The Twilight SAGA: Eclipse

Rated PG-13
Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner

GENERAL THOUGHTS...

It's been a long time since I watched a movie at the front of a theater. But lack of seats pushed me down front today to experience "The Twilight SAGA: Eclipse" from the second row. Looking around at my fellow neck-craners, I realized we were an interesting group.

To my right was a middle-aged dad there with several kids, including an infant...yes, I said infant. To my left was a 10-year-old who got stuck with me after she realized there were only three seats on the front row for her tween party of four. She took one for the team and moved back to sit with the "grown-up." Not sure where the "grown-up" was that allowed her to come to this movie, but I wonder if he/she knew that their grade-schooler was about to get a steady stream of violence and sexuality for 124 minutes.

But I digress. While the demographic make-up of the room was certainly interesting, I wasn't there to watch the people. I was there to watch a movie. Having read all four books as well as watching the two earlier films, I entered with what I feel is a reasonable expectation for what I was about to witness.

You mix up a love story with a supernatural twist. Add in a cast of uber-attractive actors, quality special effects, Matrix-like fight scenes, and a dash of humor. The end result is a pretty good recipe for entertainment. Eclipse certainly boasted the same ingredients as the previous films, but somehow the recipe this time around produced something a little harder to swallow. Don't get me wrong, the time did pass quickly and was pretty entertaining. But the journey seemed like a "Build-Your-Own-Blockbuster" production rather than the telling of a moving and cohesive story.

In the words of the profoundly wise Randy Jackson, "It was just awright for me, dawg." (SPOILER ALERT - plot details follow) Now on to the specifics...

THE PLOT THICKENS

For those not familiar with the Twilight series, I'll give you a quick rundown of the storyline. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) moves to Forks, Washington, to live with her dad and discovers that her high school crush (Edward - played by Robert Pattinson) is part of a coven of vampires committed to living an unconventional life involving no human blood cocktails. Bella's best friend, Jacob (Taylor Lautner), soon finds his body experiencing hormonal changes that can't be explained by puberty. Soon he's shape-shifting his way into a werewolf with a vampire vendetta. A love triangle of supernatural proportions unfolds with Bella serving as the damsel whose always in distress. After an extremely close call with the Volturi (an elitist vampire coven in Italy who police the activity of other vamps around the world) in New Moon, Bella returns home in Eclipse only to discover that Victoria (a vamp from the original Twilight) is gathering an army of "newborns" in order to seek revenge on the Cullen clan (Edward's family) for killing her vampire mate. In an effort to keep Bella safe, Edward and Jacob must join forces, creating an unlikely alliance between vampires and werewolves. Cue intense fight scenes, multiple make-out sessions, emo music, and you have the ever-thickening plot of Twilight. Time for some observations...

ABS ON THE PAYROLL

Whoever served as the costume designer for Eclipse should give Taylor Lautner part of their paycheck. Since he was shirtless through most of the movie, he saved someone a lot of work. And while we're talking about extra compensation for Mr. Lautner, let's just go ahead and demand that his abs be listed as additional cast members. They certainly got enough time in front of the camera to warrant recognition.

But based on the reactions in the theater, Team Twilight was apparently giving the audience what they want. Having said that, I'm not sure what creeps me out more...8-year-old girls applauding at the sight of Lautner's six-pack or the 58-year-old women who do the same thing. At least, the screenwriter tried to give all the ladies in the room some perspective with this one-liner from Edward,"Doesn't he own a shirt?" My thoughts exactly, Edward. Seriously, if we don't want to be objectified by what's under our shirts, we probably shouldn't judge guys by what's under theirs.

EMOTIONAL PORN

Yeah, that got your attention, didn't it? Kevin Carr, a reviewer on the popular Rotten Tomatoes site, writes this about Eclipse: "It's still the equivalent of emotional pornography for teenagers." Pretty profound insight from Kevin, but I'd suggest we widen the net to include a bigger segment of the population than teenagers.

Truth be told, every girl (young or old) wants to be loved as passionately as Edward and Jacob love Bella. She has an embarrassment of riches in the love department with two guys simultaneously pledging their undying (literally in Edward's case) love to her.

