Yay for self-mastered teen vampires

Yes, I admit! I watched Twilight!

(I really wanted to see how they'd make it into a movie, so I forced a friend to watch it with me.)

And what do you know? The movie has its merits. I'm not going to focus on the weird points (dazzling vampires--that's new!), but on the good things the movie tries to say.

So okay, the premise is this: Bella, the protagonist, moves to Forks to give her mom (who just got remarried) some space. She meets a vampire family and falls in love with Edward, who is attracted to her because she is something like "his favorite flavor." Hm.

Anyway, vampires kill people, but these vampires are "vegetarian," meaning they'd rather kill animals than people even if they'd really rather eat people.

Rather dumb, the way I put it--so sorry for that. What I find really nice in this movie is the example of Edward--his efforts at loving Bella while not killing her. And I think this is a crucial trait for a character whom teens would like to model.

My friend says the movie is about abstinence--and yeah, it is, I agree. But abstinence sounds flat to me, and it turns some people off, even. Deeper than just abstaining, this movie is about self-mastery: understanding what it is you truly value, then doing everything you can to keep it alive. You know you're not perfect, but there's an effort given to be close to perfect, the way you should really be. And that, I think, is what makes a character like Edward interesting and worth a teen's while.

I guess you don't have to pick up the book to see this in the movie. (And you don't have to pick up the book to see the movie--they're alike to the letter.) If you can stand sappy lines and funny cartoon hair, go ahead and see it--like I said, it has its merits.