It’s a Twilight Thing? So, explain it to me!

With the holidays over, I can safely say, I was bitten by the Twilight bug.  Thanks to my teen daughter, and her need to see the movie again and again, I finally had the time to see what all the fuss was about.  I read all the books in three days.  Yep, I was hooked, but increasingly I wonder why.

While the stories pulled me in and I had seen the film before ever reading a page of the series, why did I feel cheated the way the story was told on film after reading the book?  Is it because I am a much older reader, pulled in by the history of the Quileute Tribe and Cullen family more than the teen forbidden love?  Is it because I am a child of more darker vampire stories like Anne Rice’s work? I was disappointed that more was not shown of Carlisle’s hisory during Bella’s first visit to the Cullen home as it was in the book.  The flight through the trees was impressive, but hardly necessary.

I will admit, I found the cinematic Edward Cullen creepy.  No offense to Rob Pattinson, who intrigues me as a future One2Watch4, but he wasn’t the Edward I envisioned while reading the books. Of course, after multiple viewings of the film (which I make my daughter pay for out of her own money ), I can see the nuances of his performance where he seemed much older than the character’s 17 years.  That was the point after all and I hope to see more of that in the sequels.

I had no issue with the other kids.  Bella even reminded me of my own daughter in the way she dressed and acted.  The suffer-in-silence type.  Jasper kind of grew on me, but more because I wanted to check under his bed for monsters before he went to sleep.  Hopefully his story will be told well in Eclipse and more of what he is about comes out for film audiences.  It would be a shame to not do that story justice.

The love story certainly pushed a few buttons.  Who is not enamoured with a love so strong and binding?  Not that I haven’t found a similar love, but as time passes, you seek things that remind you of that feeling, that passion, that tends to diminish after years of living a life of routine and the mundane, even if it is with your true love.

For all it’s faults, I can’t shake my attraction to the story, although I question some of why the characters did, or accepted, the things they did.  Probably too much thinking on my part, but I can’t help it!  Sue me.

I hope beyond hope that Summit’s rush to film and release New Moon, which is so obviously financially driven, doesn’t become the Twilight fanchise’s X-Men: The Last Stand.  My plea is, if it isn’t working by September, for God’s sake, push the release date back!  There is no crime in waiting.  I think fans are willing to wait for something great, instead of something you can put on a T-shirt.

So, tell me, what is it about the books and film that pulls you in?