A Loving Bond Between Divorced Dad, Daughter in 'Twilight' (Part I)
April 24th, 2009 by Glenn Sacks, MA for Fathers & Families
If you have a teen or tween daughter and/or a wife (I have both), you're probably familiar with the Twilight book series by Stephanie Meyer and the recent movie Twilight. It's a dark, teen romance-type movie centering on Bella (played by Kristen Stewart, pictured right) and a teen boy who turns out to be a noble um, vampire.
Anyway, the book and movie depict a nice, loving bond between Bella and Charlie, her noncustodial father. Charlie (pictured above, leaning on truck) is the sheriff of Forks, a small town on the Washington state coast.
When Bella was very little, her mother divorced Charlie and moved to Phoenix, declaring she didn't want to get stuck in the small town rut that she thought Charlie was in. Since the mother left with Bella, Charlie had Bella with him when he could, which wasn't very often.
The movie begins when Bella is 17. Her mother Renee is a flake whose marriage to Phil, a minor league baseball player half her age, probably won't survive, but she is a loving person who seems respectful towards her former husband. Charlie, a strong, silent type, mourned the relationship with Bella's mother and never remarried. When Bella's mom follows her ballplayer husband Phil to spring training camp, Bella goes to live with her dad.
In the photo above, wheelchair bound Billy Black, a Native American friend of Charlie's, embarrasses him by revealing to Bella how the normally quiet Charlie spent weeks talking nonstop about Bella's impending arrival. Charlie looks after his daughter and handles her odd, stormy romance with Edward Cullen as best as could be expected.
[Spoiler warning] At one point Bella has to flee a couple hostile hunter vampires with Edward, and needs to give her father an excuse for leaving. She tells her father she's leaving because she "doesn't want to get stuck in this small town." She later tells Edward that it's the only thing she could say to Charlie that would get him to back off and let her leave suddenly in the dead of night.
Charlie, with watery eyes, says "But Bella, I just got you back." Bella worries about hurting her dad and after the dangerous situation is resolved, she returns to him and they're reunited.
Charlie is a voice of tolerance in the town, defending the semi-outcast Cullens in a deleted scene, and in general is a decent, honorable guy. It's a vastly more accurate portrayal of divorced fathers than we usually get in the media these days, and one we need to see a lot more of.
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April 24th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
I have two daughters, one of which is absolutely obsessed with Twilight. I saw the movie and was also struck by the sympathetic portrayal of the non-custodial Dad. Throughout the opening scenes there are little tell-tales and hints at how excited he was to have her back, as well as references to times they spent together when she was visiting.
This movie does a great deal of good in this regard, and the fact that this series is so popular with tween girls is a positive of truly massive proportions...it puts a good face on Dad in a familiar media.
Stephenie Meyer deserves all sorts of thank you's from men the world over...
April 24th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
The stroy is interesting also because all the male vampires are young, attractive, and for some "creative" reason, supposed to be Quileute ( the reservation centers on Forks, although Forks is multi-ethnic, as it used to be an important logging center. It is on the back side of the Olympic Peninsula, and is pretty remote.) They cast all these roles with actors of various Native American ancestries.
April 24th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I loved the movie, and enjoy the books a lot as well. Bella's relationship with her father strengthens more and more through each book.
April 24th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Why is it so difficult to understand that fathers love their children with all their heart?
April 24th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
I notice this was one of the few times a father is depicted in a positive light. One in which the father isn't responsible for sexually molesting or beating his daughter...
April 25th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Jim: "The stroy is interesting also because all the male vampires are young, attractive, and for some "creative" reason, supposed to be Quileute"
No, actually, the Quileute are the vampire's natural enemy.
April 25th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
For some reason I didn't even know this movie was out there, but I'm definitely interested after Glenn's article on it, I'll rent it as soon as I can.
The man in the wheelchair resembles Adam Beach, one of my fave actors after he played in an Indian reservation movie called Smoke Signals, a great little movie about moms and dads and kids and neglect and abuse and death etc.
But it's a side profile so might not be him...either way looks like a movie worth seeing.
October 31st, 2009 at 9:44 am
I wasn't aware of the Chalie-Bella storyline. Love it! I'm a sap for dad-and-daughter stories! In fact, here's a music video I put together to celebrate and commemorate all the wonderful "Daddy and Erin" moments I shared with my daughter!
http://bolstablog.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/pitch-video/
And for all you dads out there lucky enough to still have daughters in school, here's a post I wrote about a creative way to heighten your appreciation of your little bear cub and cherish her all the more:
http://bolstablog.wordpress.com/2008/08/03/proactive/
Blue skies!
Phil Bolsta
philbolsta@mac.com