I'm dying to see this film; I've been waiting, just like all the other females in love with Edward (or Jacob), all year for this moment. I'm really looking forward to the *first* time I get to see New Moon, just like I still remember the *first* time I saw Twilight. (Sidenote: I'll never forget the first time I heard Robert Pattinson singing 'Let Me Sign' during the climatic moment when Bella almost dies...I didn't know that was him singing at the time, I just remember thinking it was a beautiful scene with equally stunning music/lyrics)
But I've been doing my research and looking at pro- and anti- Twilight blogs and articles. Most people love it; some people loathe it. And it's very interesting to look on both sides of the phenomenon. No matter if you love or hate it, chances are you spend some amount of time talking about it (whether you want to or not).
The only real "issue" I have with the whole Twilight series is Bella. Bella, Bella, Bella - she is NOT the kind of role model I would want my child to look up to. Granted, she's just a character from a book with an almost cartoonish, over-amplified range of emotions. Every girl has felt what Bella feels during the book series; hopefully, it's just never as intense as what she goes through. I wouldn't want my daughter to revolve her life (and death) around a boy, hot sparkly vampire or not. I would want my daughter to pull herself up by her bootstraps and get over it. I would want her to recognize when to fight for love and when to walk away. Basically, I wouldn't want her to be such a freaking whiny pansy...which Bella is 110% of the time.
I think most people, girls/women in particular, are drawn to this story because it reminds us of a time in our lives where we felt, or wanted to feel, like Bella does. We want(ed) the fairy tale. We want to believe that we are uniquely special, and despite our mediocre flaws, great things can happen to us (that will make every other girl in the world jealous). We want Mr. Perfect who desires us on every level: emotionally, physically, and apparently, even in a hungry kind of way. We want to be the center of light for a boy/guy/vampire/whatever and we want to be treasured like we are the only thing in the world that matters. I get all of that; I get why women/girls like this story and why they fall in love with the characters. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Robert Pattinson has a smile that could outshine the sun** and perfect toussled hair (when he washes and styles it!); Jacob isn't too bad-looking either, although I can't properly moon over him until he's legal, so I'll save that post for another day...in a few months :)
What I'm trying to say is, I get it - I get Twilight. All parts of it. I understand why girls love it, guys hate it and most people just scratch their heads going "I don't get what all the fuss is about..." I understand all of that, and sometimes I catch myself saying "Why am I so involved with a fantasy story?" The answer is easy: because I want to be. I'm a girl. A dreamer. A hopeless romantic. I want to believe that love that strong and that demanding exists for someone, somewhere out there in the world. I just don't want to be the one living it. I'd rather pay $8 a ticket to watch it on-screen, and then go home and demand to my husband that he SPARKLE more, dammit!
**I haven't felt my heart flutter so much at a boy's smile on-screen since Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You...those dimples! I miss Heath a lot; it's going to be hard watching movies in the future thinking he could've played the role so much better than the actor they picked.
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