the threat James and his companions represent to Bella and her family.
Interesting to note, too: both films revel in celi- bate relationships between their male and female protagonists, with similar curbs placed on the pa- rameters of those chaste relations. In short, nei- ther Bella nor Oskar can risk intimacy with their soulmates on terms except those their blood-drink- ing partners define—to go further may result in death, or worse still, undeath.
Both films turn on a secret bedroom encoun- ter, in which the welcome intruders establish the clear boundaries for their potential soulmates. In LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, it’s a cuddle in bed with Oskar’s back to Eli (and instructions not to turn around). In TWILIGHT, it’s only a bit more physi- cal, but the emotional chemistry is far more in- tense. These companion pre-teen and teen bedroom encounters stand in stark contrast to those of mainstream teen films from the 1970s through the ’90s. We are in a new pop cultural paradigm, indicating the true cultural paradigm shifted some time ago.
This is absolutely in accord with the risk to mortality contemporary courtship rituals either embrace (ie., use of contraceptives and barriers or no active contact whatsoever) or defiantly re- fute (ie., reports among urban populations of
the foolhardy decision not to use any form of contraception or protection as “proof” of one’s commitment), particularly in teen culture. The very real risk of disease contagion via intimacy and contact, sexual or non-sexual, is also high, adding to the inherent fears attached to sexual coming-of-age passage for many.
This all conspires to make vampirism a sur- prisingly apt and concrete metaphor in both cul- tural contexts: liberated Sweden of the early 1980s, the American Pacific Northwest of now. The cul- ture clashes explicit (ie., uprooted New World teen girl vs. transplanted Old World vampire boy, Na- tive American shapeshifters vs. Old World blood- drinking interlopers, etc.) and implicit (the book series author’s Church of Latter Day Saints con- victions vs. 21st century teen culture and sexual moors) in TWILIGHT are fascinating in and of themselves, but coupling TWILIGHT and LET THE RIGHT ONE IN yields richer pleasures. These points of overlap and intersection range from the minor (both films make a point of touching upon the sense of smell: in TWILIGHT, it’s initially Edward’s reaction to Bella, which she takes quite person- ally; for Oskar, it takes some time to adjust to how Eli smells “funny” when she’s underfed) to the major (the wintery landscapes that dominate both, similar narrative templates, etc.).
Without Håkan to protect her, Eli establishes intimacy with Oskar by creeping into his bed.
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