Twilight
A review of these two vampire movies that points to the heart of what draws women to Edward, even in defference to Jacob
TWILIGHT and NEW MOON - FINDING EDWARD
I must begin with the fact that, while I love to read, I haven’t dared pick up a pleasure book for fear of having it derail me from the job at hand – finding a job! Movies, on the other hand, while admittedly frequently falling short of the written word, can still provide you with the escape with less guilt because they don’t require as much time.
I had already seen Twilight but watched again prior to viewing New Moon so I could more easily transition to the next segment without relying on memory. To begin with I am a female who enjoys well done fantasy and sci-fi (e.g. Avatar, Star Trek, etc.). I expected to enjoy the movies. And because what we have seen thus far builds on extreme attraction and romance I expected it would appeal to women, perhaps more than men. Although I understand that the upcoming, Eclipse will provide men with more of the violence, struggles and ego conflict many seem to enjoy.
I’m certain that each viewer will have honed in on certain facets of these two movies and will have walked away with their feelings based on what appealed or didn’t. For me, while I loved the fantasy and the special effects that draw me towards these kinds of movies, the greatest impact was how well it captured my view of women and what we truly want from men.
Yes, so many of us are guilty of fantasizing about the “knight in shining armor” yet ironically not understanding why it doesn’t happen in today’s dynamics. So, if I may, let me begin to first epitomize why and how these movies move the basic spirit, nature and heart of so many women, or at least this woman. Then, I’ll discuss the horrendous Catch 22 of where we are in 2010.
Let’s forget about today’s women who, more frequently than not, are challenged to step up to a self-sustaining or supporting career while displaying strong independence and sense of self, feeling pressured to put ourselves on some kind of physical display all the while also wanting an “Edward” type man. Let’s focus on why we melt for Edward (looks aside – although they certainly don’t hurt!) and why he embodies what so many women desire.
Edward
He knows himself. He accepts himself. He is himself. He comes across as the “man’s man”, a man who knows what he wants and while respecting the woman of his desire, does not allow that desire to intimidate him. Yes, he has frustrations (don’t we all) but he owns himself and his behaviors. He exudes a kind of silent, brooding strength without losing that “bad boy” aura that we, as women seem almost chemically drawn to. He is strong enough to love Bella, show it, own it and still own his manhood. He provides her with a sense of mystery and strength mingled with an unabashed yearning and desire. It’s one of those things that is so hard to explain or create – you simply know it, feel it, and sense it when you see it in a man.
More importantly, and to add fuel to an already raging fire, he is a man who is driven by his own ethics or desire to abide them. His love and passion for Bella are tempered by a kind of love which drives him to protect, shelter and put “her” best needs first and foremost. Yet he manages to do this without becoming a whimp, without letting her dictate to him, without losing her interest and more importantly her respect. He loves her respectfully yet with manly grace rarely seen these days.
He loves Bella the way a woman needs and wants (even if she doesn’t realize her own needs) to be loved. He doesn’t need to manipulate her feelings or thoughts, he doesn’t need to boast, he just is quietly, passionately and truly who and what he is. She sees it, feels it and more importantly wants it.
Women (Bella)
Granted, there will be dissenters who vehemently disagree with what I’m about to share. But in my defense I have lived, married, loved and compromised enough in my lifetime to see the mistakes, feel the truth and wish only that I had my youth to do it over again employing the things I’ve learned and understand.
We want these Edward type men. We wonder where and why they have gone. Strangely, many men probably also wonder why and where the kind of women they crave have gone as well. As women we wanted our rights to vote, to make choices, to own property, etc. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m an advocate that if I’m doing the same job as John Doe I deserve the same pay. I believe in women’s intelligence and all that implies. But I also understand that while we want the same “rights” we are not the same; thank god! One has only to look at what a majority of women enjoy versus many men to see that to some degree there are many areas in which we have been engineered to be drawn and attracted to different kinds of emotions and needs. We frustrate over the differences, yet often don’t realize or understand why so many of them are necessary if we want these “Edward” type of men.
I believe there is a darn good reason for this. However, it isn’t women alone that have changed this dynamic merely by wanting the same human rights. The world and economic circumstances have also had a hand in the paradigm shifts that have occurred in the roles between men and women and ultimately the male/female interactions we experience.
I don’t think merely because dad’s aren’t teaching their son’s to open the car door for the females anymore or that females don’t expect or necessarily want them to do so is responsible for the lack of available “Edwards” (minus the vampire part of course). But the many changes in women’s behaviors, needs and abilities as well as the requirement or need to work outside the home has had its effect. In so many ways, subtle or unintended as they may be, we as women and the world at large, has emasculated a vast majority of our men. They have become lost. We don’t need or require them to “protect and shelter” us. We don’t have to count on them for what we can do ourselves. We may even be better at providing those things for ourselves than the men we surround ourselves with. We’ve left many men confused and confounded as what it is we really expect or want. We deliver many mixed messages. Roles are blurred. We’ve all forgotten needs and desires in exchange for roles and expectations.
