Confessions of a Twilight Obsession

This twilight blog is long overdue, but I have finally brought myself to write about 'twilight' and the somewhat obsession I had with it leading up to the movie. First, let me start by thanking Belle for giving me the first book to read. I carried it with me for about 4 weeks before I actually opened it. I took it with me on a road trip to San Diego, I lugged it around in my purse and even to our staff retreat in the canyons, but never had a chance to actually open it. Finally, one night, when there was nothing good on TV, I decided to give it a crack....and crack it turned out to be!! I made it through the first couple of chapters and thought, what a great story! I had never heard of the books before then and I surely didn't know it was about vampires - and I am afraid had I known I probably wouldn't have given it a chance. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by the story line and immediately fell in love with the characters and the element of 'pure' romance that the book entailed. I quickly finished twilight and then new moon in 2 days. I finished the whole series in about 8 days. I have had a lot of time to think about what exactly it is that drew me to twilight and why it has become a personal obsession.

First, I am intrigued at the author's imagination and how she was able to come up with such detail to describe each element of the story - from Carlisle's desire to be a good vampire to the La Pushe reservation and the development of the werewolves, to the role of the Volturi. She left no stone unturned in tying all of the stories and details together and I thought it was genius.

Second, I think the level of suspense as the story built up in each book was amazing. James' pursuit of Bella in twilight, Edward's sudden departure and Bella's jump off the cliff that initiated the turn of events in New Moon, Bella's dreaded kiss with Jacob in Eclipse, and of course the bed crushing 'love' leading to the conception of Renesmee and Bella finally becoming a vampire in Breaking Dawn were just a few of the highlights of the series that kept me glued to the pages.

Third, I have always been somewhat of a hopeless romantic, at least in my subconscious mind I am; when I try to materialize the romance, it never seems to work out. Anyway, the character of Edward definitely surfaced those emotions for me. I don't think it was so much that he was the 'perfect guy', but more so that he was the 'old-fashioned', 'not afraid to express the depth of my love for you', the ' i can't exist in a world where you don't exist' type of guy. I mean - what girl doesn't want to hear all that? So the author's characterizations really had me taken and I just love the 'domination' that Edward possesses. Ha!!!

Lastly, I love that the books appeal to a wide audience - from 12 yr old girls to young adults to 60 yr old grandmas and even guys of all ages. The love story, the Cullen family dynamics, the good vs. evil aspect, the super-powers and the fanasy of being a vampire, the thrilling action and the character distinctions collectively draws people of all ages and cultures to this story. I have heard many say it is 'not the best written' book and I agree with that, but it just goes to show that you don't always have to follow the rules of literature to write an appealing story - you just have to have a good story!!!

Now for my review of the movie:

For the most part I liked it. I had to see it 3 times to really appreciate it. The first time I saw it, I think I went in with high expectations and was horribly disappointed, though months of daily youtubes and twilight searches may have contributed to the spoil. However, when I decided to go for the 2nd time to see it, I mentally prepared myself to just watch the movie as it was and separate it from the book altogether, which was hard to do, but I managed it. Thankfully, I really liked it the 2nd time around.

I think the movie could have emphasized the 'love story' a little more. I feel like it was all so rushed. There were a lot of 'silent' moments in the movie which made me wonder if they were getting paid by the word!! One of the greatest aspects of the books are that they really emphasized the uncompromising love that Bella and Edward had for each other. You kind of get that toward the end of the movie, but I don't think it did that aspect justice. I also feel like there were a lot of akward moments like the tree climbing, the flying out of Edward's window, the wierd field trip, and of course the all too menacing looks that Edward often gives Bella that only people that have read twilight or midnight sun would really understand, but I guess for cinematography purposes, it works!

What I really liked about the movie was the Cullen family. Edward looked really, really good and Carlisle and Emmett couldn't have been hotter. With the exception of Rosalie, I think the women casted were very beautiful. Rosalie should have kept her brown hair even if she's described with blonde hair. It would have made her beautiful as the book describes her to be - it's the least they could have done with the person they chose (ouch!) On a brighter note, my favorte parts of the movie were - the first exchange in biology class, the Port Angeles rescue, the first kiss (of course), and the prom scene (mainly because I love that song "flightless bird").

So that concludes this session of 'confessions of a twilight obsession'. I tag anyone and everyone else who has read the Twilight series to share your confessions - come on, you know you want to!!!