Why do we like Twilight?

"Twilight is like soccer. They run around for 2 hours, nobody scores, and its billion fans insist you just don't understand."

I read a recent blog in the Deseret News that tried to explain why so many people love Twilight. Its interesting that the novel is young adult fiction novel but so many grown women love it. Here is what she wrote:

"But not all women are crazed fans. In fact, I think it's pretty safe to say that most women feel like I do -- we hate that we love "Twilight."

We hate that we occasionally identify with clueless Bella. And most of all, we hate that Edward got us. We like to think that we are too mature to get sucked in by the cliche of a hot vampire. But it gets me. And while the sexual tension is thick, that's not what really gets most women.

Here's my theory: women can't help falling in love with the bad guy who is willing to give it all up for the woman he loves. Women are suckers for that streak of danger in a man who will put aside his naturally devilish desires to be with the women he just can't get enough of. Throw in a little protective nature and a hot body and you've got a recipe to make every housewife in America swoon -- right alongside her teenage daughter."

My old professor at BYU has a blog for The Mormon Times and he mentioned how so many news agencies have written about the Mormon themes in Twilight:

A writer at USC's Media and Religion Blog, Jennifer Hahn, says journalists have missed the spiritual undertones of the "Twilight" series and encourages them to mine the spiritual and Mormon themes in Meyer's work. She writes: "Seen in this light, the 'Twilight' phenomenon is fueled not (just) by teen hormones and melodrama, but also by spiritual longing. While it is no doubt true that many 'Twilight' fans are active in traditional religious settings, an increasing number of spiritual-but-not-religious Americans feel that traditional religious organizations are failing to satisfy their spiritual needs. If this trend continues, we will likely see more pop culture offerings that address spiritual needs through supernatural storytelling."

Ironically, some journalists and bloggers continue to suggest that "Twilight" is veiled Mormon propaganda, but I can't help but agree with a column from the Scottish Sunday Express. "The books have been criticized for being veiled propaganda for beliefs held by the Mormon church. The central characters must remain chaste because losing control could have fatal consequences. Yet it's an odd world we live in where chastity is seen as the grounds for reproach."