Lessons in life from Twilight and New Moon

November 18, 4:41 PMExtreme Weight Loss ExaminerMark Rubi

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New Moon opens Friday, November 20th

Lessons in life from the movies Twilight and The Twilight Saga: New Moon. The fans of the books by author Stephanie Meyer have made the movie adaptations a hot ticket. These same fans have made rising young stars out of Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. A rabid fan base of mostly teenage girls has led to thousands of articles and web sites and millions of tweets about anything and everything to do with the films and their stars.

Since the vast majority of adults have neither read the books nor seen the Twilight movie (New Moon opens Friday, November 20th), the question arises as to what is the cause of what some people call "The Twilight Phenomenon?" Indeed, many of the fans self-diagnose their commitment to the films and novels as "Obsessive Twilight Disorder," according to an article in Decent Films Guide.

So what is the appeal? Is it the smoldering sexuality of the beautiful young stars, where the boys/2/men are incredibly buff with rippling muscles and six-pack abs, and the girls/2/women are dainty and adorable? Or is it the smoldering sexuality in combination with moral restraint, in that the main characters Edward (Pattinson) and Bella (Stewart) restrain themselves from sex until after marriage, which happens in the fourth book in the series? A devout Mormon, the author of the books chose not to disregard the morals of her religious beliefs for the hero and heroine in her stories.

If the commitment to chaste romance is quite laudible for the teen characters, some are concerned that the movies provide unrealistic body images for teens. And that the unrealistic body images might lead those fans to make less than healthy choices about their own bodies. Some of the examples are as follows:

Taylor Lautner gained more than 30 pounds of muscle for New Moon to bulk up his "delicate-looking" character from Twilight, according to an article in Softpedia. That's a lot of muscle to be adding to a 17 year old boy in a rather short period of time. Indeed, Lautner says the workouts were so intense that he initially started losing weight before eventually adding musle mass. Still, the massive transformation of his body in such a short time led the rumor factory to start pumping out stories of steroid use.

Kristen Stewart describes herself as "naturally thin" in Allure magazine, but also allows that she thinks of herself as "skinny fat" according to the Huffington Post. She goes on to say that she and her brother are "really skinny" but describes him as "emaciated." Although her weight is not given out, reports are that the "requirements"  for her body double were to be 5'5" tall and weigh 105 pounds. If that is indeed her weight, that would mean that she has a Body Mass Index of 17.5. According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, the lowest healthy BMI is 18.5. For Kristin, that means her lowest healthy weight would be 111 pounds on her 65 inch frame.

There are a growing number of delusional websites devoted to the idea that anorexia nervosa and bulimia are not eating disorders but are instead nothing but lifestyle choices. These sites are generally referred to as Pro-Ana, Pro-Mia, or Pro-AnaMia. A frequent theme among those promoting their unhealthy lifestyle are the terms "thinspo" and "thinspiration," which stand for things or people which help those suffering from the eating disorders maintain their desire for ultra thin bodies. Unfortunately, Kristin Stewart is sometimes used as "thinspo" as shown in the YouTube video below. The creator of the video describes herself as pro-ana and pro-mia.

 Eating disorders, of course, are not just anorexia and bulimia. In fact, binge-eating disorder is the most common eating disorder. What they all have in common, however, is that they all qualify as mental disorders that need professional help. Self-esteem and body image issues impact a great percentage of all people, but are particularly severe among teenage girls. And these emotional eating issues can lead not only to low-weight eating disorders, but also to eating disorders which may lead to overweight and even obesity.

The Twilight books and movies can be an excellent opening to discussing adult issues with teens and preteens, as pointed out by Dr. Wendy Walsh in the blog Mom Logic. She points out that teen sex can lead to problems and that love and passion can still be chaste. And these are things that parents should discuss with their kids.

Another thing that parents should discuss, though, is the fact that true health does not come from extremes. Just as too much eating can lead to obesity, too little food can be even more unhealthy. Exercise is something that every body needs, but too much exercise, especially if it is combined with lack of proper nutrition can have serious health consequences. And the use of drugs like steroids, which are designed to add muscle quickly can be as damaging as the use of drugs like diuretics and laxatives. The highest goal that parents should have for their children is health. And that means mental health as well as physical health.

 The point is that a healthy mind and body come from the knowledge that neither the consumption or denial of food should equal love or acceptance, especially from family and friends. Pop culture and the media already do enough damage by glorifying unrealistic body images.  Enjoy the movies and books with your children, but don't let their young minds come to unintended conclusions. Talk with them and let them know you love them. Provide them with healthy food and the oppotunity to move their bodies. Try as some might, you cannot control their lives, but you can help them have a good foundation and help them along on their journey.

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