‘Breaking Dawn’ birth scene causing seizures in the audience?
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Apparently some of the fainting at screenings of ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 1’ isn’t over the epic romance between Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. Folks are allegedly having epileptic seizures.
A report Friday said a California man and his girlfriend were watching the vampire love story when, during a particularly gory scene, he started convulsing.
‘I didn’t really remember what happened after that I think I blacked out. According to her [his lady, Kelly Bauman], I was shaking and mumbling different noises,’ Brandon Gephart told ABC News.
The scene in question involves Kristen Stewart’s Bella giving violent birth to half-human, half-vampire spawn, a situation not only bloody and frenetic in nature but also featuring special effects including sudden bursts of light. This kind of content has been known to trigger ‘photosensitive epilepsy,’ which can send a viewer into mini-seizures.
Another man who asked to remain anonymous reported similar symptoms after watching the scene at a theater in Salt Lake City. (Don’t worry, dude, your ‘Twilight’ secret is safe with us.)
A request for comment from ‘Twilight’ production company Summit Entertainment wasn’t immediately returned Friday. The frequency, intensity, pattern and size of a flashing light source, as well as the viewer’s distance from the light, all factor into photosensitive epilepsy, according to the nonprofit Epilepsy Therapy Project.
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-- Matt Donnelly
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