Twilight: Untwisted: Eclipse

Relativism at Its Best

There is a running theme in the 3rd book of the Twilight Series, Eclipse that shows the main character Bella torn between to loves. At first glance one may think that Bella’s predicament is that she must choose between to ‘goods’.

Two good-looking, strong caring young men are willing to ‘fight’ to win her heart.  Lest we forget that Bella’s choice is actually between two evils – wolf or vampire? Once again Bella’s overconfidence and selfishness reigns through as at first she deludes herself into thinking she can somehow have the best of both, showing her disregard for her own self-respect and for the ‘dignity’ of these two young men. I use the term dignity loosely here as I can’t forget that these are fictional, superhuman characters who are traditionally portrayed as villains.

For Bella, no ordinary human man will do, she must have a man with supernatural abilities, strength and unrealistic physical attractiveness that comes with being a supernatural being.

If she is the model for what todays teenagers are looking for then I surmise that what they are truly seeking is Christ. If they did seek him, they would find a man who had already fought to win their hearts, a man who has already laid down his life for them, a man who knows all there is to know about them and loves them despite their flaws and weaknesses.

Relativism at its best comes through the pages when Charlie, Bella’s Dad makes this statement in relation to Bella’s predicament, “the right thing isn’t always obvious, sometimes the right thing for one person is the wrong thing for someone else…”

If there is any truth in this statement – and I don’t believe there is – than any evil act is justified.  Murder, stealing, cheating, etc., could be right for someone and wrong for someone else. If there is no universal right or wrong, then one could argue that slavery was right; Hitler was right… and today this argument is used to support that abortion is right.

Killing a child in the womb is right for some and wrong for others; killing grandma when she becomes a nuisance to care for is right from some and wrong for others…this list could go on and on.

There are many other themes that run through this book that I am saving for a separate post. I plan to discuss Edward’s stance on waiting to be intimate with Bella until they are married. Many Twilight Mom’s have understood this to be a great message for their teenage daughters, a message of chastity…this is not the message at all. The message is that Edward is 100 years old, and this makes him old-fashioned and a puritan. Bella and Edward are not practicing chastity, while they are abstaining from “going all the way” until they are married,  their relationship is very sexual and they place themselves into near occasions of giving into temptation many times.

I also want to add, especially for those whose daughters have already read the books, that the movie is a mild version of the book; the intimate scenes in the movie are very much toned down, where as in the book it is very explicit.