‘Twilight’ the Vampire Movie and Its Token Black
Filed under: BlackSpin
By Alexis Garrett Stodghill, BlackVoices.com
MTV/Maverick Films
I came onto the whole 'Twilight' vampire craze rather late in the game. As a black woman in her thirties, I am not in the target audience for this mega-smash-hit, which was intended for the young adult audience. But personal experiences aside, objective observation attests to the fact that millions of teens, women and men of all races have read 'Twilight,' and fallen in love with Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. Despite its intended demographic, I personally have met people of all kinds who enjoy the sweet love story and engaging horror-action of the novel 'Twilight' deeply and intensely.
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But books are one thing, and movies another. Movies are engineered for mass appeal and maximum ticket sales. The main characters of 'Twilight' are all lily white, which is a problem, and I don't mean that as a pc judgment. Literally, every main interaction in the book occurs between white characters. This has certainly not hurt book sales, as the enduring experience of true romance is universal. But this is exactly the kind of one-sided on-screen representation that would have audiences outside of the rabid 'Twilight' fan base fuming.
As the point of the movie is in part to lure additional audiences into the 'Twilight' fray, the film has become an opportunity for the franchise owners to put a needed touch of diversity into this already successful mix. In a stroke of what could be marketing genius, a minor character, Laurent the Vampire, is being played by black actor Edi Gathegi. Is this a token gesture to appease the "of color" community? I shake my head and suppose it is so, although there is no way to read a Hollywood executive's mind.
A fairly seasoned actor with a string of TV and movie credits, Gathegi takes on the role of Laurent, who comes in rather late in 'Twilight,' displaying some sexy skin in a leather jacket, no shirt. The vampire in the novel is only described as French with an olive complexion. But "black" Laurent for the movie has huge dreadlocks, and is featured rather prominently on some versions of the movie posters, hopefully giving this tokenized actor some major shine.
As an avid lover of all four books in the 'Twilight' saga, I find this move on the part of the movie producers rather insulting and a little unnecessary. Pandering to the "of color" population in this way feels similar to the way McCain pandered to women by adding Palin to his ticket. It's a "nice," yet ultimately shallow and insulting gesture. I know everything in a movie version of a book cannot remain exactly the same, but this little alteration seems like a rather silly thing to have changed for minimal benefit. But then again, I think the casting for Eward and Bella sucks, too, and I am clearly in the minority.
Are you planning to see 'Twilight' the movie? Do you love the book as much as I do? Leave your thoughts below.
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