More sadly, rather than men seeing this and desiring to find their way back to being the “Edwards” so many of us desire, instead in their resentment and insecurity they have latched on to philosophies like those Tom Leykis espouses as the counter balance to today’s women. Angry as that makes me at times, who can blame them. At least someone is providing direction to what has become known as Mars versus Venus.
ULTIMATELY...
I’m not writing to provide everyone with some magical solution to women’s search for their own “Edward”. But I was so moved by how profoundly they captured the true essence of what draws Bella and Edward together that I felt driven to write it down. Yes, he’s a compelling, mysterious vampire but my take away and connection to the story had nothing to do with his condition so much as the fact that he represents a needle in a haystack in the sea of men. Perhaps being 107 years old he hasn’t gotten caught up in all paradigm shifts between men and women. And, maybe more importantly, Bella is able to foster this fact. Truth is, I’d let him bite my neck and take me to immortality to live and embrace the true passion of yen and yang differences between the sexes. Assuming that is, that I can still vote, etc.
Twilight
I have to admit, as an adult woman, I read the entire "Twilight" series. I am not obsessed by it -- but it was a fun, escapist read, even though I still have some reservations about the obsessive nature of love as depicted in these books.
"New Moon" was better, production-wise, than "Twilight" (I know, damned by faint praise.) But does Kristin Stewart have more than two expressions? She alternates between a vacant stare that is meant to denote intensity, and a stare with a tiny frown between her eyes that denotes distress. She speaks in a monotone and slouches around when she's not curled up in a fetal position, leaving one to
Watch The Twilight saga New Moon (2009) Online for Free
http://www.vaatch.com/movies/view.php?entryID=172
wonder -- what exactly does Edward see in this girl, anyway? And Robert Pattinson -- He reminds me of "The Look" that Ben Stiller "perfected" in "Zoolander" -- i.e., a dozen looks, and they all look precisely alike. He can, at least, scowl nicely -- and as a result, tends to overuse it. Basically, though -- he can't act. This is a man who is meant to be burning with passion, and the only thing I can focus on is "what god-awful shade of lipstick did they put on that boy?" The rest of the Cullens got short shrift in this movie, with only token appearances. Jacob's transformations were never fully explained in the movie -- unless you have read the book, you have NO idea what in the heck he's talking about, much less why. I have to wonder how often he practiced whipping off his shirt to help Bella when she hits her head - it was pretty practiced, and obviously self-conscious, as if he could just hear the squeals of the teenagers in the theatre as he did it. But at least Taylor Lautner was allowed to show a certain engaging charm. Dakota Fanning as Jane looked good in amber contacts, but her role was extremely brief, and basically consisted of staring and marching around in odd Mary Jane-style shoes. Michael Sheen was rather intriguing as Aro, and actually came closest to my mental image of the characters.
Towards the end of the movie, the editing got pretty sloppy. The transitions were abrupt and, again, if you hadn't read the book, you'd be wondering where in the hell the yellow Porsche came from. The transition from Italy to Forks was possibly the most abrupt, and failed to re-establish the connection between Bella and Edward.
The book has enough faults of its own in character development -- I guess it's too much to hope that a movie would be able to correct those faults.
Twilight is the young adult drama based on the popular Stephanie Meyer book
The Twilight DVD released to much fanfare on March 20th. It only took one day for the DVD to top the sales charts for its opening week. It is not surprising given the phenomenon that is Twilight. This saga has become a cultural phenomenon to teenage young adult fans all over the country.
Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) ignite a forbidden love affair that becomes dangerous when the rebellious teen and the vampire living peacefully in the real world encounter a dangerous group of ruthless vamps.
This introductory story to the Twilight saga is a compelling drama. Women love the innocent romance, but men might also appreciate that superhero element offered by Edward, who seeks to protect his love.
Bella, a teenage girl is in love with Edward Cullen, a vampire.
