I recognize that many horror fans are less than pleased with Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight creatures, whether vampires or werewolves, but as I’ve written previously, while they may not be the average horror fans “cup of tea,” their romantic elements places them within the spectrum of depictions of these creatures over their literary and cinematic history. With this caveat this post will touch on the religious influences in Meyers’ treatment of the werewolves that will be featured in the upcoming film New Moon with reference to an abridgment of an article in Sunstone magazine, a publication that represents the more liberal element of Mormon thought. As Eric W. Jepson, the author of the article states, one of the things that makes Meyer’s monsters so interesting, or frustrating, is how they differ from their more traditional monstrous counterparts. “Most pre-Twilight vampires don’t sparkle, and most pre-Twilight werewolves don’t believe in eternal marriage. But Meyer’s do.”

In his article, “Saturday’s Werewolves: Twilight, monsters, and Mormons,” Jepson discusses how Twilight‘s characters are shaped by Meyer’s Mormon faith, principally by two key elements: the concept of the pre-existence, and free agency. In the Mormon worldview human beings existed before their earthly lives in a pre-existent realm with God and fellow human beings. They would eventually come to the earth in an embodied state. An integral part of living this life as a time of testing is the appropriate use of free agency, or the freedom of the will, in order to choose good over evil. Beyond these influences in Mormon worldview Jepson also argues that Mormon literary influences exist in the concept of the premortal romance.

This premortal romance is most telling in regards to Meyer’s treatment of the werewolf. As Jepson describes it:

The most significant distinguishing trait of a Meyer werewolf is “imprinting,” the sudden and permanent formation of a mate relationship. Jacob, the novels’ preeminent werewolf, describes imprinting as an experience akin to gravity: “When you see her,” he says, “suddenly it’s not the earth holding you here anymore. She does. And nothing matters more than her.” Even Meyer’s human heroine, Bella, can recognize that an imprinted werewolf couple is “utterly right together, two puzzle pieces, shaped for each other exactly.” Through imprinting, Twilight’s werewolves find their “soul mates.” One party is bound to the other becoming the other’s “perfect match. Like he was designed for her alone.”

The werewolves of the Twilight books never know when (or if) they will imprint on someone. Once they become a werewolf during adolescence, they may imprint at any time, and when they do, any prior relationship becomes unsustainable because an imprinted werewolf can never turn away from his or her imprintee. Sudden recognition that then lasts eternally? The Premortal Romance.

While this plot point may seem quite natural to Twilight fans, and register on the “so what?” scale for non-Twilight fans, Jepson points out that the idea of imprinting violates the essential Mormon teaching and emphasis on free agency. Jepson writes, “Speaking with Time Magazine, Meyer called ‘free will […] a huge gift from God.’” As I have written previously on this topic, “The centrality of ethical choice-making in Twilight may be due to Meyer’s Mormon background which includes a strong emphasis on avoiding temptation and choosing the correct moral path, summarized in the Mormon culture with the phrase, ‘Choose the right.’ In the continued development of vampire mythology Meyer has incorporated not only the more traditional vampiric elements of death, immortality, and sexual conflict, but has also infused ethical considerations into this mix that builds upon previous treatments of this issue.”

Jespson writes that, “By stripping it [free agency] from her werewolves, by making their happiness dependent upon losing their freedom, she makes an artistic choice that resonates deeper with readers who understand the decidedly Mormon ethos upon which she made that choice.”

Once again, while I recognize that many readers of this blog are less than sympathetic to Twilight, it has become a publishing and cinematic phenomenon that needs to be analyzed and understood. The religious influences that shape Meyer’s unique twists on evolving classic monsters make for an interesting piece of monstrous reflection.