Catholic response to the movie Twilight

I still don't get it! Some folks...okay, some females are stark raving crazy a go-go over Twilight and it's male lead, Robert Pattinson, who plays the "vegetarian" vampire, Edward Cullen. Again...I just don't get it. He's not even cute in my book. He's creepy.

But, my 13 year-old daughter has already read all the books. And spent the summer talking about them with her friends. And she really, really, REALLY wanted to see the movie. So, I asked an adult friend whom I trust and who had read the books (and liked them), and saw the movie (and liked it), if she thought the movie was too violent? She said, "no," so I decided to let 13 year-old daughter see the movie with two of her friends. Her 15 year-old brother came along just for fun. (His decision).

The consensus was: the girls liked loved the movie, and my son thought the previews were pretty cool. (Pride kept him from admitting he wasted 7 of his own dollars).

I liked what The Wall Street Journal film critic, Joe Morgenstern said:

Attention, all 13-year-old female readers of this newspaper: Run, do not walk, to the nearest multiplex playing "Twilight," the screen version of Stephenie Meyer's best-selling potboiler about a principled vampire and the teenage girl who loves him. Others needn't run. Or walk.

Evidently the movie didn't appeal to Joe.

There is a Catholic movie review by Steven Greydanus that sums up the movie and the books. And since I didn't want to waste my time reading the books or watching the movie, I appreciated the work he put into it. You can read it here.

Surprisingly (to me anyway), there are a large number of moms who are all a ga-ga over Edward/Robert. They have their own website...

t-shirts...

mugs...bumper stickers...you name it.

By the way...if you haven't yet read Steven Greydanus's review, please do it now. It will explain that second t-shirt, which all of us should find quite alarming.

I found this interesting summary on another review page:

"Twilight" really does have an infatuation with surface beauty, especially where the vampires are concerned. It leads to one of the few moments of, possibly unintentional, insight in the film as Edward confesses to Bella that his kind are made to be impossibly beautiful, but it's fake, a lure to trap unsuspecting prey. That sums up "Twilight" pretty well.