Twilight Review
03/25/09
First of all, can I just say that there is something seriously wrong with a line like: “Death was peaceful, easy. Life is harder.” in a movie targeting teenage girls. Now I’m not the most conservative of critics. Hell, I made my own vampire flick targeting teenage girls. It’s called Thicker Than Water: The Vampire Diaries Part 1, and I welcomed the expansion of our mutual sub-genre into this new and most fruitful of demographics. I had heard rumors that the film was ‘dangerous’ but I really couldn’t imagine how it could be so. From what I heard, there is hardly any blood in the film, the gore, only hinted at. Then I saw it. What’s dangerous about this film is precisely that. This is not a horror film. It is a romance. That is its strength and the secret to its appeal. The horror is treated almost dismissively. It’s a story about impossible love and impossible ideals. There is a group on Facebook called ‘Because I saw Twilight, I have unrealistic expectations of men.’ Remarkable self-awareness. Edward Cullen is that impossible ideal, strong, handsome, utterly devoted, yet fatally dangerous. Bella, in love to the point that she is willing to become a vampire to be with him, gives it a fatalistic devotion that I can only compare to Juliet’s. But alas, their love must remain unrequited because he cannot ‘lose control’. A perfect passion paradox. Not to mention allegory for what happens in the backseat of dad’s Volvo.
Personally I was unmoved by this most theatrical of displays. But that is not saying much. I am, after all, not a teenage girl. Were I such, I would, perhaps, drool over Edward Cullen, hiss at Bella, the skinny bitch, and generally cream my Gap panties over thoughts of jumping atop tall pine trees with my supernatural stud who never has to go ‘all the way’. But what I would not do is revel in the mischief and mayhem that is this film’s birthright. As such Twilight actually does a disservice to the sub-genre. It’s really a very traditional Hollywood romance. The loner Goth chicks that I thought it was championing would actually find this kind of dull and ‘establishmentary’. They are not the target audience. Which is really what makes this film so dangerous. In its attempts to whitewash the sub-genre and make it accessible, Twilight actually appeals to the most innocent romantics of the seventh grade; pimply girls with dreams of prom night. Not the black-clad eye-liner crew in the corner of the cafeteria.
This realization hit me like a ton of bricks. Twilight and its ‘vegetarian’ Judy Bloompires with their day-glo skin and eternal high school attendance are indeed an insidious force. They are creating a generation of girls with ‘unrealistic expectations of men’. Too bad their male counterparts will all be a bunch of X-Box toting man-children. And girls - if you’re reading this - no man is worth it! Get off that ledge and move on! No matter what Bella says, death is not the easy way out. Just remember that this too will pass. As will Twilight.
The movie Twilight I have tried for hours thinking of oe word to describe this movie and I finally came to a conclusion INTENSE! Twilight is one of the best movies I have ever seen and i'm 13 I watch a lot of TV. I know what your all thinking shes only 13 what would she know about movies in a sophisticated way? Well I my life has personally been changed I never used to think vampire movies such as Twilight were real movies until now. Twilight makes "the lost boys","30 days of night", "once bitten",and "fright night" look like jokes!Robert Pattinson who plays Edward Cullins is a very passionate actor "I want to believe its all real" says Robert "I mean who wouldnt vampires, romance,action its all too great" Right he is too if you havent watched Twilight yet and your looking up reviews for it to see if its "good" or not then here are some highlights:Edward cullins ,vampire madly in love with Bella the new transfer at her old high school and is trying to keep his temptation quiet.Bella transfered to her new school from Phoenix,arizona to visit her father for sometime while her mom and soon-to-be step father look for a house in Jacksonville,Florida. Its a riveting story of intense love that I hope youll watch and I know youll love thank you for reading my review.
sincerely yours,
Kerri Ann
The movie lacked the love that is Edward & Bella!
Let me start by saying I know that adaptations can be difficult. The story had such potential, the adaptation failed miserably. Key elements were skipped over and the story that played out on screen isn't a fraction close to the story in the book. Edward and Bella's blossoming love through time spent together was lost somewhere along the way...maybe in the trees. The key elements that I missed the most was Edwards glorious meadow and the trip that lead them there. The amazing struggle he faced in the meadow as he let Bella get closer to him was lost to a small patch of grass off school property. What happebned to the time spent in her room and the conveniently overlooked confession from Edward that he stays at night and listens to her sleep. The revelation that she speaks the words "I Love You Edward" in her sleep, where was all of the key elements that lead us all to adore this couple? What happened to the times he hummed her to sleep while holding her, when the love grows stronger and deeper than either could possibly imagine? The prom was another total loss, right along side the whole James fight scene. What happened to the revelation about Alice? Someone over at Summit thought of a teen audience and these people need to have other projects to work on during New Moon's production! I would have gladly sat through a low budget 3-4 hour film at double/triple the cost for some insight as to why they love each other play out on screen! If you have read the books and are holding off on seeing the movie, please be prepared to read your books again! It was truly that HORRIBLE for me! The cast however was a great choice, no complaints there! I wish there was some way for a remake!
