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Egan Junior High School seventh-grader Katherine Foley demystifies her demographic’s cultish reaction to a recent book-to-movie hit.
It’s a best-selling series, even more popular than Harry Potter. It’s a young-adult book about vampires, but all ages have read it. It’s romantic, with forbidden lovers, a kiss of death and a mystery for a human girl to solve.
The love surrounding Edward and Bella, two very different characters, carries the book and the movie “Twilight” (Little, Brown Young Readers, 2006), a story about a vampire and girl who have fallen – foolishly – in love.
The “Twilight” craze picked up speed as the online world anticipated the movie, which premiered in November. Soon, everyone was reading the books, excited about this new fad.
Stephenie Meyer’s book serves excellent romance with a side of horror. As movie trailers hit the Web, fans were quite aware of the changes – is Rosalie (supposedly the most beautiful vampire) pretty enough? Is Edward amazing enough, and where, pray tell, is that velvet voice of his that we’ve all fallen in love with?
Both the text and the film drew fervent response, with crowds of people lining up to buy something – T-shirts, tickets for the film or the book itself. “Twilight” book fanatics anticipated the upcoming movie with foaming mouths – would it be enough to meet their expectations?
On a Thursday night in November, close to midnight, a large turnout of screaming girls awaited the premiere. As the movie prepared to start, the entire auditorium was screaming. “Twilight” was even more anticipated than the book “Breaking Dawn,” Meyer’s fourth in the series, released last year.
As the movie progressed, people were more than willing to compare the translation from page to screen. There’s the all-famous glare, as Edward – the main vampire and hottie in every scene – glowers at Bella, a human girl who just wants to fit in, through lunch-time and science on her first day at a new school. His introduction (which felt long-delayed as the movie’s opening minutes ticked by) made some girls swoon. And, of course, there’s rival Jacob Black, Bella’s new friend from the Quileute tribe who appears to have already fallen in love with her. Jacob’s edginess toward Edward is the result of something more than jealousy – a set-up for the sequel, due to premiere later this year?
Why do so many people love “Twilight”? Why did they anticipate the movie so much? Reflecting on the mix of genres in “Twilight,” you can see a hint of horror, some school drama and plenty of romance. We can’t forget the mystery that surrounds the book as we try to figure out who and what Edward is (he isn’t immediately revealed as a vampire), what’s up with his aversion to Bella and why he is so certain that he is putting her in danger. The superhero powers used by Edward and his sister Alice draw on a supernatural mix of mind reading and future telling, and horror appears in the scary chase and conflicts among vampires. The book is stuck in the romance section, causing some to shy away from it, but I would describe it as more of a perfect mix of genres.
It’s true that the book and movie are both very romantic. However, those who have bothered to read the book, then see the movie know that there is action and mystery between every line. Some love seeing the movie’s fight scene between Edward and the hostile vampire James, while others are content merely to hear about it from Edward’s voice in the book.
“The mystery wasn’t really solved until the end,” said Amy Shannon, a Los Altos seventh-grader who was less than ecstatic with the movie. “Also, I thought that parts of the book were missing in the movie. Isn’t Jacob supposed to tell Bella the whole story of the Quileutes and who Edward might be?”
Others, like Savannah Swan, thought that it was just awesome to see “Twilight” on the big screen.
“I was so excited! It was great!” she enthused.
Others just consider the movie another part of the “Twilight” world. New shirts showing the whole Cullen vampire clan, Edward and Bella and quotes, have been created. People are buying collector’s packs with all four books. Meyer is soon to publish a guide to “Twilight.” The world is grabbing hold of “Twilight” and everyone is sinking their teeth into it. It may not be forbidden, but it’s one of the sweetest books out there.
“Twilight” is available at Linden Tree Children’s Recordings & Books, 170 State St., Los Altos.
13 Comments
1"you get it! thanks!"
at Thursday, 29 January 2009 13:06
I was \\\'converted\\\' to the Twilight fandom last may, have read all the books, saw the movie three times... and got at least three friends hooked (not as severely, but still). i\\\'ve read a lot of articles lately, and this is one of the first to actually cast TWILIGHT in a pretty fair light - so many others try to write it off (and get many facts/points of interest wrong). my main problem with the movie was, actually, that they never mentioned jasper\\\'s power - crucial info in new moon! still love it!
