Before I get your hopes up, let me just say that this is NOT a review of the latest Twilight installment, Breaking Dawn Part 2. I had planned/hoped to see the movie today, but after spending four days in the city that never sleeps, I’m just too exhausted, so I decided to give a quick account of the first four movies (or three books).
If you haven’t seen Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn Part 1, then you should probably stay away from Part 2. And if you’ve ever wondered what the heck all this Twilight talk is about then don’t go away, I’m about to explain.
The series originated with Stephanie Meyer’s first novel, Twilight. Did you notice that? FIRST NOVEL. She’d never even been published before, and she hadn’t planned on publishing her story then, but her sister talked her into it. After nine rejections from the fifteen letters she sent out, Meyer’s little story was picked up by Writer’s House and auctioned off for $750,000 and a three book deal with Little, Brown and Company. Let me just pause here and dream…
Okay, now back to the blog…
I’ve often heard people say Meyer’s writing’s not that great, or this is just pop culture stuff with no staying power, but I don’t know. It’s a great success story. And personally, I think the books are filled with a beautiful love story and a girl’s clumsy pathway to self discovery.
Here’s a quick summary…there’s this girl, Bella, and she’s awkward and doesn’t feel all that great about herself, and she meets this guy Edward, and they hit it off. The only problem is Edward’s a vampire and he craves her blood. Like all wonderful love stories, things keep happening to keep Edward and Bella apart, not to mention that there’s this werewolf who’s crazy about Bella too. Okay, just writing this all out makes it sound like something that might merit a rejection letter or two, but it’s really pretty good.
I like that Bella discovers who she is and finds herself, but my favorite part is that Edward loves her so completely when she really doesn’t give him a lot to go on. And my very favorite part is how he just likes to watch her sleep. That can be extremely boring, but he just wants to be with her. Isn’t that sweet?
Sorry, I veered off there. Over all, I give the movies “5’s”. That’s pretty good on my scale; remember, I’m hard to please. I don’t know if I’ll get to see Part 2 this weekend. I’ve got a school play about a psycho student on a killing spree I’m planning to see tomorrow, and next week Life of Pi comes out…so this might be all you hear about the Twilight phenomenon.
One more thing, and I know this will sound a little strange, but when I read the first book, Twilight, I couldn’t help but think about how completely loved I am. It’s taken me so long to believe God loves me, but now that I can see it, I often learn a little more about it in unexpected places–in a hug, with the breeze, and on the pages of a silly YA novel about a vampire and the class klutz.
“…nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:39
