Question of something you said. How does Twilight relate to Mormon propaganda? I hate it because it's an abusive relationship yet it's made to seem sweet and romantic and 'tru lurv'
That’s a really legitimate reason to hate it, I agree with you.
The reason I call it Mormon propaganda is because ok first of all the obvious. Stephanie Meyer is SO Mormon. Like do damn Mormon. Like she went to a church I think a few hours down south where I lived in Phoenix I think?
There are a lot of Mormons in Arizona. In case you didn’t know. Which is where I lived for 8 years.
Anyways so she got the idea from a kind of creepy when you think about it dream she had about perpetually 17 year old Edward and a younger, thinner stand in of herself. Oops I mean Bella.
And the LDS church is not the most progressive lets just say that. Pre-marital sex is pretty frowned upon, and somehow this leaked into a teenage vampire romance.
Like Bells has wanted to jump Edward’s bones from like, day 1. And I mean first of all he’s like “no you’re my personal brand of heroin” which is like saying “sex bad! Sex dangerous!”
And then there’s the whole weird family dynamic. Literally everyone except Edward is married. Which I guess would make a lot of sense if they’d been a clan for a very long time but I mean they really haven’t. They all got paired up pretty damn fast. Which is common in a lot of Mormon communities (or at least in Arizona). Like how weird is that? Not ONE vampire wants to play the field even a tiny bit? Like you’re immortal and your first thought is to find THE ONE to stick it out with forever? And Edward didn’t even date before Bella. Like I know they come from olden times but even back then people dated/courted and the rules of monogamy and til death due us part seem very mortal and conservative.
So Edward is the line single weirdo and his family feels bad and does want him to have a partner but like, they’re “vegetarian” vampires (honestly I think killing child molesters is more ethical than innocent animals if given the opportunity but hey that’s just me). And quite frankly the family is very insular and looks down upon outsider vampires. So he has to find The One that’s down with the fact she can only be immortal with like 7 other people. And of course they’re all Conveniently Hetero. Which ok I’m used to heterosexism but the fact Mormons aren’t down with gay relationships kind of raises some flags that The Good Guys Are All Straight. Mormons opposed every act for gay marriage as well.
So ok they abstain from “bad” substances (Mormons don’t drink alcohol or caffeine bless their hearts), and they’re very into their tight clique-ey family rules.
Oh and Edwards “dad” turned all the kids so the “mom” could have children. Because Women Need Children. And 5 kids is kind of a lot considering they’ll never die.
And Edward just won’t have sex with Bella until they’re married which is probably the most blatant part. Which cool, wait for sex until you’re ready but the whole “you can only have sex with me unless we get married, it’s implied my family looks down on divorce since we all stay together for eternity, I’m literally never going to die” is like… A big commitment to have sex.
And literally every single person except me in my family got married in their late teens (not always to their children’s other parent tho) and popped out a few kids but it wasn’t religious related. It was variations of sticking it to their parents, failed birth control, marrying someone after 2 weeks because you liked their accent, ect. So I don’t look down on young marriages or having kids young. Shit happens.
But either way, marrying into eternity to someone you’ve known only a short time compared to most most American couples, especially to have sex without feeling bad, is very Mormon. Like I’m still surprised that a teen romance where they wait until marriage to have sex, as teenagers, was a best seller in the 21st century.
Another Mormon thing is “sealing”. You need to be sealed to someone to get into heaven if you’re a Mormon. Ya gotta be married. They actually perform proxy marriages for dead people, I’m not kidding, so said dead people who haven’t heard the good news apparently get notified in the afterlife “hey these people sealed you with this random fucker, but to get to the upper levels of heaven you’re stuck with them forever. Your choice though”. So we could really say these eternal vampire marriages represents these “celestial marriages”.
Polygamist Mormons (not LDS or Meyer) actually believed you need many wives so you can get your own PLANET and become a god on it, and your wives will be perpetually pregnant populating your world. They believed non polygamists Mormons got a lower level of heaven aka not their own baby factory planet. I’d like to see a vampire metaphor on this actually.
And of course no birth control!!! What is that??? Lmfao! We just don’t know! Nobody even thought to think of this, like at all. Even discuss the pull out method until they scoured some texts.
And the baby might fucking KILL her? And it’s the reason she has to be turned so she won’t DIE from pregnancy, oh no. Can’t abort that. Because she could I don’t know, feel it’s soul. Very, very pro life to a frankly bizarre and HORRIFYING when applied to real life extreme. But chastity is very important to Mormons. And a perpetually 17 year old as well. Mormons allow abortion when the mothers health is in danger, but even then they’re told to pray about it.
