Vampires with Self-Control

Sorry- a pun that I just could not resist. I apparently have no self-control when it comes to corny humor. Oh- and the Blog and Mablog site must be down- I can’t access it with Firefox or IE. Hmmmm…..

I think Mr. Wilson makes valid points here. There are some parts of the vampire legend that are inescapable, and that are not spiritually redeemable. I was laughing at some of the comments- why do people try to read so much into a story that the author never intended? I’ve listened to several interviews with Stephenie Meyers, and she had no intention of communicating spiritual truths- she had a romantic dream (in the book and movie it’s the “stupid lamb falls in love with the sick, masochistic lion” scene) and she wrote it down, then felt compelled to flesh it out, her sister read it and talked her into submitting it to a publisher…. Just because she is a Mormon does not make the vampire story more palatable or spiritually beneficial than one by Whitely Streiber or Anne Rice.

Oh- and the idea that Joss Whedon also inadvertently illustrates Biblical truth with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel is hilarious. Everything has spiritual implications, but spiritual applications? That is an unnecessary and imprudent stretch.

I had a difficult time getting to the article - I think they might be having website issues - so here’s the entire entry:

Vampires With Self-Control
Topic: Sex and Culture

Yesterday in my sermon I mentioned in passing some of the problems with Christians allowing their kids to “get into” the Twilight series. Since this is an outrageous eruption of inexplicable legalism on my part, I thought I ought to defend it. Here is a brief four point discussion starter, and perhaps there will be more to follow:

1. This is part of our culture’s ongoing literary attempts at metaphor-morphing, trying to overturn the meaning of symbols that have served our people well for centuries. This practice is not yet calling evil good and good evil (Is. 5:20), but it most certainly is moving the ancient landmarks (Dt. 19:14). In this fallen world, I don’t want good orcs, good dragons, good ogres, or good vampires. Is there any particular reason why we should want them?

2. Horror fiction is a distinctively modern genre, and anybody who can read it without seeing the subtext of the unresolved (and unresolvable) guilt of our age ought not to be reading books of any kind anyway.

3. Vampire fiction in particular is all about syphilis, the great public health fiasco of Europe, spanning three centuries. You remember how whipped up we got over a decade of AIDs sic? Try to imagine how deep this older panic would have gone, and think of our panic as a square root of that. The guilty “infected one” would bring the curse to innocent wives, just like a vampire. Bram Stoker died of syphilis, by the by. The sexual tension throughout is a fundamentally polluted tension. Sexual tension of the kind God gave us is not like that.

4. And last, for the time being, and related to #3, you may relegate this whole thing to soft S&M, the kind that gullible Christians might buy into, largely because they cannot find “soft S&M” in their abridged concordances.

As an ancillary point, I find this absolute obsession with the “undead” in society lately somewhat fascinating. First it was the goths, now it’s vampires and the undead. We’re still two months out [roughly] from Halloween, and I don’t expect it to get any better. It’s also interesting how God promises that the eternal bodies will be without corruption, and Satan comes back with zombies, vampires, and werewolves [to a lesser extent]. Is anyone else noticing this?

I used to be a big fan of vampire/werewolf movies and fiction. Vampire fiction has been around since the early 1700’s, and there was a ‘craze’ again in the mid-late 1800’s, with Bram Stoker’s Dracula coming out in 1897. I started out with Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot and followed up with Richard Matheson, Whitley Streiber, Robert McCammon, F. Paul Wilson, Anne Rice… and did you know http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097969/ Rick Springfield played the part of Nick Knight from which the Forever Knight tv series was spawned? See- I’m just stuffed chock full of useless information. No one will ever play Trivial Pursuit with me. Anyway- there was plenty out there way back then, so it doesn’t seem so recent to me.

What I think might be new is the release of so many YA novels, movies, and tv shows aimed at a younger audience that are occult in nature, of which the Twilight series, Buffy, Angel, and Charmed seem the most popular.

I think it is silly to imply that it is wonderful that kids are reading without taking into account what they are reading. I mean, I was reading King, Sheldon, and other very yucky stuff in high school (usually during chapel and in class) but it was looked upon as OK because they were books and Books Are Good.

Just out of curiosity I did a quick search on Amazon for ‘vampires’ in Books. In Children’s, there were 5,539, 3,896 in Teens, and in Comics and Graphic Novels there were 2,064. Of course, there is sure to be some overlap as well as multiple listings, but WOW.

[Susan R] What I think might be new is the release of so many YA novels, movies, and tv shows aimed at a younger audience that are occult in nature, of which the Twilight series, Buffy, Angel, and Charmed seem the most popular.

That’s the point that I wanted to make but was unclear. It’s obvious that teens and kids are the targets for the occult-themed merchandise out there.

I’ve seen all kinds of promos for vampire related merchandise - Twilight / New Moon in the movies and DVD, Vampire Diaries and True Blood on TV, Twilight related stuff in stores, et cetera, et cetera lately, and it’s really surprised me.

[Jay C] It’s obvious that teens and kids are the targets for the occult-themed merchandise out there.

I’ve seen all kinds of promos for vampire related merchandise - Twilight / New Moon in the movies and DVD, Vampire Diaries and True Blood on TV, Twilight related stuff in stores, et cetera, et cetera lately, and it’s really surprised me.

