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Thoughts on the Twilight Saga "New Moon"
 There’s a New Moon rising this Friday night in theaters… and your kids won’t miss it. The question is what will this new film in the Twilight Saga communicate to our kids?
The first film was labeled “harmless” by many, despite its numerous subtle messages. (Hey
girls, wouldn’t it be romantic if your boyfriend snuck into your room
in the middle of the night and made-out with you on your bed?) Harmless?
However, in the second film, Bella seems to take an emotionally-charged turn that’s self-destructive in nature. Whew! It’s a good thing we don’t live in a world where millions of young girls have low self-esteem and engage in self-destructive behaviors because of it.
(Awkward pause)
So… what will this New Moon look like?
The New Moon is FULL
The
Quileute Tribe. The Volturi. Shape-shifters. Many adults may not yet
know what these fictional agents have in common, but without a doubt,
they’ll combine for the biggest event in youth culture this week.
For months, millions of teenagers have been counting down the days to this coming Friday night, November 20th, when New Moon, the second film in the Twilight Saga, is released in theaters around the world.
Youth media and marketing have capitalized on the “pop culture phenomenon”
and have taken every opportunity to promote the new film in as many
different venues as possible. Tons of websites have been created around
the plot and cast (like TheTwilightSaga, TwilightersAnonymous and NewMoonMovie). MTV has highlighted exclusive previews of the upcoming film at both of their awards shows earlier this year and bloggers have been following the cast and speculating about the movie for weeks. When New Moon's soundtrack was recently released, it easily climbed to #1 on the album charts. Further, The Twilight Saga has even caused other TV networks
to offer their own version of vampire stories given the success of this
franchise. And of course, vampire merchandise has generated incredibly high sales in several retail stores.
 The release of New Moon is projected to draw such a large audience that Summit Entertainment (the studio behind the films) has announced a one-night-only showing of the first film, Twilight, on November 19th, one day before the release of New Moon. Why not? That film raked in over $70 million on its opening weekend when it hit theaters in November of last year.
So, yeah, this New Moon will be big! And though we’re not meteorologists, we'll go ahead and predict a lunar eclipse this weekend; New Moon will outshine everything else in theaters.
Here's what all the buzz is about....
The Plot Thickens
According to the book version of New Moon,
the relationship between Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen
(Robert Pattinson) has only deepened since we left them in Twilight, a box-office sensation based on the worldwide bestseller written by Stephenie Meyers. As New Moon’s
story opens, the fragile and mortal teenage girl is about to turn 18 –
and thus “older” than her eternally youthful and immortal 17 year old
vampire boyfriend – and the milestone only serves to remind her again that she is not what she wants to be… a vampire like him.
The
Cullen family throws Bella an 18th birthday party, but the festive
occasion quickly turns deadly when Bella suffers a paper cut that sends
one of the younger, more immature, vampires into a feeding frenzy. The
terrifying event helps Edward clearly see how dangerous his vampire
family (and kind) can be to Bella, and so the Cullens decide to leave
Forks, Washington, and Bella, forever.
Edward’s
absence sends the high school senior into a whirlwind of despair, and
nothing can ease the pain of her broken heart. Not even her handsome,
childhood friend, Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) who exists in a
mysterious secret of his own. Fully embracing her star-crossed lover
status, Bella begins to take hazardous risks with her life, with each
one being more outlandish than the last, just so she can be comforted
by images and thoughts of Edward in those desperate moments of peril
(more on these behaviors in a moment).
The journey that Bella
is on is not only fraught with danger, but discovery. In spite of her
self-destructive tendencies, Bella’s greatest threat could be from an
enemy who has returned since the Cullen’s are no longer present to
offer her protection. When she’s miraculously rescued from a vampire
attack by enormous werewolves, she learns that one of the beasts is
none other than her friend Jacob, a member of the mysterious Quileutes
Tribe. Let the love triangle begin.
