a question in priorities (regarding Twilight, Harry Potter, and other such things that scare evangelicals)

I work in a warehouse, a warehouse that distributes Christian books. Which guarantees two things: I have read the description on the back of "The Five Love Languages" book over 6,000 times (not to mention Five Love Languages: For Singles, Five Love Languages: For Teens, Five Love Languages: for Children, Five Love Languages: Men's Edition, The Heart of the Five Love Languages, The Five Love Languages of Apology, The Love Languages of God... you get the idea...) and I get to listen to Christian radio for over twenty hours a week. I haven't listened to Christian radio since the good old days of Britney Spears asking to "give me a sign (hit me baby one more time)" so I'm experiencing a little bit of culture shock. Mostly I get a hearty helping of Christian pop standards, and different renditions of what it would sound like if Pearl Jam converted (admit it... contemporary Christian music owes more to Eddie Veddar than anyone else, if you don't agree you're in denial. This isn't a bad thing, its just a fact. Modern Christian artists love Eddie Vedder and his sweet, deep vabrato.) Sometimes I get to listen to a little bit of Christians Christianizing talk radio. Often they talk about the marriage between culture and Christianity. And nothing is more prominent right now in American pop culture than the literary and cinematic sensation Twilight.

Apparently this radio station does a Friday morning segment on Christianity and film where they discuss how Christians can successfully interact (I use the term loosely) with popular films. While I was nearly herniating picking up a large box of Bible Commentaries and loading them onto the truck I affectionately call the Batmobile I overheard them discussing Twilight. The cinema and faith expert seemed entirely confused on how to address the movie. He stuttered like he didn't even want to talk about it, but since it had already sold out in pre-release in nearly ever theatre in the country he had to discuss it. He first went over Bolt and said how it was amazing and every family should watch it because its family friendly and cute and such and such and blah blah blah. Its a kids movie, there was nothing offensive in it, go see it, was the message I got. Then he got to Twilight, a film not about a talking dog but about a vampire (dun, dun, dun!). The undead creatures of the night who feast on humanity (although from what I understand vampires in this movie, by and large neither feast on humanity nor are night creatures but just sparkle in the day). None the less these are evil creatures.

The man could not in good conscience recommend the movie because it was about vampires. He asked: can Christians support a movie that has good vampires, likable vampires, heroic vampires? Just like Harry Potter who makes witchcraft look AWESOME, Twilight romanticizes the life of the undead. This is a bad thing. We can only conclude that Twilight should be avoided by Christians. Why? Because of vampires. Vampires are evil. Vampires are the undead. So don't be entertained by them. No one mentions the fact that vampires are fiction. But that doesn't enter in. "Don't see Twilight because there are vampires." I'm not really surprised by this, evangelicals protested Harry Potter with more passion then they often worship! The problem is, we're critiquing films on the wrong basis. Disregarding (much less protesting) a film because of witches, wizards, vampires or werewolves is not the right way to go about it.

We act like by watching these movies we are going to want to be a wizard or vampire, as if once I see Harry Potter slap a pig's tale on his cousin I'm gonna renounce my faith, buy a magic wand, and give my jerk cousin an extra piggy appendage. No one was concerned at the release of Lion King that I would start believing animals could talk and convert to animism. Because that would be STUPID! And I am sure that if I really thought I would be like Harry Potter my loving parents would buy me a wand and protective helmet to match.

At the risk of appearing condescending let me explain that these movies are not endorsing wizardry or blood sucking any more than Wizard of Oz supports brainless Scarecrows having political careers. The point, what we learn when we read or watch these things, lives below the surface. Wizards and vampires (and scarecrows... oh my!) are the body of the story, they provide the excuse to tell the story, they aren't the point of the story. Therefore they aren't a great evil to be avoided because they don't really matter all that much. They are the conduit to project values and principles. Its a tool. You can't say "I'm gonna tell a story about gaining self confidence and realizing one's potential" because that's stupid and no one is going to read that book because people want an interesting story line to help them digest the delicious values. But if you say "I'm gonna write a book about a kid who becomes a wizard and fights a guy with no nose" then sign me up! We use these clever story lines to teach, examine, etc. Not to recruit supernatural beings.

At the risk of being even more condescending let me ask this question: Who cares? So what if a kid thinks it'd be awesome to go to Hogwarts (funny how that name isn't flagged by spellcheck anymore... congrats Harry Potter mythology) or to be able to read minds and live off of the blood of animals. ITS FICTION!!! After watching Star Wars I sat for hours trying to use the force to move crap... it didn't work. I was sad. I learned a hard lesson. My parents thought it was funny. Good times for everyone.

So what should Christians be asking about these movies? What we need to be asking is what are these movies teaching us? Twilight is not teaching youngsters that vampiring is awesome. It was not written as a recruiting manual for the undead. The movies are teaching us something however, (whether on purpose or not, we are learning). What are these movies teaching us about love? Relationships? Family? Sex? Masculinity? Femininity? Truth? Life? Death? Sacrifice? Loyalty? You get the idea. These movies can also be indicative of where our culture is at (youth pastors listen up! you can learn a lot by paying attention to what kids are into and what it says about them). For example, what does Twilight say about what girls find attractive in guys and how does that effect both sexes when it goes to relationships and expectations? We need to move past the surface and consider what movies are teaching us beneath. When that happens perhaps we will be able to actually engage the culture in a constructive manner.