them to see an example of a man who is a gentleman - who has manners, who is not "pushing things" in a relationship - someone who has respect for his girlfriend. Edward is known as the perfect man... dont you think there'd be some qualities that you can enforce youth ladies to keep an eye out for?



*One of the biggest things for me - in the end when Bella sneaks away from the people who are protecting her in order to keep her safe. She already fled to save her dad's life - even hurt his feelings in order to make him let her go - she's willing to sacrifice herself just so everyone will not face danger... "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends"..... that's what instantly came to mind.


*The fact that these characters too abstain from premarital sex is an another awesome thing to focus on....


Again, I can see what some people say - But I just like to remind people that we are surrounded by things that you could find evil in.... can you find good things in the things that are around you?

Especially if you have teens & youth - they are going to watch & do things you may not agree with!! But wouldnt it be better to be ready to find a lesson to turn their focus back on God with it....


And finally, I can guarantee you - if those girls ask me to go see "New Moon" with them... I'll be the first in line to stand there with them again ....... anyone that wants to join us, come along! :-)

24 comments:

  1. AMEN, girl! TOTALLY AGREE with all you said!!! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I completely agree with you on this one!! I think often too many times we naturally see the negative, bad, evil things of this world and I think it's great that you find the good in them!! Trust me there are worse things out there grabbing our youth's attention! I love the parallels you find between Twilight and Jesus!! In fact that was the first thing that drew me to your blog!!

    I really want to get the movie!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I remember when Harry Potter came out and it had the same reaction. My thing is it get's kids to read and actually enjoy reading! That is my thing it's so hard to get kids into books and keep their imagination going. It doesn't mean I want my kids to be witches or love vampires. But I want them to have imaginations and enjoy books as much as I do. I remember reading all types of books and people would ask my dad isn't that not a good book for her. My dad would say I've screened the book and their is nothing in there worse then the programs I allow. She is reading and loving it and I think that is amazing!

    Ok I'm with you, sorry long winded!

    ReplyDelete
  4. If I wasn't already a Twlight fan, that would have convinced me.

    Well said!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You have made some excellent points and I think you should run a twilight group in your church.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rebecca,
    I am NOT a Twilight fan, but I am also totally a chicken!!! Dak wanted me to read it, and I tried, but vampires freak me out!!

    So I have not seen the movie, but Dak keeps me updated.

    Have a Blessed evening friend,
    dawn

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for that. I read Twilight with my boys and their language teacher put a challenge out to the kids that if they passed a quiz on the book she would get the school to pay for the movie. We took 90 kids to see it. The sad thing is that this wonderful Christian teacher was slapped with the how can you be a Christian and read Twilight. It was so sad how she was attacked. We use Christian like it's an adjective and that is were we mess up. I like that she showed kids that you can read Twilight and still love Jesus. I loved the book and talk about demonstrating self-control...this helped me to talk to my boys about how they will have feelings for girls. I love all the points you made and thank you for being an adult that loves the Lord but also loves his children.

    ReplyDelete
  8. We heard the same thing about Harry Potter when it first came out. One of my daughters youth leaders took them all to Twilight after they all had seen it once before. Parents can say no. Her leader offered to take the kids. Any of us parents could have said no. I'd rather they rave over Edward or Jacob than some other people. I liked the first two books - iffy on the third - and haven't seen the movie yet. I guess I can now.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Not a fan. I MADE myself read the first one, thinking I should love it as much as everyone else. It just didn't do anything for me. But I don't really get the whole Christians-shouldn't-dig-Twilight stance. Same as Harry Potter. It's called fiction and entertainment!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Amen Sister-Friend!!! And hey... if you go.. then I go WITH you!!! I loved the books... and the movie... Just watched it with Carly... it was good... (could have been better if it were longer and added a bunch more stuff from the book!) Can't wait for the second one... and you know what... I AM A CHRISTIAN!!! Liking Twilight books / movies doesn't change my relationship with my Savior!!! I've also read all the HP books... can't wait for the next movie there either (come on JUNE!!!) So hey... got a problem with that? Sounds personal to me!!! FICTION... look it up in the dictionary!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm all about finding the positive! :-) Although I did find the movie slightly cheesy haha :-) great points!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well stated. I've not read or seen any, but I'm a Harry Potter fan to be sure! And just like the comics and superhero stuff - it's fiction. And you do have a gift for finding the good and relating it to God/Jesus. Go with that.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ha! I love your face in this picture.

    I haven't read the books yet, but I'm planning on it as soon as I'm not bogged down with textbooks to read. Can't wait!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Woo hoo! I think people need to stop bringing the religion thing into Twilight and just take it for what it is...fiction!

    It's purely for entertainment purposes only! I mean any of the super hero movies like Spiderman or Batman could totally be taken out of context with Religion integrated into it.

    Can't we just be entertained people?

    (I'm excited that you got it, I haven't ventured out to buy mine yet)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great post! I totally agree! I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the books but seemed to be in the minority about the movie...I didn't really like it...BUT I love what you have to say about this! There are certainly a lot worse things youth could be doing other than reading/watching Twilight.

    ReplyDelete
  16. you made a very convincing argument!
    rock on, gal! :D

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yeah good positive notes!!! Had to stop by to make sure it's all good! I ran out with Caden (snot nose and all) and picked up my copy ... LOL

    ReplyDelete
  18. Huh. I mean, obviously the parents of these girls are the ones that allowed them to get into Twilight, and you are merely finding alternative ways to relate to them by going to the movie with them which I think is great. I can't believe people would try to hinder an amazingly supportive role model in their life over something as petty as watching a fictional movie about a vampire?

    ReplyDelete
  19. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  20. hey- love it! do you mind if i print this out and read it to my youth leaders? i'm thinking of showing a bit of twilight to our youth group on november 13th -friday the 13th- i'm calling the night "freaky friday". the aim of the night is to address the issue of the supernatural world, to talk about some things we usually avoid talking about in church, and to talk about the reality of our God as a supernatural being. i want to compare some of edward's attributes with those of God...from the point of view of "why do we love edward so much?" ...and encourage some discussion about the good lessons we can learn from twilight. your blogpost is just what i've been looking for to help my leaders understand why i want to do this. in my opinion, you are right- these kids have all seen twilight, can't wait to see new moon, they're crazy about it...they are fascinated by the fantasy element of twilight and they (we all) want to know there is Someone out there looking out for us, like edward is for bella. why not use what they are into (and to be honest, i'm a twilight fan myself), and "redeem" the truths in the story and point these kids to more truth about God through it?
    thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow. I couldn't agree more. I've had other youth leaders tell me the same things: these books are a great conversation-starter for teenagers.

    I started a blog about a month ago, a devotional on the spiritual content in the Twilight Series.

    Will you be doing more on this subject? It would be great to get your take. I'll be starting devotionals for New Moon after Christmas.

    - Sarah

    ReplyDelete

I am thankful for each comment & like to respond to every one of them....
If you noticed I do not respond to your comments, it is because you are a "no reply" blogger and I am unable too!
How to enable your e-mail: BLOGGER ACCOUNTS: To do this, click on your Dashboard, click on EDIT PROFILE and place a check mark next to SHOW MY EMAIL ADDRESS, and finally scroll to the bottom and click SAVE PROFILE.**

Social Media World

Come Follow Me