New Moon Drama

I realize I haven't posted in a good while, but I felt compelled to make this a post on my own blog when I realized how long a comment it would be on someone else's. I don't read andPop.com regularly, and actually, this was the first time I'd hear of it. I realize it has nothing to do with my normal topics on the surface, but reading is one way I "escape" my crowded little apartment. Most days, I read something, anything, be it for 10 minutes while the kids are sleeping or all evening when Ron's doing the laundry, and so when I find a book or a series I enjoy, I like to read all about it, the good and the bad. The Twilight series was such a fun read for me, my husband, my friends, and my nieces, that I'll be disappointed not to see the movie (even if it's as bad as the first was), but I still want to make an informed decision as to whether or not I, as a grown up Catholic who is charged with setting an example for my nieces especially, should be taking said nieces to see a movie people in the Vatican are condemning. This is what led me to the blog in the link above, and this is my response to the comments and the blog itself:

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I'm not 100% sure here, but I believe the "esoteric element" he was referring to was not the fan base, but the feeling the teenagers watching it have of power b/c they believe they know something that is only meant for a few, i. e. the "fangirls" who believe they have some secret insight into the occult and vampires in general b/c they are uberfans of Twilight. This feeling may lead some unchaperoned or unprepared (or simply immature) viewers to take more of an interest in such things than is healthy. Also, I agree with David in his comments. People don't seem to understand that there is a huge difference between the people in the Church, and the Church Herself. Just as there is a difference between the opinions of the POTUS and the actual foreign or domestic policy, or even better, the Constitution. The media simply plays on this lack of understanding to pain the Holy Father and/or others in the Church as people devoid of an understanding of popular culture. The fact of the matter is that Catholic culture and pop culture are very rarely going to see eye to eye b/c the former has it's eyes focused on heaven, and that latter, on earth. To another point, simply calling something "fiction" and "harmless" does not make it so, and in fact, in some cases, makes it more dangerous than so-called "facts". People tend to treat fiction lightly, not understanding that just b/c it is a fictionalized story does not mean that the basic human behavior it portrays is the real story, and not the vampires and werewolves running around. In the same manner, just saying that satan and evil in general are the stuff of make-believe makes them more powerful as people then are no longer on the lookout for what may be tempting them to wrong. All in all, I am a fan of the books. I actually find Edward to be a morally acceptable and even exceptional character, whose ethics fall much in line with my own, and I am a practicing Roman Catholic and follower of Church teaching. (Please do not read "saint" here! I am a sinner, like everyone else, I was simply trying to clarify my intellectual position.) I make my own decisions, but take what people in positions of "power" in the Church have to say into consideration when making them. I am left wondering if the good monsignor means simply the movie or the novel as well. As we all all know, the first Twilight movie fell far short of the novel when it came to capturing the generally Christian and redemptive message the latter held.