The Twilight (2008)
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Synopsis: A teenage girl (Kristen Stewart), who seems nothing but ordinary, moves to live with his farther after her mother gets remarried. She falls in love with a local vampire (Robert Pattinson), who happens to be beautiful and mysterious, risking everything in her life. The pair has to overcome challenges, including blood lust and other vampires’ attacks, to see where their love can take them.
Review:
The books are "about life, not death"
and "love, not lust".
Stephenie Meyer
The “Twilight” movie is based on a series of books written by Stephenie Meyer, which became extremely popular all over the world with people of different ages and teenagers in particular. It’s interesting to analyze what mesmerizes young people about this movie.
It might seem surprising, but the movie is not about vampires, it is about love. The vampires are presented to convey the tragedy of the situation of love between those between whom it is not possible. W. Shakespeare wrote about love between teenagers of warring clans, which is considered the most tragic and sad story of love. However, S.Meyer making a reference to “Romeo and Juliet” comes up with vampires to show through what obstacles this great and eternal love passes in modern times.
This is indeed a story about pure, sincere and beautiful love which restores teenagers’ faith in love in general. This is why the messages of this movie which modern teenagers are so willing to dwell on should be carefully considered.
Edward and Bella are modern heroes who are lucky to find love and are striving to preserve it. Their relationships are not about sex; they genuinely care about each, respect each other and try to know each other better.
The love of the heroes of this movie is fragile, just like love in today’s reality. They not only have to protect it from outer forces (other vampires) but also from their own inner demons. Thus, the conflict of a kiss and blood sucking shown in the movie can be seen through the prism of the conflict of deep feelings and sexual consumption; as the conflict of love and desire to possess.
There is place for romance and love in this fast, cruel and immoral world. There is place for spiritual purity and platonic love without lust and sex. People should be trying to know each other, respect and praise each other before getting physical.
The media today constantly impose endless race for the pleasures of lust on us, involving us in a continuous process of selfish sexual gratification. At the same time, we continue to dream about purity and sublimity; we strive for something real, genuine and authentic. And we are to solve this difficult conflict every day during all our life. However, the heroes of the movie, as we see from the outset and later in further movies of the Saga, preserve their innocence for each other and they wait for sex until marriage.
Nevertheless, as long as movies with such messages exist, our faith in love and sacrifice is safe. We should try to preserve purity and genuine feelings just like a human and a vampire, who prove that there are no barriers for real love.