Meanwhile, Edward
receives word that his beloved Bella has died, so he too, assumes the
fate of a star-crossed lover, and visits the Italian Volturi (the
vampire royalty), to seek his own death. When the living Bella
discovers Edward’s true intentions, she embarks on an international
race against time to save Edward and their relationship. Little does
she know that this will be her most dangerous journey yet.
Of
course, this is only what happened in the novel; the movie may be
slightly different. For those of you who've also read the novel, you
can compare it to the official theatrical trailer here.
So, what will our kids really see when they flock to theaters this coming weekend?
The Man in the Moon… Isn’t Wearing a Shirt
 New Moon has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for "some violence and action." Twilight
shared the same PG-13 rating, but in addition to the same sort of
violence, it also carried a warning about "a scene of sensuality." The
sensuality is what concerned us in last year's Youth Culture Window article about Twilight. Even though New Moon's film isn't supposed to have any sensual scenes, it's guaranteed to have sex appeal.
For
instance, movie goers can expect to hear young girls across the theater
shriek in glee when Jacob takes off his shirt (revealing a new,
chiseled body) to wipe away some of Bella's blood after her motorcycle
accident. Some of the movie's promotional material - which features
Taylor Lautner shirtless - have some crying "double standard."
By
the way, those same movie goers can expect another round of
pre-pubescent female's verbal euphoria as Edward removes his shirt when
he goes to face the Volturi in Italy.
Even though there will be these kinds of scenes in New Moon, no one is expecting it to be as sexually charged as Twilight was. Most agree: New Moon will be more focused on action and less focused on sensuality.
Ironically,
it's some of these action scenes that have a few folks concerned about
the messages the film might be sending to young people, girls in
particular.
Emo Bella Goes Self-Destructive
As
previously mentioned, Edward's absence from Bella's life catapults the
hyper emotional girl into a depression-like state (which is
characterized in both the book and the movie trailer). Somehow sensing
that his presence will send her reeling, Edward tells Bella at his
departure, "Please, just promise me, you won't do anything reckless."
In
spite of Edward's plea, Bella soon realizes that in her self-inflicted
harrowing moments - like zooming on a motorcycle without a helmet or
jumping off the cliffs at the beach - she has glimpses of Edward, and
in those moments, she feels close to him. So, her potentially
self-destructive behavior is rewarded by images of Edward... and the very real presence of the oh-so-cute Jacob.
 Some wonder what this plotline might teach today’s insecure young girls about dealing with breakups, losses, and setbacks. (Depressed? Throw yourself off a cliff into the sea and hope that a shirtless stud plucks you from the waters.)
While some New Moon
experts we interviewed about this simply dismissed the fictional
Bella's reactions because they see her as "overly sensitive and
emotionally pathetic," others had concerns that this might be
imitatable behavior for our non-fiction girls.
Either way it's interpreted, this subplot in the upcoming blockbuster will require some parental influence.
Movie... and a Dinner
If
parents are going to allow their kids to see the film, we suggest that
parents see the flick with their kids and then discuss it immediately
thereafter. And since nothing opens the doors to honest conversation
better than a meal, why not make it a "dinner and a movie?"
Our kids will
be getting their peers' movie reviews that same weekend via text, and
definitely at lunch in the cafeteria on Monday at school... even if our
kids didn't see the film on opening weekend. Parents might consider
being proactive and seeing the film together with their kids so that
trustworthy dialogue happens on the frontend before everyone else gets
a chance to weigh in. After all, one of the key pieces of advice offered to parents by the American Academy of Pediatrics in their recent “Media Violence” report was “co-viewing” this kind of media with their kids.
The verdict is still out on exactly what kind of messages this film will communicate. But parents who buy two tickets for New Moon, one for them and one for their child, can regulate every message that comes through, good or bad.
After all, there are scarier things in our world than vampires and werewolves.
David R. Smith is the Director of Content Development at
TheSource4YM.com, providing truly free resources and
ideas that help youth workers reach kids. David speaks and
trains around the U.S., sharing the gospel, and equipping others
to do the same.
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