The Stars of Twilight

Before I post this interview, I want to thank Gil for opening up and trying to share the Native heritage with everyone. I'm from the Choctaw and Cherokee tribes and I hold my heritage dear to my heart, so thank you Gil.

Twitter users are having fun discovering Native American talent thanks to the exciting New Moon spotlight of Native American characters. On the forefront is actor Gil Birmingham, Twilight's Billy Black. He's amassed an amazing 69,000 plus followers and has created much buzz on Twitter with his many public appearances. He created excitement at the Native American music awards in October and with the reprising of his Billy Black character in New Moon which debuted late last month.
Birmingham who is from the Comanche tribe, tells Examiner.com's Twitter Entertainment Examiner that as Native Americans, "We are a people with a strong sense of history and our traditions, but we are more than just our history. We live and work all over the country, and are not all living or were raised on reservations. People all over the world are fascinated with the Native American way of life, but they think we dress in traditional regalia and chant all the time, lol. We don’t. While we hold our sacred traditions very high, we dress, talk, act and live like everyone else. I believe in the oneness of human beings, and that all are connected."
When the Twitter Entertainment Examiner asked Birmingham what Billy Black would think of Native American Heritage Day falling on Black Friday he said, "The irony in choosing the biggest shopping day of the year as Native American Heritage Day would not be lost by Billy Black. Statistically, with an unemployment rate for Native Americans of 25% nationwide, which can climb as high has nearly 70% on the rez, it is hard not to see the irony of the date that was selected to honor Native American Heritage. That being said, it is good to focus attention on American Indians and our contributions to society."

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A couple of weeks ago Twitter was aghast at a statement made by the Vatican's Monsignor Franco Perazzolo, of the Pontifical Council of Culture. This week Gil Birmingham who plays 'Billy Black' in the Twilight series weighed in on the controversy in an exclusive interview with Examiner.com's Twitter Entertainment Examiner.

"The theme of vampires in Twilight combines a mixture of excesses that as ever is aimed at young people and gives a heavy esoteric element. It is once again that age-old trick or ideal formula of using extremes to make an impact at the box office. This film is nothing more than a moral vacuum with a deviant message and as such should be of concern." ~ Monsignor Franco Perazzolo, Pontifical Council of Culture, The Vatican

According to the Pontificium Consilium de Cultura website, The Pontifical Council of Culture directly assists the Pope in the matter of addressing pop culture issues as well as other matters involving religious indifference and unbelief. The site states in part:

The Pontifical Council for Culture is that department (Dicastery) of the Roman Curia which assists the Pontiff in the exercise of his supreme pastoral office for the benefit and service of the universal Church and of particular Churches concerning the encounter between the saving message of the Gospel and cultures, in the study of the weighty phenomena of ; the rift between the Gospel and cultures; indifference in matters of religion; unbelief.

Birmingham provided this response:

I have not read the entire press release from Monsignor Franco Perazzolo, only quotes in articles, and I’m always reluctant to comment on things without reading the original statement in its entirety.
However, if the statements are correct and not published out of context, it would appear that the Monsignor and the Catholic Church have failed to look past the stereotype of Vampires and Werewolves, and have missed some very important themes in the film, such as true love, friendship, acceptance of all people (even Vampires and Werewolves) for who they are, pain and dealing with grief, immortality and the loss of soul.
These are literary concepts that show up in literature throughout the ages. It is a love story between two characters from two warring tribes. Shakespeare called them Montagues and Capulets; Stephenie Meyers calls them Cullens and Blacks (and humans).

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A couple of weeks ago Twitter was aghast at a statement made by the Vatican's Monsignor Franco Perazzolo, of the Pontifical Council of Culture. This week Gil Birmingham who plays 'Billy Black' in the Twilight series weighed in on the controversy in an exclusive interview with Examiner.com's Twitter Entertainment Examiner.

"The theme of vampires in Twilight combines a mixture of excesses that as ever is aimed at young people and gives a heavy esoteric element. It is once again that age-old trick or ideal formula of using extremes to make an impact at the box office. This film is nothing more than a moral vacuum with a deviant message and as such should be of concern." ~ Monsignor Franco Perazzolo, Pontifical Council of Culture, The Vatican

According to the Pontificium Consilium de Cultura website, The Pontifical Council of Culture directly assists the Pope in the matter of addressing pop culture issues as well as other matters involving religious indifference and unbelief. The site states in part:

The Pontifical Council for Culture is that department (Dicastery) of the Roman Curia which assists the Pontiff in the exercise of his supreme pastoral office for the benefit and service of the universal Church and of particular Churches concerning the encounter between the saving message of the Gospel and cultures, in the study of the weighty phenomena of ; the rift between the Gospel and cultures; indifference in matters of religion; unbelief.

Birmingham provided this response:

I have not read the entire press release from Monsignor Franco Perazzolo, only quotes in articles, and I’m always reluctant to comment on things without reading the original statement in its entirety.
However, if the statements are correct and not published out of context, it would appear that the Monsignor and the Catholic Church have failed to look past the stereotype of Vampires and Werewolves, and have missed some very important themes in the film, such as true love, friendship, acceptance of all people (even Vampires and Werewolves) for who they are, pain and dealing with grief, immortality and the loss of soul.
These are literary concepts that show up in literature throughout the ages. It is a love story between two characters from two warring tribes. Shakespeare called them Montagues and Capulets; Stephenie Meyers calls them Cullens and Blacks (and humans).

Source