Guilty Pleasure

Movies are enjoyed by almost everyone across the world. However, different people appreciate different genres of movies. One of many popular genres is the horror genre, in which vampires were very often present. In the earlier vampire movies, such as 1922’s “Nosferatu“ by F.W. Murnau, or 1931’s “Dracula“ by Todd Browning, the vampires are portrayed as mean, violent, soulless blood suckers. Viewers therefore have a bad connotation of vampires and are scared of them. Needless to say, vampires, for a big part of the 20th century, were most often seen as flat out monsters. However, this view on vampires starts to differ with more contemporary movies. A good example of this is the novel-based movie, “Twilight.“

“Twilight” is a movie about a normal teenage girl, Bella Swan, who falls for what she thinks is a normal but mysterious teenage boy, Edward Cullen, the vampire. In this film, Edward Cullen lives with his adopted family consisting of 6 other vampires.

The story is that Edward Cullen was only 17 when he was turned into a vampire, due to the fact that he was infected with a deadly virus back in 1918. The father, Carlisle, was the one who transformed him in order to spare his life. This already makes Edward Cullen seem helpless and makes the viewers take pity on him, because he calls himself a monster and we see that he dislikes himself for something that is not his fault It was not his choice to be a vampire. It is also said in the movie that the father only turns humans into vampires if they are in a critical state and are about to die. This makes the viewers admire Carlisle. Even though he is a vampire, he is seen as good. Also, the Cullen’s call themselves “vegetarians.” As everyone knows, vampires usually feed themselves off of human blood. However, the Cullen’s live differently. Instead of killing humans in order to stay healthy and strong, the Cullen’s hunt for animals and drain their blood instead of murdering innocent people for their own good. As Edward tells his lifestyle choice to Bella, he further explains that he does not enjoy it as much as he would enjoy human blood, but he and his family make the sacrifice and make the best of their situation to try to be as good as they can. This makes viewers like Edward and the rest of the Cullen’s even more for being so selfless. Another thing that makes Edward extremely selfless is the fact that he keeps trying to distance himself from Bella even after he realizes that he is in love with her, just to keep her out of danger and out of the vampire world.

In addition, Edward is portrayed to be very protective of Bella. Once he gives up on trying to stay away from her, they become an item. Not only does he hate himself for being what he calls selfish for being with her, but he also guards her with his life. He protects her from everyone and everything, he treats her like she is the most precious, important thing in the world. Every time she trips, or presented to the slightest bit of danger, he is there to protect her and to keep her alive. This makes viewers see Edward as incredibly nice, protective and trusting. It also makes girl viewers melt.

Furthermore, Edward Cullen thinks very little of himself. Although viewers, mostly female, are envious of Bella for having Edward, he sees himself as unworthy of Bella’s love. He even goes as far as telling