Something that I found veerrrryy interesting- in an interview with Stephenie Meyer, she said that she did not intend to write a YA novel- she wrote what she would want to read, and what she thought other adults her age would want to read…. uhmmm does someone else want to say what we are all thinking right about now……

Wondering aloud …. is vampire fascination symptomatic of our culture “loving death”?

But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate me love death (Proverbs 8:36)

Jim- I think that is a legitimate thought to consider. A vampire is a contradiction- the immortal undead. There is nothing positive about any creature that sustains itself with the blood of others- ticks, fleas, leeches, mosquitoes… ick. I am even surprised at myself that I used to consider the idea of being undead fascinating. But then I used to dress like Don Johnson in Miami Vice.

[Susan R] Oh- and the idea that Joss Whedon also inadvertently illustrates Biblical truth with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel is hilarious. Everything has spiritual implications, but spiritual applications? That is an unnecessary and imprudent stretch.

Indeed! If Whedon were confronted with that kind of assertion, he would laugh the person to scorn. He might acknowledge biblical themes showing up in his work, but there are universal themes in literature throughout time - themes of redemption, sacrifice, good triumphing over evil, etc. They are all echoes, pale imitations of the ultimate sacrifice and redemption found in Christ. Satan loves nothing better than to twist God’s truth and make it entertaining. I remember when going through Revelation in church a few years ago, and discussing the character of New Jerusalem. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself at how much it reminded me of a Borg cube - a giant city shaped like a cube in the heavens where all the inhabitants submit their will to a central Power. What a sad mockery of our wondrous future hope!

I think the level of passion with which folks will protect something like a badly written vampire romance is indicative of where the hearts of men are residing.

From http://www.decentfilms.com/sections/articles/twilight.html Decent Films :
…“And so the lion fell in love with the lamb,” Edward muses, to which Bella complacently replies, “Stupid lamb,” and Edward adds, “Sick, masochistic lion.” Elsewhere, Edward suggests that Bella’s unswerving devotion to and trust in him merely reflect his species’ natural advantages over their prey. “I’m the world’s best predator, aren’t I?” he asks with rhetorical self-loathing. “Everything about me invites you in — my voice, my face, even my smell.”

Actually, this isn’t quite true. At least one aspect of Edward’s physicality would seem to compromise his seductive powers: the coldness and hardness of his unliving flesh. (In a oft-derided detail, it turns out that Meyer’s vampires are not only rock-hard, but glitter like diamonds in sunlight, which is the real reason they avoid it.)

Yet it’s Edward’s beauty, perfection and desirability that Twilight emphasizes above all. A typical, much-quoted sample: “He lay perfectly still in the grass, his shirt open over his sculpted, incandescent chest, his scintillating arms bare. His glistening, pale lavender lids were shut, though of course he didn’t sleep. A perfect statue, carved in some unknown stone, smooth like marble, glittering like crystal.”

I listened to this story on audiobook- you should try this some time. Books sound completely different when they are read- which is why I usually do both. But I could only stomach Twilight once- can you imagine someone speaking the above quote from the book? http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php] http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-sick007.gif

I’ve had enough of Twilight just from the excerpts I’ve read. The writing is really abominable.

I agree about audio books, Susan. Although, the wrong reader can really ruin the experience. There are a couple narrators that, if I see their name, I put it back, no matter how much I love the book.

[Angela Stewart] I’ve had enough of Twilight just from the excerpts I’ve read. The writing is really abominable.

What does it say about women in general, and Christian women in particular, that they would embrace something like this? I’ve heard alot of rapturing about how much control Edward has, how old and wise and protective… but when you read the book with a more critical and less estrogen-soaked eyeball, you see that he is far from having his urges under control, and I don’t perceive him at all as wise and protective- he constantly placed Bella in danger. Edward and Bella are irresistably drawn to one another- but it isn’t because she is such a wonderful girl and he a man of good character- it’s because she smells like LUNCH and he is a predator. Like, ew- that is NOT romantic on my planet. And definitely not kosher.

Bro. Wilson’s point encompasses vampire fiction as a whole, and I tend to agree with his assessment. Vampires, IMO, are extremely problematic as far as redeemable symbolism goes, even when they are portrayed as not being supernatural, but another ‘species’ that co-exists with humans. I mean, how does a Christian get around the whole fatal hickie thing? http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php] http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-char018.gif

[Susan R]

[Angela Stewart] I’ve had enough of Twilight just from the excerpts I’ve read. The writing is really abominable.

What does it say about women in general, and Christian women in particular, that they would embrace something like this? I’ve heard alot of rapturing about how much control Edward has, how old and wise and protective… but when you read the book with a more critical and less estrogen-soaked eyeball, you see that he is far from having his urges under control, and I don’t perceive him at all as wise and protective- he constantly placed Bella in danger. Edward and Bella are irresistably drawn to one another- but it isn’t because she is such a wonderful girl and he a man of good character- it’s because she smells like LUNCH and he is a predator. Like, ew- that is NOT romantic on my planet. And definitely not kosher.

I don’t know about women’s fiction, but I DO know that there are quite a few computer and video games where becoming a vampire makes your character quite powerful. There are drawbacks, of course, but there are usually work arounds for that, and more than a few strategies for these games recommend becoming a vampire as soon as possible, if you don’t start out as one.