{"id":16,"date":"2010-07-05T12:07:15","date_gmt":"2010-07-05T12:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/07\/yes-robert-pattinson-there-are-mormon-themes-in-twilight.html"},"modified":"2010-07-05T12:07:15","modified_gmt":"2010-07-05T12:07:15","slug":"yes-robert-pattinson-there-are-mormon-themes-in-twilight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/07\/yes-robert-pattinson-there-are-mormon-themes-in-twilight.html","title":{"rendered":"Yes, Robert Pattinson, There Really Are Mormon Themes in “Twilight”"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

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I hate to disagree with Robert Pattinson<\/a>. He’s just so darn beautiful. But when His Hunkiness goes public with ignorant statements like the following, I have to beg to differ. And hope that he won’t crush my skull.<\/p>\n

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“I think people make up all these Mormon references just so they can publish ‘Twilight’ articles in respectable publications like the New York Times<\/a><\/i>. Even Stephenie said it doesn’t mean any of that. It is based on a dream.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Apparently Pattinson is worried that if the Twilight<\/a><\/i> series is dismissed as being infused with Mormonism, the Eclipse movie<\/a> will only take in $295 million in domestic box office instead of the $296 million that New Moon sucked out of fans.<\/a><\/p>\n

OK, Robert Pattinson, here’s a reality check: Yes, the Twilight<\/i> books were conceived in a dream that Stephenie Meyer<\/a> had about a vampire named Edward (that’s you!) and an ordinary girl talking in a meadow. But so much else about the series is decidedly Mormon that to claim that people “make up” Mormon references is just silly. What’s buried deep inside any good novelist is going to “out” whether the writer intends it to or not. That has clearly happened here.\n<\/p>\n

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The Religion News Service ran a pretty good article<\/a> about the Mormonism-Twilight<\/i> connection last week. Although the first few points (like the fact that Bella doesn’t drink alcohol, remains a virgin until marriage, and doesn’t want to abort her unborn half-breed) are superficial, some of the others get to the theological heart of Twilight<\/i>‘s Mormon roots. Here are a few quotes from the article:<\/p>\n

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