Mormon imagery runs deep in ‘Twilight’

Religion News Service (Salt Lake Tribune) ^ | June 24, 2010 | Angela Aleiss

[Colofornian]

Los Angeles • Ever since Bram Stoker’s Dracula began haunting the imagination in 1897, popular culture has identified Christian symbols — crucifixes, holy water, communion wafers — as weapons to ward off a blood-thirsty vampire.

The Twilight novels and film franchise have religious associations, too — most of them from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As the film’s “Twi-hard” fans get ready for the third “Twilight” installment, “Eclipse,” to open in theaters Wednesday, few are likely to recognize the religious references in the film based on the novels by Stephenie Meyer, herself a Mormon.

“People make up all these Mormon references just so they can publish ‘Twilight’ articles in respectable publications like The New York Times,” actor Robert Pattinson (Edward, the film’s central vampire character), told Entertainment Weekly. “Even Stephenie said it doesn’t mean any of that.”

It’s possible that Meyer never set out to weave LDS imagery into the ‘Twilight’ background. Yet intentional or otherwise, it’s hard to ignore:

• The story’s teenage heroine, Bella, avoids coffee, tea, alcohol and tobacco — not unlike the Mormons’ “Word of Wisdom” health code. Bella also advises her father to “cut back on steak,” much like the LDS teaching to eat meat and poultry “sparingly.”

• Feminists have questioned Bella’s frequent cooking and cleaning — household chores that reflect a strong Mormon work ethic and traditional roles for women. The official motto for mostly Mormon Utah is “Industry,” and its symbol is the beehive.

• A crucial Mormon belief is that humans can become divine. In the “Twilight” series, the Cullen family of vampires once was human but now lives without death in a resurrected condition. Meyer describes the Cullens, particularly Edward, as “godlike” and “inhumanly beautiful.”

• Mormons believe angels are resurrected beings of flesh and bone. The most familiar is Moroni, who stands high atop LDS temples, trumpet in hand. The Book of Mormon, the faith’s trademark Scripture, says Moroni was a fifth-century prophet who visited church founder Joseph Smith. Smith described Moroni as radiating light and “glorious beyond description.”

Bella describes her vampire boyfriend, Edward, as an angel whom she cannot imagine “any more glorious.” Edward’s skin sparkles in the sunlight, and he visits Bella’s bedroom at night. But Mormon angels don’t have wings; in the “Twilight” film, Edward sits in the science lab, the outstretched wings of a stuffed white owl just over his shoulders.

• A unique LDS teaching is that marriages are “sealed” for eternity; spouses are referred to as eternal companions. Bella describes her relationship with Edward as “forever.”

• Bella and Edward’s marriage, and her quick pregnancy, underscore the Mormon emphasis on the family. But Bella’s half human/vampire fetus nearly destroys her, so her distraught husband suggests an abortion and artificial insemination. Mormons permit abortions if the mother’s life is in danger, and artificial insemination is an option for married couples.

Bella quickly vetoes abortion and artificial insemination, reinforcing the essential Mormon teaching of individual choice, or “agency.” Meyer has said that the apple on the cover of the first Twilight novel represents Eve’s choice in the Garden of Eden. The poster for “Eclipse” includes the line: “It all begins ... with a choice.” The patriarch of the vampire family, Carlisle Cullen, supports Bella when he explains that “it wouldn’t be right to make such a choice for her, to force her.”

Bram Stoker probably never imagined that vampires would represent a religious doctrine. But more than a century later, Twilight shows that these nocturnal creatures can accommodate just about anything.

Angela Aleiss teaches film and religion at the University of California, Los Angeles.

[caww]

“Let the dead bury the dead”.....

Any focus on the dead over life is not of the Lord God. The Mormons baptism for the dead and endless geneology obsession speaks clearly to the state of their spiritual condition...

[Elsie]

 

But I will defend them in public against wannabe tyrants.

 

And I will rebuke them in public; for choosing a 'religion' that was founded (according to the BIBLE) on the words of Angels of Light - preaching and teaching a DIFFERENT 'gospel'.

 

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Acts 2:42
  They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

 

 

 Acts 4:2
 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

 

 

Acts 5:42
  Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

 

 

Acts 13:1

  In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.

 

 

 Acts 13:12
   When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

 

 

Acts 17:18-19
 18.  A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
 19.  Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

 

 

Acts 18:11
    So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

 

 

Romans 15:4
 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

 

 

Romans 16:17
   I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.

