Okay, I admit it... I went to see "New Moon" on Wednesday. I rushed to the theatre from work to catch a matinee.
Random thoughts:
1. Jacob looks a LOT better than Edward without a shirt on.
2. Bella is even more annoying than Harry Potter. And that's saying a lot. I like them both, I relate to them, but Boy, are they annoying!
3. I shouldn't trash Bella too badly, since I was a pretty hopless case myself at 18. But, Really!
4. I can only imagine the number of term papers that will be written in the next couple of years comparing "New Moon" to "Romeo and Juliet."
5. The story was horrible. I think they could have just skipped this one altogether, and worked Jacob's transformation into the next one. (I didn't read the books.)
6. The first movie was about chastity. This one was about two things 1. Domestic Violence and 2. Emotional Abandonment.
Domestic Violence - strip away the whole "werewolf" thing and what you basically have is a metaphor for what men do to women when they lose control. The woman still loves the man, even though he hurts her, and he hates himself for turning into a monster. Jacob typifies boyish innocence suddenly turning into masculine power.
Emotional Abandonment - I don't mean Edward leaving Bella. I mean Bella's parents leaving her in this situation with no guidance or support. The dad was a nitwit - he should have packed that girl off to her mother's right away. And made sure she got emotional counseling.
The mother needed to be there for her daughter, saying, "Look, honey, I know this feels like the end of the world. I've been there, I know. But it really, truly isn't. You've got to trust me on this one. Now, let's go shopping and have a hot fudge sundae and paint our toenails."
The closest thing Charlie got to in terms of guidance was when he said to Bella, "I think you need to learn to love what's good for you." But then he totally negated himself by saying "What do I know? I'm just a terminal bachelor." Even this is telling, though, about how often parents lack the confidence to give even the most basic advice to their children.
7. As someone else has said, the role models for relationships were horrible. True to life, but horrible.
8. I'm glad Bella picked Edward, because Jacob can do better. He carried the whole movie, as far as I'm concerned.
9. I laughed when the wolf (was it Sam?) came out of the bushes for the first time. I clamped my hand over my mouth so as not to annoy everyone. But it looked reeeeeeeally cheesy.
10. I loved the vampire elevator music. I thought that was one of the best moments in the whole movie.
11. I want the soundtrack.
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2 comments:
I laughed at 5... b/c I think the movie didn't have much to go on re: source material.
re: symbolism... I wonder if SM was actually going for that, b/c I think you've hit on something, particularly w.r.t. domestic violence.
I don't know if the symbolism was conscious or not, Bane. But it was certainly powerful. I think this whole "Twilight" thing is a great example of how work that isn't perfect craft-wise can still reach a huge audience because of the resonance of the themes.
I read recently that there tend to be two types of writers - those who are stronger craft-wise but might not be able to connect with readers, and those with awesome stories who struggle to tell them really well. I'd rather be in the second group than the first. You can learn craft, but you can't learn "soul."
This has just reinforced my belief that I need to let go of some of my inhibitions in my writing and just put it out there. I've been trying to steer clear of the deep stuff for fear of sounding "mushy" or "romantic." But the result is a bit dry, I think. So I'm digging deeper and I like what's happening with my characters.
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