I decided to go see Twilight with my daughter on Friday night. I went for two reasons… She’s 13 and isn’t going out in the evening if I’m not there and; good or bad I wanted to be able to discuss it with her afterward.
The day after the movie we were sitting around the family room when I listened to her explain to her mom what the movie was all about. In that conversation, I used parts of the movie in order to bring out things I wanted to talk to my daughter about.
Edward and Bella basically fall in love, but Edward’s love for Bella is unique and makes him do a couple of things…
1. Love Protects. If a guy loves you, he will do everything in his power to prevent harm from coming to you. YOU will be more important than him. Your safety will be his primary concern. “Love always protects”
2. People in Love have to control their desires. Edward struggled with his personal desire for Bella but he kept it in check. Guys and Girls have desires, its natural. God created us that way but He also gave us guidelines for sexual relationships. Sex is meant for the confines of marriage and not outside of it. Any questions??? :)
3. Christ is the true example of Love for everyone.
The love between a man and wife ultimately have to be focused on and around a relationship with Christ. That’s the most important relationship of all. If you keep focused on your relationship with Christ and eventually find a guy that does the same, you will both have the best example ever in Him.
1 Corinthians 13
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
Click Here for a full review of Twilight.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I just wish we could have a movie like this one without the sorcery, the vampires doing supernatural things that only God can do and the subtle yet significant occult; so that we could absolutely enjoy young love blossoming and receive some good life lessons from it without having to take our children and sit on the ledge of hell for them to learn that love protects and have to hope that when they get up from being so dangerously close to the pit of hell, that the learning of good life lessons, that are so intertwined with hellish schemes don’t cause them to slip and fall over the loose rocks and plunge into the hellishness, the foolishness of this world that is absolutely, a real danger to learning life lessons out on the ledge of hell.
Is that too much to hope for? Because my fear for these young impressionable youth is that despite the good they learned from this movie, they may choose to find themselves attracted to the temporary thrill of being out on the ledge of hell and one day it may be a temptation that they may not have the parental undergirding to resist.
I wonder if going to the pit of hell and standing on the ledge is a good way to learn absolute truth? It is my heart’s desire that there might be another way that does not involve the good life lessons, intertwined with some very bad deceptions that a vampire can be used for good if it loves someone; that is all relative values when in actuality, the absolute truth is God did not create vampires for good, in absolute truth, He did not create them at all and therefore, they cannot be converted to be a “good” family because of God’s love. satan uses the fantasy of vampires, which is a relative idea that many, many young people believe in, to chip away at the Absolute Truth of eternal life in Christ Jesus alone. Almighty God does not exist in the minds of so many youth today because they believe in the fantasy of a supernatural vampire who can live forever on the blood of others. Absolute Truth is defined that God is the only One Who can give eternal life and you can’t live forever here on this earth.
What scares me about the Twilight Feeding Frenzy? What I am afraid of is that these innocent youth while they are standing on the ledge of hell, and being very attracted to a “bad boy” trying to be good for love’s sake, that they will overlook the subtle message that there is a good side to evil; a theory that entices them to say… whatever… so why not take another step off on the wide path that leads to hell… it is all good!?
How I wish Christianity would step up and make some films, just like this one with the same truths, the same innocent love that blossoms, minus the seat you have to take at the pit of hell to enjoy it and not have to learn that love is patient, love is kind while sitting on the ledge of a deep abyss!! I think as a parent, you know your limits and you may be able to untangle the weave of fantasy and absolute truth that finds its place in your mind, soul and spirit after such a movie… but I wonder if young teenagers can; if they have that ability to untangle such a mangled weave of evil and good; even if you do Talk UP The Truth and try to unweave it from the thoughts and evil intentions, what if you miss a strand and what if they hold on to a irrational thought that eventually exchanges itself for an absolute truth at a very pivotal season of their life? You can’t be in their mind at all times; they have been created as individuals to reason things out on their own.
You give them absolute truth after a movie such as Twilight; but how much of it will they leave on the ledge of hell and what will they pick up and exchange for it on their way out of a movie such as this one so full of compassion for a vampire and his family… all because of young love? I am not sure what the answer is to that and that in itself, that doubt that I had, kept me from saying yes to letting my children go to the movies where hell intertwines itself with good. I pointed out to them the good parts of the movie, but I told them that I was not ready for them to be out on the ledge of hell to learn of a good truth. I waited until they were 17 and then they could make the choice themselves.
I know one thing that is absolutely sure… it is tough being a parent in today’s world, I don’t envy you! Therefore, Be careful… because these children they aren’t really yours to keep, they belong to God and they are given to you to protect, nurture and disciple… so when I was conflicted about a choice I was making about movies and things they wanted to do, I always had that thought forefront in my heart: This is God’s child, what would He do in this situation? What choice would He make? How much of childhood innocence, put inside of a child are you willing to sacrifice on the altar of Hollywood’s depiction of evil intertwined with truth? What would God want you to do? I think that is the ABSOLUTE final question!
I find this final piece of the movie’s review… Absolutely interesting!
“There are two kinds of people who will watch Twilight: Those who have read the books … and those who haven’t. The two groups will see a very different movie. The latter will casually make its way through a romance-obsessed vampire yarn involving a human high school girl and a 17-year-old vampire who’s actually over 100. The former will observe the very same romance, but layer onto it the entire story arc that unfolds through the four Stephenie Meyer novels that have birthed this movie franchise. That makes it difficult to write just a movie review about a movie that isn’t just a movie, but rather part of tall tale that doesn’t end at twilight, or even the dark of night. It goes beyond into the realm of the eternal—something not really hinted at onscreen … yet. ”
What is the absolute intent of this movie’s influence on our teens?
David: Thank you for the awesome advice on how to take something that may not be edifying and using it to TEACH our children and ourselves how to look at everything as a learning and growth opportunity!
That was exactly the point! Way too much stuff out there isn’t ‘great’ stuff, but every situation and circumstance can be used to direct our children and families to God.