Twilight: From Book to Film

One of the reasons I am thankful to be the mother of a teenage daughter is that the young adult books are so much cooler today than they were when I was a teenager. I could go on for days about everything the Sweet Valley High series was lacking back in the late 1980's and early 1990's. For starters, there were no vampires gnawing away at Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield. Yes, I was a morbid teen with a major fascination with vampires, werewolves and witches. Apparently, judging from the young adult literary market today, I wasn't the only one who wanted more out of books. Many of my favorite young adult writers are right around my age, suggesting that they grew up to write the kind of books they wanted to read.

Stephenie Meyer is among that list of thirty-somethings who took the pen in hand and sought out to create a better love story. The Twilight series has been on fire since shortly after the first book, Twilight, hit shelves in 2005. The series tells the story of a young woman named Isabella Swan, (Bella for short, if you please,) who moves to the small town of Forks, Washington, to allow her mother room to breathe with her new husband. Reunited with her father, there is a part of Bella that is unhappy with her choice to move to Forks. She's spent most of her life living in bright and sunny Phoenix, Arizona. In Forks it always seems to be either raining or snowing, and Bella quickly falls into a somber mood.

Joining school mid-semester, Bella finds herself intrigued by the Cullen family, particularly Edward. The Cullens are the adopted children of a local doctor and his wife, Carlisle and Esme Cullen. Not only are they obviously rich, they are the most beautiful and mysterious people on campus. The Cullens keep to themselves, that is until Edward saves Bella's life for the first time and opens her up to a forbidden world of secrecy. It isn't long before Bella puts the clues together and discovers Edward's true nature: he is a vampire. Bella is excited by the danger attached to Edward and Edward is drawn in by an uncontrollable desire for Bella's blood: components for disaster or one of the greatest love stories of the decade?

Between the release of the final book in the series, Breaking Dawn, in August 2008 and the film adaptation of Twilight on November 21, 2008, many critics are torn. I have stated in many of my reviews past that Breaking Dawn was somewhat anti-climactic for me, so I won't go into that here. What I will say is that the Twilight movie was fantastic. After my disappointment with Breaking Dawn, I wasn't sure what to expect from the film. I never read or rely on the critics, because frankly I like to draw my own conclusions and form my own opinions. Nine times out of a ten, if a critic says a movie is bad, it rises quickly to the top of my favorites list. So, I wasn't surprised when after hearing all the negative reviews on Twilight just how much I enjoyed it.

The thing about Twilight that drew me in from the start was how realistically Meyer captured that head over heels abandon with which teenage girls often fall in love or at least daydream about it. There are very few girls who did not daydream of their very own Edward, be he a vampire, a prince or some other fantastical savior from the mundane life. Edward is the portrait of the perfect boyfriend. Noble, loyal, charming and gentlemanly, his best qualities are enhanced by his conflicted nature. Here he is a "monster" in a man's body looking for redemption when the ultimate temptation lays down at his feet and says, "Take me, I'm yours."

The directors and screenwriter took very few liberties with the adaptation. There was hardly a scene I couldn't recall with a delighted grin as the story unraveled across the screen. The Cullens were exceptionally beautiful, Bella's insecurity balanced well against the wisdom of an old soul that resulted after years of caring for her flighty mother.

Robert Pattinson did a fantastic job portraying Edward and Kristin Stewart played the perfect Bella. It was like watching the characters I'd envisioned while reading the book come to life from the pages. The most accurately portrayed character of all was Alice Cullen. The moment Ashley Greene stepped up to Bella, hugged her and announced that they were going to be very close friends, I got chills. Alice was one of my favorite characters in the series, so it was awesome to see her live and in person.

The only scene I had a complaint with was near the end, when Bella is being tracked by the bloodthirsty vampire, James. I really loved the scene in the hotel when Jasper and Alice were with Bella and Bella learned more about Alice. In the book, Bella really had to think on how she could outsmart Alice's ability to see the future, but the in film she just easily walked away and no one noticed.

If you're a fan of the books, the film won't disappoint. I can honestly say I enjoyed it and had a great time talking with my teen on the way home about my favorite parts in comparison to hers. On many things we both agreed, including that the actor playing Jacob Black has the whitest teeth in the universe and Robert Pattinson is a fantastic Edward Cullen. Get out and see it if you haven't already! It's a great reason to go to the movies--with or without a teenage daughter.

The Vampire Appeal: An Essay for Susan

After my last post about the beautiful, but deadly vampires that had been forgotten in the lists of hottest vampires of all time, Susan broached the question: What makes vampires so appealing. Of course, being the lifelong vampire lover that I am, I could not let this question go unanswered.

For many of us, the first brush with death comes early in life. Be it the loss of a beloved family pet or even more tragically, a friend or family member. I was seven years old when the reality of my own mortality sunk in. While I had been through the funerals of a couple of great-aunts by this point, it hadn't quite made sense to me what was going on at that time. It wasn't until my grandfather died that the truth started to sink in. Everyone dies, and there's nothing we can do about it. Quite a revelation for someone so young. Like many other children who attended church, my questions at that time were steeped in religion. Some said upon dying our souls went to heaven, my Roman Catholic neighbors said purgatory. Either way, it meant leaving Earth, a prospect that didn't seem appealing to me at the time.

Being only seven, I didn't struggle with it very much, but it had sparked something inside of me that would drive a lifelong search for answers about the truth. Now before I diverge from my intended path, let's just say that when at least three teenagers I had known on some level wound up dead during my time in high school, it really opened up a can of fear. Teenagers tend to be self-destructive simply because they are laughing in the face of their own mortality. It's a "you can't touch me, Death" sort of game that nearly all teens play on some level. This began my obsession with vampires.

Many of the myths surrounding vampires made them seem dull and listless, but the novel and film industry found sex appeal. Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee lured the lovelies in with hypnotic powers, but in the 1970's Anne Rice gave literary birth to Lestat de Lioncourt. A tragic, Byronic rock star of a hero, Lestat made clear the agony and ecstasy entwined around both life and death. Lestat's suffering made the ability to live forever seem exciting and dreamy, while many of the fledgling vampires he created seemed loathe that life went on and on for ages.

In the face of eternity, many believe impulsively that they would want to live forever. The young who are in their prime believe that eternity will always feel so fresh and exciting, but then there are those who have lived past that wonder who might not be so quick to choose eternity. Eternity to someone who has lived a full life might seem like too much. One of the greatest appeals of the vampire is the opportunity to continue. Knowing that one had an eternity to live would make it easier to relax. "No need to climb Mount Everest today, I have all eternity for that..." There's no hurry. Since many people spend their days thinking about how there isn't enough time to get it all done, it can take away from the quality of life and make you long for more time.

Sure, they make vampires beautiful in fiction. We need only look at the lists that have been popping up all over the net with the release of Twilight to see the sex appeal is definitely there, but what about the story? Bella Swan tells us that the entire Cullen family is indescribably beautiful. It practically makes one ache just to look at them, but Bella's real reaction and attraction to Edward does not begin until after he saves her life the first time and she discovers what he really is. Again, there it is. The potential for more time.

In a nutshell, the physical appeal of the vampire is only a small fraction of what draws us to them. In essence, they are freedom from death, the opportunity for more time in a world that is absolutely governed by time.