Even Bella's mom can see the "magnetic" quality of Bella and Edward's attraction, saying at one point in the film, "He moves, you move. Like magnets." It's the kind of love story we all long for where there's an undeniable physical attraction anchored by a spiritual connection. We all long to give ourselves fully and completely to someone, and in the context of a Christ-centered marriage, this is an amazingly beautiful thing. When it involves sacrificing your human soul in exchange for the vampire life, it should be a pretty big dating red flag.

I do understand that vampires make this love story a work of fiction, but the facts demonstrate that girls today will sacrifice everything in exchange for emotional intimacy. And sadly, girls who give away everything are often left with nothing. God longs to save girls the pain that comes with joining the Broken Hearts Club. That's why Proverbs 4:23 (NIV) says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." A guarded heart doesn't mean a calloused one. God still wants us to have the capacity to love deeply. We just need His help to know how to love the right person at the right time in the right way.  But it's pretty hard to keep our hearts guarded if we're constantly filling our minds with the emotional porn that Hollywood is churning out.

LET'S GET PHYSICAL

The previous Twilight films boasted some pretty serious sexual tension, but this one cranks up the heat to boiling point. When Bella and Edward have the opportunity to finally spend a night alone together, she seizes the opportunity to push their physical boundaries. While guys are typically portrayed as the pursuers, Bella is unquestionably the instigator here.  We girls are physical creatures as well as emotional, and that's on display in full force throughout Eclipse. But Edward refuses Bella's proposition, which leads Bella to complain that she feels like "a villain trying to steal his virtue." Edward replies, "It's not my virtue I'm worried about." Props, Edward.

If every guy were as concerned about his girl's reputation as Edward, then the world would certainly be a much better place. Proverbs 22:1 (NIV) says, " A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." And in this case, Bella gets a double whammy. Edward esteems her enough to protect her good name by keeping her pure. Every girl in the world deserves the same, and that's something we should be teaching them every day.

OFF WITH HER HEAD

This film, like the book, ups the ante in the violence department. To paint you a more vivid picture of the violence, there are multiple beheadings. While they lack the normal goriness often associated with horror films, there's still something very disturbing about watching something so graphic. Sure, they omitted the blood, but the glass-shattering sound effects and snowscapes covered with body parts are still gruesome. To quote the 10-year-old next to me, "Gross."

In a world filled with real-life scariness, do we really need to fill our minds with more?

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART

One definition of the word eclipse is the "obscuring of the light," and that's a pretty good description of how I felt after this movie. I'm a big believer in teaching girls how to make wise choices rather than mandating behavior (there are exceptions of course in which certain behaviors are black and white according to scripture). In 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul says, "Everything is permissible - but not everything is beneficial."

I've certainly been moved in my spirit by secular art, including books, music, and movies. I believe God is the divine author of creativity, and enables even those who do not know Him to create in a way that reveals aspects of His character. Maybe you don't agree. That's okay by me.

But before you send me a scathing email, let me say that I also think we can engage so much in the secular that we allow the divine to be obscured. When we elevate a fictional love like Edward's as the ultimate ideal, we grossly underestimate the love of God that motivated Him to sacrifice His Son. And we allow ourselves to perpetually journey through life as spiritual "newborns."

In Eclipse, we are introduced to an army of "newborn" vampires who roam the streets of Seattle wreaking havoc. The older, wiser vampires are embarrassed by the actions of the newbies, but reflect on their own immaturity when they were first converted. Likewise, we're pretty foolish and immature when God first gets a hold of us. It takes time and discipline for us to grow in the faith and become like the One who saved us. But when we feed our hearts with more of the world than we do of God, we're destined to remain like a newborn forever.

I'm tired of being a Peter Pan Christian. It's time for me to grow up. And It's time for girls to make that choice as well. If we're going to expose them to "grown-up" entertainment, then we better start exposing them to "grown-up" spiritual truth.

Bella grapples with the importance of choices throughout this film, and my prayer for all of us is that we would grapple a little more with the choices we make as followers of Christ. Lots of things are permissible, but are they benefical? 1 Peter 2:2-3 (NIV) says, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." Sounds like we all could use a big glass of the pure things of God. After all, His presence tastes better than anything in the world. And in the end, the reality of a life loved by Him is far greater than any work of fiction.

FREE DISCUSSION GUIDE: Download our Eclipse discussion guide now to utilize with your students/daughter(s).