Here's something we bet even diehard Twihards didn't know about the Cullen family of vampires from 'New Moon' and 'Twilight:' They keep kosher.Well, sort of, says screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, who has adapted the first three of Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' books for the screen. "They're kosher vampires," she tells JewishJournal.com. At least they're kosher to the extent that they're "vegetarians," which, in vampire parlance, means they don't bite people, though they do feed on animals. So, as with kosher dietary laws, there's a moral and ethical component to the Cullens' diet.
Not that that means Edward (Robert Pattinson) and his family are Jews, or followers of any other faith, for that matter. "Vampires aren't very Jewish," Rosenberg says. "The most basic thing about them is that they are born out of Christian mythology." Yet Meyer, a devout Mormon, has avoided shibboleths of Christianity (crucifixes, holy water) or any other religion in creating the 'Twilight' vampire lore, and Rosenberg, who is Jewish, has remained faithful to that conception in the movies she's written.
Still, Rosenberg's kosher comment makes you wonder: what would it really take to be a kosher vampire? Would you have to avoid chomping on people who eat pork or shrimp? If you drain blood from someone who's eaten beef, do you have to avoid also chowing down on milk-drinkers? Or can you separate meat and dairy by using two sets of fangs? Can you wash down animal blood with a glass of Manischewitz? Can you still eat chicken soup if it's made with garlic? Can lion be served with lamb?
Indeed, it's hard to think of any Jewish vampires in pop culture, save for Shagal (played by Alfie Bass), in Roman Polanski's 1967 horror/comedy movie 'The Fearless Vampire Killers.' In one scene, a woman tries to ward off Shagal with a crucifix, prompting him to remark, "Oy vey, have you got the wrong vampire."
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