Also, the other vampires are all inherently bad. In my opinion, this could be representative how Mormons see the world, or even just mainstream Christianity. How their family is close and good and pure.
Bella, to me, represents the perfect Mormon convert and perfect Mormon wife. Mormonism is pretty patriarchal. She’s ok with all the terrible “protective” stuff Edward does (literally breaking her car/contact to the outside world if we’re reading into it). She accepts this ETERNAL marriage. (In LDS Mormonism you can only be “sealed” to one person tho you can remarry after death. But once YOU die, you continue your first, sealed marriage). She accepts the strict rules regarding pre-marital sex. She doesn’t dream of putting her health before her fetuses (whom will kill her). She completely converts to all the family’s rules, from substance use, to implicitly agreeing to only be close to those of a very specific kind.
This is a small part, but what do vampires do for fun? Any debauchery? At all? Even cool parties? The modern vampire in the last few hundred years has always been associated with this. From taboo sex (same sex, kinky, just a lot of partners, pre marital sex), to decadent parties, vampires usually know how to have a good time. Meyer’s vampires… Play a good ol’ game of super powered baseball. Which is like the most insidiously wholesome activity. An eternity to explore every craving or desire, and sticking with baseball. Hell, an eternity to perhaps try activities from outside white American culture. But no, baseball. Much of Mormon “culture” prides itself on being pretty white American, tho not all Mormons are white. But really, it prides it’s culture on being that weird, wholesome American image to a t. I mean jello salads are still a thing (and a HUGE DEAL to Mormons) which the rest of America threw to the way side after the fucking fifties.
And then I swear I’m also done. But the fact all the vampires in The Good Guys are white (and vampires, even VoC are described as being lighter and more beautiful. Not just white cuz they stay inside cuz they can go outside) is very uncomfortable. Because classic Mormon doctrine holds that the Natibe Americans descended from two tribes, who lived peacefully and believed in Jesus, until one tribe became violent and murderous and ultimately killed off the good Christians. Both apparently came to the new wold in 600 BC. On that note, black people were not allowed the full Mormon ceremonies or priesthood until the 1970s, because apparently black people are dark because they descended from Cain, the first murderer. So the good guys being all white isn’t just a case of “oh yeah this is America most movies are like this”, there’s very racist undertones.
Which also brings to the point the Native American tribe in this story are shape shifters, an often violent process, is, well with what I’ve told you, kind of terrible. They can’t return to their original shape until they calm down. Which we can relate to this “lamanite” tribe that was violent. The fact they are literally animalistic and savage, while the vampires, and especially the good ones, remain eternally beautiful is gross.
Although Jacob “imprints” on Nessie (Bella’s child) at birth, who will be mentally and physically seventeen in only 7 years. Which is gross and kind of pedo and also very much child grooming, Jacob will also wait until they can be together and stay “pure” until then. Nessie will of course only have one partner for however long she lives. So that could symbolize how white Mormons have accepted Native American Mormons (Kiowa Gording , a Native American actor in the film, was a fellow church member of Stephanie Meyers. A guy I briefly dated whom I met in the mental institution when I was 16 was his best friend. FYI.)
Nessie also had the choice between human food and the “vegetarian” vampire diet. She prefers the latter, symbolizing her commitment to her paternal side of the family, rather than her maternal family, considered outsiders essentially now that Bella is converted.
It should also be stated Carlisle (the vampire “dad”) was born in England, and came to the new world after being turned and discovering meaning to still help people. Why is this important? The Mormons believed that those coming from “other countries” to America by the hand of God. So of course him being a literal white colonizer is a ok! He’s A Good Guy, remember?
Also, back to Nessie, Bella’s mother is literally never told about her, or Bella becoming a vampire, or literally dying as a human because “she couldn’t accept those changes”. She is literally kept in the dark about her daughters entire new existence and life, presumably because she may not be ok with you know… Her daughter and grand daughter being vampires ect ect (aka Mormon)
And once again. The only black vampire attempts to be vegetarian but “cheats” going back to killing humans. You know, like Cain. And apparently the reason he’s black to begin with.
This started out as explaining how it related to Mormon stances on pre marital sex, early marriage, and abortion but branched into sealing, Mormon culture, racism, and colonization of the Americas.
I feel sick from smoking half a pack of cigarettes, I spent HOURS on this. I wrote it all on mobile, and I misplaced my glasses earlier as well. Please, someone appreciate my work. I beg of you. I don’t usually ask but I rarely hyper analyze media I DONT like. Don’t let this be in vain.
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