2"blahh...."
at Thursday, 29 January 2009 13:19
i love TWILIGHT , the movie and the bookkss
bestest thing ever created =]
tehehehehe
3"More populur than HP?"
at Thursday, 29 January 2009 13:19
As much as I love Twilight, which is a lot, I have to point out that it isn't more popular than Harry Potter. Harry Potter is a worldwide raving success. Twilight is vaguely known outside the US, where yes, it is popular, but amongst many, many other things. It doesn't match up to HP by a long shot.
4Comment
at Thursday, 29 January 2009 13:21
Twilight is a pretty good mix of genres, but it would be a better mix if it lightened up on the romance. I think one of the main reasons for its popularity is the idea of an Edward- a person who completely gets you and seems absolutely perfect. This is why Twilight especially appeals to teenagers. I still think that HP was more popular than Twilight. It's died down, but at its height, it was definitely bigger. Men and women of all ages read it. The same can't be said for Twilight.
5Comment
at Thursday, 29 January 2009 13:21
There was a big difference between the movie and the book. I actually expected more out of the movie. I still liked it alot. In some parts of the movie i actually got bored. Hopefully the second movie will be great.
6Comment
at Friday, 30 January 2009 08:49
I don't think thats why people loved it, the only mystery really was Edward being a vampire, and that was only a mystery to the book characters because the book and film were sold as vampire books/movie.
I don't know why it's so popular, I really enjoy reading the books but I actually don't like alot about them
And more popular than Harry Potter? Delusional much?
7"Not known outside the US?"
at Friday, 30 January 2009 08:50
Twilight is known outside the US, and it\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s as big as Harry Potter. I live in Norway, and there is absolute Twilight mania over here. wherever I go I see people sitting in hallways, or in buses, reading these books, or discussing the film. Considering the fact that things usually gets big in other European countries before it gets big in Norway, I do believe that Twilight is as big outside US as it is inside the US.
8":)"
at Friday, 30 January 2009 08:51
Right on! Thanks!
9"Quite a dissapointment"
at Friday, 30 January 2009 08:51
I lOve twilight! I love ALL of it! but...as much as i do love it, i dont quite like the movie. it was such a dissapointment! it was way different from the book. way, way, different. its so heart-breaking! the scene that i wanted to watch most didn\\\'t came out! ugh! they cut too many important stuff and add the unimportant ones. i\\\'ve read the books, all 4 of them like a thousand times. and i hope that New Moon would be so much better....i still love twilight!
10Comment
at Saturday, 31 January 2009 11:26
Ok. So I usually don't comment on these things, but I have to comment now. I am probably much older than the rest of you, but I'm going to give my opinion anyways. I LOVE Twilight and I think it is one of the best sagas I've read in a really long time. Granted, I loved the Harry Potter books and will treasure them always, but I have to agree that Twilight is probably more popular. I don't remember seeing LOTS of people wearing Harry Potter shirts etc. Plus, check the stats.... you'll see.
11"amy shannon was right!!!!"
at Saturday, 31 January 2009 11:27
the 7th grader was right about jacob, that he is the one who should tell bella that edward is a vampire. as we all know the treaty says that they shouldnt tell anyone about the vampire existance, then they publish a book?
isn\\\'t it the treaty was already broken at that time?
shouldnt the fight between wolves and vampires start?
maybe melissa has a good explaination about it in the sequels
12Comment
at Wednesday, 04 February 2009 14:22
First of all TWILIGHT fans are not delusional--it is in fact MORE popular than Harry Potter..TODAY. Check the stats. The fact that Harry Potter's release date was moved proves that this saga is a force to be reckoned with. Furthermore, I'm from Southeast Asia--Philippines to be exact and believe me when I say that it IS popular here..there's even a Twilight Coven Philippines.
13"omg!!!!!!!"
at Thursday, 09 July 2009 15:59
katherine, your truly the best cousin of them all, this is an amazing piece for a 12 year old, keep writing darling, your gifted! i love ya and twilight should have been written by you i swear!!!!!!
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