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Stephenie Morgan (1973-), better known as Stephenie Meyer, is an American writer and film producer. She studied English Philology at Brigham Young University, in Utah, and is the mother of three children.
Although she had no previous writing experience, Meyer rose to fame with the publication of her first novel Twilight in 2005; it was translated into more than 20 languages and was a bestseller, with more than 25 million copies sold. The novel achieved further international popularity when the film of the same name was released in 2008, starring actors Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.
Later he published three more books in the saga: New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007) and Dawn (2008). A few years later, he published other companion novels, such as The Second Life of Bree Tanner (2010), which tells the story of one of the characters featured in the novel Eclipse , and The Midnight Sun (2020), which tells all the facts. of the saga but from the perspective of Edward Cullen.
In addition, Stephenie Meyer wrote other works. In 2007, she also published the short story Hell on Earth and in 2008, The Host , a science fiction novel for adults. In 2011, she released the Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide and in 2015, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Twilight novel , she published Life and Death : Twilight Reinterpreted . In the year 2016 she wrote the novel Chemistry . Along with Young Kim, she also collaborated on the creation of two comics about the saga.
Twilight saga movies
Given the great success of Stephenie Meyer’s books, the film versions of the four main novels were made. The last of them, Dawn , was divided into two parts:
- Twilight (2008)
- New Moon (2009)
- Eclipse (2010)
- Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011)
- Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012)
Twilight Main Characters
Major characters from the Twilight series films include:
- Isabella “Bella” Swan: She is a very reserved 17-year-old human girl who moves to a town in Forks, in the state of Washington. She falls in love with Edward.
- Edward Cullen: He is a vampire who, despite looking like a 17-year-old, which is the age at which he died and became a vampire, is already over 100 years old. He belongs to the Cullen clan, made up of his adoptive family: his parents Carlislee and Esme Cullen, and his siblings Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper.
- Jacob Black: He is a werewolf, a friend of Bella’s, of Quilouette descent .
- Renesmee Cullen: is the daughter of Edward and Bella.
Summary of the films of the Twilight series
Twilight
The first book in the series, Twilight , begins with the meeting between Bella Swan and Edward Cullen and the beginning of their love story. Bella is a 17-year-old human girl and Edward is a 104-year-old vampire. Both embark on a relationship where issues such as death, immortality and vampire habits constantly arise. When vampires from another clan appear, Bella’s life is in danger and Edward saves her.
New Moon
In the second book, New Moon , the plot focuses on Jacob Black, Bella’s friend who turns into a werewolf. Edward and Bella break up their relationship. Faced with the pain that this causes her, Bella experiments with all kinds of dangerous activities, such as driving at maximum speed or jumping off a cliff. When Edward believes her dead, she prepares to commit suicide. Bella, learning that Edward is about to sacrifice himself, travels to him and prevents her suicide. In this book the Volturi appear, a kind of royalty among vampires.
Eclipse
In Eclipse , Bella, Edward and the other characters face an unknown enemy who remains in the shadows but is raising an army of vampires. Eventually, the Cullen clan fights them to the death and defeats them. The Volturi also appear, transforming into a potential threat. Edward and Bella decide to get married.
Sunrise
In Breaking Dawn Part 1 , the protagonists get married and enjoy their honeymoon. Suddenly, Bella realizes that she is pregnant. The baby’s growth threatens to harm Bella’s health. The werewolves turn against the couple, except for Jacob, who wants to protect Bella from the baby.
During childbirth a girl is born, half human, half vampire, whom they call Renesmee. However, some complications ensue and Edward transmits her poison to Bella from her to turn her into a vampire and save her from her.
In Breaking Dawn Part 2 , Bella and Edward enjoy their new life with their daughter. Between Renesmee and Jacob a bond is formed forever. Someone sees the girl and tells the Volturi that Edward and Bella created an immortal child, something forbidden by vampire rules and equivalent to the death penalty. The Cullen clan prepares to face the Volturi, who are heading to attack them. Bella discovers her protective power and together with Edward, the Cullens and the werewolves manage to defeat the Volturi. Finally, the misunderstanding between them is cleared up and the story ends with a happy ending.
The classifications by age groups
In Spain, the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) classifies the content of all the films that are released in the country. These ratings indicate for which audience they are suitable and serve as a reference for the audience, parents and advertising campaigns.
This classification system is based on certain parameters to analyze the content, including:
- The language: the vocabulary used in the film is taken into account, especially with regard to insults, vexatious terms and sexual tone.
- Nudity: the degree of nudity and sexual practices are determined, whether they are explicit or not, and the number of minutes where these types of scenes appear.
- Violence: here the minutes of exposure to scenes of violence, their realism and harshness are also considered.
- Other subjects: the consumption of drugs or tobacco are also subjects that determine the classification of a film.
The Spanish classifications are:
- Especially recommended for children.
- A: General admission, suitable for all audiences.
- +7: Not recommended for children under 7 years of age.
- +12: Not recommended for children under 12 years of age.
- +16: Not recommended for children under 16 years of age.
- +18: Not recommended for children under 18 years of age.
- X: Prohibited for minors under 18 years of age.
Here we use the Spanish classification as an example, but in all countries there are organizations similar to the ICAA that classify films according to the suggested ages of the public. In the United States, who is in charge of this is the MPA or Motion Picture Association (Association of the Film Industry), through its classification system.
Twilight Rating : Is It Appropriate For Teens?
Although Stephenie Meyer’s book series and all of its film adaptations are very popular with tweens, teens, and young adults, they are actually only considered suitable for ages 12 and up. In the United States, the saga is suitable for people over 13 years of age and falls under the PG-13 classification; that is, it is considered to require strict parental supervision for children under 13 years of age.
Controversial Twilight content
The reasons that the Twilight Saga has obtained a rating of +12 are related to its content. This includes not only a large number of stereotypes that can be negative for adolescents, but also scenes of violence and sex.
Some of the themes of the Twilight saga films that have a greater impact on children over 12 years of age, and therefore require parental supervision, are:
- Toxic Relationships: The film depicts scenes and behaviors that are supposedly romantic but are actually considered toxic and dangerous and therefore suggest a distorted idea of love. For example, Edward Cullen constantly stalks Bella, showing up in her room at any time without her permission. Another example is the love they profess, at times even obsessive, to the point of wanting to die when they are not together.
- Violence: contains many scenes of violence and, in some cases, horror. In fact, the films Breaking Dawn Part 1 and 2 , had to fight to achieve the classification of suitable for over 12 years, due to their disturbing scenes and sexual content.
- Sexist stereotypes: The female lead is always in danger and must be saved by the male leads, whether they are vampires or werewolves. She is also depicted as weak, clumsy and unable to resist the vampire’s charms. In addition, emphasis is placed on virginity as something valuable and, in some way, limiting for the woman, who in turn must wait until she is married.
- Themes for adults: in the film Breaking Dawn Part 1 there are scenes of sexual content in which the main characters consummate their marriage.
- Supernatural content: paranormal and supernatural issues appear in the saga that may go against some religious or scientific beliefs.
Bibliography
- Meyer, S. Twilight Saga . (2020). Spain. DEBOLS!LLO.
- Bastow, A. Secrets of Twilight. Analysis of the love saga of Edward and Bella . (2010, Kindle version). Spain. Astrogea Books.
- Moya, T. (2018, September 21) . The criteria for the age rating of films. Frame. Available at: https://www.fotogramas.es/noticias-cine/g23351821/criterios-calificacion-edades-peliculas/
