Twilight Mania

Ok, I will admit that I, along with the thousands and millions across the world, have gone and watched Twilight, the movie based on the bestselling novel of the same name, Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1), by Stephenie Meyer. Now, the reason why I'm shyly admitting this fact is because Twilight is actually categorized under teen fiction, just like Harry Potter, but also just like Harry Potter, the book was so great that it transcended all ages.

Don't take this the wrong way but I am never a fan of something that is hugely popular. Let's take Titanic for instance. Everyone I know have watched it, whether in the cinema or DVD or HBO. Me, I still haven't sat down and watch the movie in full. Those who know that have exclaimed in disbelief and proceeded to describe to me in full detail why I must watch it.

Another example is Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Though at one point in time, I was selling the book and recommending it to my customers, I never felt any inclination to read it. I did watch the movie though but only 'coz Tom Hanks was acting in it. Now I can't wait for the continuation, Angels and Demons. :D

Last but definitely not least, is the Harry Potter mania. Mind you, I didn't start off as a Harry Potter fan. I was in Australia when the first movie came out and I was wondering why people of all ages were buying this red book with such a childish picture on it (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first book of the series). It was only when my Malaysian friend dragged me to the cinema and insisted on paying my movie ticket did I finally understand the magic (pun intended) of Harry Potter.

But I'm getting away from my topic. So why is Twilight so successful? For the life of me, I don't understand.

Let's look at the movie since I haven't read the book. It was a good selection on the actors and actresses alike. Acting was good. The plot was good too. My only dislike of the movie is the fact that the evil vampire, James, died too easily. For a vampire who is considered to be deadly dangerous and a ruthless hunter, he's sure easy to catch and dispose off.

Another flaw is when Edward (the hero) ran up the hill with Bella (the heroine) when he decided to show her how he looks like in sunlight. No, he didn't burn or melt or scream in agony, he just...twinkles. In all the vampire books I've read, I've never came across a glittering vampire. No bling bling required for this bloodsucker. But the glitter wasn't the flaw I meant. It was the way Edward ran up the hill. It was so fake. I mean, yeah, you can't expect Robert Pattison, the actor who played Edward, to be able to run like a panther up a tree-covered hill but please, his legs weren't even moving in a true running form. Note to editor, please make his running more believable in the next movie. Yes, it is confirmed that the second installation to the Twilight saga, New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2), will be coming out.

Some people may have realized that overseas, especially in America, the marketing for Twilight was on full-blast. Trailers, posters, t-shirts, the works. But in Malaysia, there was only a trickle of what America experienced. The first poster for the movie was seen at One Utama's TGV, which only came up a few days before its opening on November 27, 2008 while GSC only put up the poster the day itself. It was frustrating to the fans in Malaysia who weren't even sure if the movie was going to be shown here. Then came the confusion of the viewer rating, which was PL-18 at first, causing woes, moans and outbursts from the younger fans, and was abruptly changed to PG-13 a day before the movie. Tsk, tsk, tsk, such incompetence from the Malaysian censorship board and cinema management.

The thing I don't fully understand is, out of all the vampire books in the world, why is Twilight garnering the most attention, the movie deal, the millions of world currencies? I admit that after reading about Stephenie Meyer, she does deserve this fame and popularity, but still why aren't the rest of the vampire novelists getting this kind of attention?

Back in my teen life (which was light years ago), I was fixated by L.J. Smith, who also wrote teen fiction in which the heroes are almost always vampires. Her Night World series was one that my cousin and I couldn't get enough of, and apparently after researching the net, there are others like me who loved the series as well. And like Stephenie Meyer, who developed many different characters complete with their history, L.J. Smith also has numerous characters, all of who had their own personal story written in their own personal book.

Altogether, there are currently nine books in the Night World series with the last book still unpublished since the 90s. Seeing the attention Stephenie Meyer is getting must have woken up the publisher of L.J. Smith as her Night World series have been compiled into 3 books and were republished this year as Night World No. 1: Secret Vampire; Daughters of Darkness; Spellbinder (Night World), Night World No. 2: Dark Angel; The Chosen; Soulmate (Night World) and Night World No. 3: Huntress, Black Dawn, Witchlight (Night World). I have to admit that I prefer the old book covers as you can really see the true image of the characters from each book. The final book was supposed to be out in fall 2008 but as usual, it has been delayed yet again. This has been the story over and over again since the last book was printed out. It makes one wonder whether L.J. Smith has gotten bored with the characters or whether she's having a very long writer's block.

Well, seeing that I have to endure more patience for the final volume of Night World and after listening to the raves and reviews of Twilight from my cousins, I may just head to the nearest bookstore and pick out the first book, just to see what all the fuss is about. And if I ever get converted to a Twilight fan...well, then it must be a great read. :D

By the way, the main song for the movie is awesome; Decode by Paramore. I like it so much that I even made a poster for the lyrics. Give it a listen. >D