 

 

1 Corinthians 4:17
   For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

 

 

1 Corinthians 11:2
 2.  I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings,  just as I passed them on to you.

 

 

Ephesians 4:14-15
 14.  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
 15.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

 

 

2 Thessalonians 2:15
   So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings  we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

 

 

2 Thessalonians 3:6
  In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching  you received from us.

 

 

1 Timothy 1:3-4
 3.  As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer
 4.  nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work--which is by faith.

 

 

1 Timothy 1:7
  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

 

 

1 Timothy 2:7
   And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle--I am telling the truth, I am not lying--and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

 

 

1 Timothy 4:1-2
 1.  The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
 2.  Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

 

 

1 Timothy 4:6
   If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.

 

 

1 Timothy 4:11
  Command and teach these things.

 

 

1 Timothy 6:3-5
 3.  If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching,
 4.  he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 
 5.  and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

 

 

2 Timothy 1:13
  What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.

 

 

 2 Timothy 2:15-17
 15.  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
 16.  Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
 17.  Their teaching will spread like gangrene.

 

 

2 Timothy 3:16-17
 16.  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
 17.  so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 

 

 2 Timothy 4:3-4
  3.  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
  4.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

 

 

Titus 1:11
   They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach--and that for the sake of dishonest gain.

 

 

Titus 2:1
  You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.

 

 

Titus 2:15
  These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

 

 

 Hebrews 13:9
 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.

 

 

 2 Peter 2:1-3
 1.  But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
 2.  Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
 3.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

 

 

2 John 1:10
  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him.

[Raider Sam]

That post was directed to Colofornian. I just pinged you because I mentioned you in it.

[antiRepublicrat]

To me, all evidence points to Smith as being a con man, and nothing he ever said or wrote could be believed. But I really don’t care if it helps a modern Mormon live his life well. And so far I haven’t met a Mormon that I didn’t like.

[napscoordinator]

Not mormonism but that the movie was made with Mormon’s in mind.

[Colofornian]

And so far I haven’t met a Mormon that I didn’t like.

(You haven't met enough...however, I do love my Lds extended family members...and their general attributes are indeed love-able...Of course, you do realize that if you were auditioning for godhood, you'd be on your best public behavior, too!)

[Elsie]

But I really don’t care if it helps a modern Mormon live his life well. And so far I haven’t met a Mormon that I didn’t like.

Some of us consider a man's SOUL to be of enough importance that a clear WARNING should be given.

Even more so if we LIKE a person...

[mrreaganaut]

Those references could mean anything.

Maybe, but modern literary criticism practically runs on finding outside influence in literary works. Orson Scott Card admits that his Mormon faith shapes his works. Glen A. Larson's "Battlestar Galactica" only seems wildly imaginative to a non-Mormon, unfamiliar with the historical Handcart Trek to Utah under Brigham Young in the 1840s. The remake of BSG and the new series "Caprica" incorporate even more Mormon doctrine, if you look for it. Having become familiar with Mormon memes in other works, I don't think it's a stretch to find them in "Twilight."

[mrreaganaut]

It’s not that the comparisons are faulty. It’s that they aren’t the theme of the book. I just don’t see the theme of Twilight as akin to Mormonism. I do see the theme of Twilight very akin to dysfunctional relationships.

These are not mutually exclusive categories: Utah has the highest rates of Prozac use and child abuse in the nation. Mormon families are supposed to look good above all else, to give a good "testimony." It's easy to hide a lot of abuse behind such social pressure, and it's possible that a Mormon author might not understand that abusive relationships are not normal.

[mrreaganaut]

And again, you fail to address my criticism, that a logical fallacy was made in the article ... But if you look hard enough, with the right glasses, you will see that all bad things have some sort of Mormon influence.

No, all MORMON things have a Mormon influence! No logical fallacies were made in pointing out the VERY obvious influences of Mormon doctrine on the books; if you choose to ignore or denigrate them, that's your choice.

I made some of these observations to my wife a month ago, in line looking at a supermarket tabloid. I'll admit, I felt a bit slow for not catching on until the third movie, but as I am not a teenage girl, I never bothered to read the books or watch the movies. (I'll further admit to being a fan of Orson Scott Card and Battlestar Galactica, even though they're eeevil Mormon lit, too.)

[Raider Sam]

Well congratulations on finding what you want. But of the items listed, they are not inherently Mormon.

It is only a Mormon influence if you want it to be.

[yield 2 the right]

No wonder “Twilight” is so freaky-NOT in a good way!