Tysk - 1
Althea Tysk
EL 3517 – Media & Tech
11 July 2011
Final Project
Theological Analysis of Sacrificial Love in the Twilight Saga[1]
It was in the early to mid-90s when I was reading the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice that I first began to realize that vampire stories had theological overtones. The character that made this clear to me was the young girl vampire. It struck me that this child vampire was the author’s way of dealing the loss of a child and the author’s questions of eternal life, death, and grief. Shortly thereafter I did learn that Ms. Anne Rice had a daughter that died at a young age. Since then I have been very aware of the various theological themes which vampire stories bring into play. For this paper I will take a brief look at the Twilight Saga movies and which theological themes they bring to the surface.
I chose the Twilight Saga films largely because these stories have become very popular in our culture in the recent years and are expected to continue with at least two more movies yet to be released. It should be noted that I have not yet read the books. At first I thought this would be a disadvantage to this project; however, after further reflection I realize that there are many audience members who have not yet read the books. While there are definite disadvantages to not knowing all of the plot lines and character development from the books, I think having not read the books gives me the advantage of not confusing which media has highlighted which themes.
There are any number of theological themes which can be explored in these vampire stories. Some of them are: life and death, eternity, good and evil, love, sacrificial love, father, family, savior, soul, hell, transformation, identity, etc. For this paper I will look briefly at the theological theme of sacrificial love through the analytical frame of authority, authenticity, and agency to see how we can use the Twilight stories to engage in Christian conversation.
“I’ve never given much thought to how I would die; but dying in the place of someone you love seems like a good way to go.” This quote is why I chose to look at the theme of sacrificial love in the Twilight movies. Bella delivers this line at the very beginning of the movie before we meet any of the characters. It sets the tone for the whole film and perhaps even the entire movie series.
Bella sacrifices her happiness of living with her mother and step-father in her beloved Phoenix and moves to rainy, overcast, and chilly Forks, Washington, to live with her father so that her mother can find her happiness with her new husband “on the road.” This is where we meet Bella, she is beginning a new life after sacrificing her old life. It is from this position of authority that Bella tells us her story. This authority of Bella’s grows throughout the film series because the audience is allowed to build a relationship with her. We see her grief at the loss of her old life and we experience the wonder as she develops a love interest in her new life.
We soon learn that Bella is not the only one who practices sacrificial love in these stories. Her new love interest, Edward, also sacrifices the secret and safety of himself and his family when he saves Bella’s life by using his vampire speed and strength to save her from an out-of-control vehicle in broad daylight in front of witnesses. As we watch Bella and Edward build their relationship we are drawn in and asked to consider things like good and bad, trust, and true love.
When Bella suggests to Edward that he has super hero strength he asks her (and us) to consider that he is the bad guy and not the good guy. This statement is already in contrast to what we have seen Edward display when he saved Bella’s life. She denies his badness and declares him to be good. And we have trusted her thus far so we continue to follow this young, self-sacrificing heroine. The relationship between Bella and Edward grows as does the relationship between the characters and the audience, thereby cementing the authority the characters have with regard to their practice of sacrificial love.
Examples of self-sacrifice continue in the film series. After going on the run to escape an evil vampire Bella agrees to meet the evil vampire, James, in order to save her mother from his threats. At this point she is convinced of her impending death and she repeats the line she opened the movie with. Again Edward saves Bella.
In the second movie, New Moon, Edward and his family sacrifice their home and life in Forks in order to keep Bella and her father safe. When Edward believes Bella to be dead he intends to end his life. When Bella finds out that Edward is going to commit suicide, she again runs away from home, sacrificing her own safety, in order to prevent Edward from doing something that will result in his death. Later she offers her own life in place of Edward’s life, again demonstrating sacrificial love.
Finally in the third movie, Eclipse, we see various characters putting their lives on the line to protect Bella and her father. We are also told a history of the IndianTribe the Quileutes about how the wife of chief saved her tribe by sacrificing her own life to distract an attacking vampire so her husband the chief could kill the vampire. Later in the movie Bella injures herself in a similar scene in order to distract the evil vampire so Edward can kill it.
The repetition of the theme of sacrificial love does its job of creating authenticity of the theme throughout the film series. The audience is now convinced of the goodness and existence of sacrificial love. The trusted characters of Bella and Edward repeatedly practice sacrificial love and benefit from it in turn. Now that the authenticity of sacrificial love is established we can move onto the agency of sacrificial love.
Participatory action or agency of sacrificial love is demonstrated in the many scenes of the movies where one character sacrifices happiness, safety, secrecy, even offering their own life for another. Now we can turn this conversation into an examination of what it is to sacrifice for one another in our real world. We can also turn to scripture to examine God’s sacrificial love and what that means for our lives. I imagine these conversations happening with the teens in a congregation, both confirmation and older. The reason I put this conversation in the teen context is because that is the primary audience for these movies. Teens relate to these characters and are then accepting of their messages.
One question to ask is, what does it mean to carry out sacrificial love for our neighbor? With this question we can explore various social justice needs in our society and seek out ways to participate in activities that will give agency to the concept of sacrificial love. Biblically we can have the teens look at the stories of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. In this parable Jesus tells of a man who risks spiritual impurity and offers up his own money for the care of an injured stranger. At the end of the parable Jesus tells his listeners to “go and do likewise.” What can we learn of sacrifice in this story?
Another Biblical story to explore is the one where some people lowered a paralyzed man through a roof so that he could be healed by Jesus. This story can be found in Mark 2:1-12 and Luke 5:17-26. How much trouble and work did it take by others to have this man healed? Was it worth the trouble? Who decides what a sacrifice is?
Finally it should be noted that in the Twilight movies even though various characters were willing to sacrifice their life for someone else’s life, they were never actually called to follow through with their offer of sacrificial death. Now we look to scripture for Jesus’ sacrificial death and what it means for our lives and the world.
We look at one of the most popular verses in scripture, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Then go one verse further, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Like the earlier part of this discussion we move into relationship with God, Jesus, and “everyone who believes” thus laying the groundwork for authority.
From these verses we can move to the Passion story, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. John 18-20. For this reason I would suggest holding these discussions during the season of Lent. These discussions can take us into the agency of Jesus, the power of God to make things happen, the resurrection of Jesus which demonstrates God’s life-giving power.
Some final questions for discussion might be: So, while no one in the Twilight saga has been called upon to follow through with their offer of their own death for someone else’s life, what does it mean that Jesus did exactly that? And what does it mean that because Jesus made that sacrifice, we can live an eternal life in full relationship with God?
[1] Spoiler Alert – this paper will discuss various scenes from the three Twilight movies which have been released to date. If you have not seen these movies, you may not want to read this paper.