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Christianity Today, February (Web-Only), 2010

The Trouble with Twilight

Theology professor Beth Felker Jones suggests Christians should look for hidden messages in the vampire buzz.

Interview by Laura Leonard | posted 2/19/2010 09:32AM

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The main characters in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga practice sexual abstinence, but Wheaton College theology professor Beth Felker Jones doesn't think Christians should celebrate the books as a model for chaste romance just yet. At first glance, it seems like there's a lot to like about the romance between Bella, an average teenage girl, and Edward, a 108-year-old vampire with a Victorian sense of morality—he insists that Bella marry him before consummating the relationship. Felker Jones wrote the book Touched by a Vampire: Discovering the Hidden Messages in the Twilight Saga (Multnomah, 2009) to examine the themes of sexuality, gender, salvation, and eternal life wrapped up in the love story of Bella and Edward. She spoke with Christianity Today about the appeal of the books, their approach to sexuality and Mormon theology, and why they should concern Christians. Note: Some spoilers ahead.

There seems to be a level of obsession with the Twilight books and movies. What makes them so appealing to so many readers?

The series has to do with things most people care about: the meaning of life, love, romance. We're looking for something to make life meaningful and exciting and interesting and worthwhile.

Was there anything of spiritual merit that surprised you in the books?

What's most interesting and, arguably, most worrisome about the books is that they're full of spiritual themes. The Twilight universe is a moral universe. The love story may be what captures readers, but the stories are also powerful because they deal with what it means to be good and to try to overcome evil. They also deal with the longing human beings have to be transformed, to be set free from our limits and weaknesses. All of this could open up quite a conversation about the gift of salvation.

How do the books answer this question of being set free from our limits and weaknesses? How do they contradict a Christian view?

In the Twilight saga, Bella finds freedom from her limits in her transformation from a weak human being to a powerful, immortal vampire. She longs for this transformation because she wants to be with Edward, but she also wants to escape her clumsiness and the vulnerability that threatens to separate her from Edward. Transformed Bella—beautiful, strong, vampire Bella—is the Bella who is finally at home in the world and with herself. This longing for transformation points to the desire that we all have to be set free. We're broken and vulnerable, and we long for meaning. But where Bella finds her "salvation" in Edward, Christians recognize that true salvation is found in Christ.

These books seem to have provoked less criticism from Christians than did the Harry Potter books, their predecessors in the fantasy fiction craze. Why do you think that is? How would you compare the two series?

In some ways it baffles me. I happen to be a Harry Potter fan, and of course those books aren't perfect, but there are some interesting things going on with love and morality. Maybe it's just the obvious use of magic in the Harry Potter books [that bothers people], but I think the Twilight books could be more of a concern, as they shape a worldview that values this obsessive love. Maybe the Mormon themes in the books let Christians in the door without complaining and don't make Christians stop and ask better questions about what's really going on.

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February (Web-Only) 2010, Vol. 54

Comments (47)

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Displaying 1–5 of 47 comments

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John

February 26, 2010 6:53am

Vampire stories are only parables about demonic possession. Vampires, like demons, can only enter into a home when they are invited. Vampires, like demons, can only accomplish this invitation through seduction and/or deception. Vampires, like demons, are harmed by the the Cross (the wooden stake represents the wood of the cross) and Holy Water. The problem with Twilight is that the vampire/demon becomes the object of forbidden love and therefore the ultimate object of desire. Satan gets a makeover in the popular consciousness of today's youth.

GMA

February 24, 2010 1:14pm

I am so glad someone else is challenging these books. I have been amazed that the Harry Potter series has been so demonized, while the Twilight books are getting a pass. One series allows a young woman (Bella) to achieve power and eternal life through her transformation into a vampire. In contrast, another series dashes the hopes of another young woman's desire to become a witch (Harry's aunt Petunia) because one can't choose to "become" a witch, no matter how hard you try. Hmmmmm, which one would you choose to hand over to an impressionable young person? In addition, can we talk about the whole older man, younger woman thing? Edward may be trapped in a teen body... but he is not a teen. What type of fantasy are we feeding when we encourage teenagers to long for the savviness, experience, and covering of a much older man?

February 23, 2010 10:50pm

I think people are reading way, way too much into the Twilight series. I've read the books, and I don't think there are any hidden messages at all in them. It's just a story about a teen and a guy who's permanently a teen (now there's a definition of hell for you). That's it. No dark messages. Oh, and Bella's desperate longing for Edward is just typical of the extremes some teens go to. Now, I have heard that some teenage girls roll their eyes over Bella's behavior.

Jose

February 23, 2010 6:17pm

Even if a topic doesnt jump right at us our mind is being crafted by everything we see and hear. Even if we dont percieve it we are being molded by everything out there, "above everything else guard your heart" and "come out of them". I specifically am warning my youth about these types of books and movies which have the potential of wrongfully portraying relationships. A little of truth in these books is completely useless because of the fact that vampies (demonic) are portraying something good. The devil is a liar and father of lies, yes he is real.

Jen

February 22, 2010 9:34pm

Any book, text, piece of art, etc. can be read in a variety of ways. This is just another way a fictional text is being read, nothing to get too excited about. The Christian themes the author speaks of and hidden meanings are not going to come flying off the page to your average reader. The desperate, unhealthy, obsessive love story with a weak feminine character comes through much more clearly in the books. This is the most disturbing thing about the Twilight books, especially since so many teens who are still figuring out what "love" is are the target audience.

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