Twilight screenwriter, Melissa Rosenberg, tells the Jewish Journal that “her” vampires are not like any others. “They’re kosher vampires,” Rosenberg says, laughing.

To call them “kosher” may be a stretch, but the leading figure, Edward Cullen, and his family are all “vegetarians” — which in this context means they don’t drink human blood, though they do eat animals — and therefore they are not killers, but hunters. Their anomalous way of life, in which diet is not simply a carnal drive but a moral choice, makes them outsiders, not only from the world of mortals but also from the larger vampire culture, who see the Cullens as a threat to the vampire establishment. The story’s human protagonist, Bella, idolizes the Cullens, and, you could say, sees them as a light unto the vampire nation.

Well, what do you think? Are these vampires really different? Are all vampires “Jewish”, in the sense that they are eternal outsiders, as Rosenberg speculates? I am not sure, but I do know that any time you watch a movie, and ask who is the “Jewish character”, you will learn a great deal about what being Jewish means — not to the character, but to yourself. Now that’s always intersting.