In 2008, Twilight debuted in theaters across the county racking in a whopping $69,637,740 in just the first weekend alone (imdb, 2008). Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, Twilight is a movie based on the first in a series of four best-selling novels by Stephenie Meyer. The movies main focus is on a teenage girl named Bella (Kristen Stewart) who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to the town of Forks, Washington to live with her father Charlie (Billy Burke). On the first day of school, she meets Edward (Robert Pattinson), a mysterious guy who, she find out later in the movie, is a vampire. After weeks of trying to stay away from Bella so he wouldn’t kill her, Edward finally gives in to his selfish desires and so, as the line in the movie goes, “the lion fell in love with the lamb.” Then, as if the relationship between a vampire and a human was not difficult enough, while playing thunder baseball with Edward and his family, Bella becomes a tasty snack in the eyes of a clan of evil red eyed vampires. After a failed attempt at trying to hide Bella, Edward is forced to rescue her when James (Cam Gigandet), a member of the evil clan, lures Bella to her old ballet studio to try and kill her. Having heard great reviews about the movie, I decided to join the flock of eager fans to my nearest movie theater to see what all the hype was about. I’m still trying to figure it out. In expecting the movie to have great actors, real vampires, and decent special effects, I was extremely dissatisfied.
At the end of his review in New York Magazine, David Edelstein states that “the most vivid thing in the film is Kristen Stewart” and that “she’s better at conveying physical longing than any of the actors playing vampires” (2008). I’m not certain which movie E...
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... complete waste of my time and money. I’m sure it will be for you too. I cannot begin to fathom how it was one of the year’s greatest hits, nor how its popularity continued to soar as the Twilight Saga installments continued to emerge.
Works Cited
Corliss, R. (2008, November 20). Twilight Review: Swooningly True to the Book. Time Magazine. Retrieved from http: / /www.time.com /time /magazine /article /0,9171,1860907,00.html#ixzz1jvzMmaEO
Edelstein, D. (2008, November 20). Twilight. New York Magazine. Retrieved from http: / /nymag.com /listings /movie /twilight /
IMDb (2008). Twilight. Retrieved from http: / /www.imdb.com /title /tt1099212 /
O'Sullivan, M. (2008, November 20). "Twilight" Is a Tasty Bite of Vampire Romance. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http: / /www.washingtonpost.com /wp-dyn /content / article /2008 /11 /19 /AR2008111904369.html
... The Movie. Dir. Arne Johnson, Shane King. Perf. Carrie Brownstein, Beth Ditto. Ro*co Films. 2008. DVD.
As of late, society has stolen the traditional idea of a vampire. These undead creatures are manipulated in countless genres and media, ranging from comedic reliefs and complex villains to sparkly heartthrobs. Songs, video games, movies, books, and TV shows all are guilty of this. Movies in particular have done the most with vampires, and clearly show their evolution in society’s eyes. In the earliest movies such as Nosferatu; directed by F. W. Murnau, and Dracula; directed by Todd Browning and Karl Freund, vampires are used as devices of horror. They are meant to be unhuman and terrifying. As time passes, they become portrayed in sympathetic lights and with more human traits. Emotions such as love, guilt, and fear were added to vampire vocabulary,
While Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been described as the “quintessence of evil creatures we meet in our everyday lives” and “the Darkness” in the hearts of men (Herbert, 2004, pp. 62), Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight
“My revenge has just begun! I spread it over centuries and time is on my side”(Stoker 366). Nearly 200 years later, 18th-century gothic novels still influence modern-day Gothic literature. Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula is highly influential in regards to modern-day Gothic literature and films. The Twilight Saga, written by Stephanie Meyers and directed by Catherine Hardwicke, is a romance series about a human girl that falls in love with a vampire named Edward. Eventually, the human love interest, Bella, becomes a vampire and the two live on together forever. The Vampire Diaries television series, written by Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson, is about a town overrun by people with secret immortal lives, such as being a werewolf or vampire. There are
Bohn, Michelle L. “Shadow of the Vampire: Understanding the Transformations of an Icon in Pop Culture”. Texas State University College; Mitte Honors Program. 2007.
Writer Natalie Wilson approaches the topic of race as what appears to be “unexamined” to many in the movie Twilight. In her article “Civilized Vampires Versus Savage Werewolves: Race and Ethnicity in the Twilight Series”, she points out many interesting details that support her opinion that Twilight depicts some sort of racial differences and biases amongst the characters. The movie is based on the storyline of diverse relationships between Bella Swan and a group of werewolves and vampires, including Jacob Black and Edward Cullen. The difference between the depiction of Edward and Jacob are very contrasting as Jacob is associated with savagery while Edward on the other hand is described as wealthy, talented, and smart. Jacob and his tribe are Native American and those who pertain to the Cullen family are white; some consider this
Breaking Dawn is the fourth novel in the The Twilight Saga by American author Stephenie Meyer. Divided into three parts, the first and third sections are written from Bella Swan's perspective and the second is written from the perspective of Jacob Black. The novel directly follows the events of the previous novel, Eclipse, as Bella and Edward Cullen get married, leaving behind a heartbroken Jacob. When Bella faces unexpected and life-threatening situations, she willingly risks her human life and possible vampire immortality to undergo the ultimate transformation from a weak pawn to the strong queen with unique powers to fight the final battle to save all those she loves.
Vampires have been a popular figure in literary works for almost 200 years; from John Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819) to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight (2005), the figure of the vampire has changed and developed over time but still remains popular and recognisable throughout literary history. The figure of the vampire is often used to represent ‘the other’, or as a manifestation of social anxieties at the time of writing. This is why it is interesting to study the how the tropes found within vampire fiction differ between texts, and the reasons behind these differences or transformations in the figure of the vampire. I will look at a range of texts to study how sexuality
The genre of gothic text tends to emerge in times of great social stress or anxiety. For many years, authors have described vampires as wealthy, culturally sophisticated, aristocrats who live decadent lifestyles. Today however, average Americans are faced with hard economic times, and are struggling to provide basic necessities for their families. When watching the movie Twilight by Stephanie Meyers, several details in the story seems to enhance these harsh cultural anxieties of today’s social world, such as, the excessive lengths people will go to achieve financial stability, the lavish life style of the modern vampire, and how themes of the economic issues society is facing, impacts and stresses basic human instinct that society has an unlimited wants.
In Twilight, Edward Cullen presents the question; “ But what if I’m not the hero? What if I’m the bad guy?” The role of vampires is very controversial. Back in the day they were evil, soulless monsters and people genuinely feared them. However, in the present day it seems that we have grown to love them and even hope to one day be them. There are a plethora of vampire stories and many of them have become immense hits. With so many vampire stories, it is not uncommon that readers are able to identify a vast amount of similarities. Although similar in aspects, there are still many differences between the classic and modern day vampires. Two highly popular stories, in which we can easily identify similarities and differences, are Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.
Renascence: Essays on values in Literature 59.2 (2007) : 93. Literature Resources from Gale Web. 24 Feb. 2010. Hatcher, Melissa. A. McCrory. The “Mythlore.”
Over the centuries vampires have been creatures of mystique and intrigue to our society. They represent danger, death, lust, and allure. They are immortal, and often sexualized beyond the bounds of the puritanical values that still guard modern society. Due to these traits they are practically irresistible to the reader and have fascinated society for centuries. While vampirism can take on multiple forms, with each form possessing its own specific set of traits that allow it to successfully prey on the living, the official definition for a vampire in literature is: “The vampire as ghost or revenant; as monster or deformity; and as reanimated corpse, revenge-seeking emanation of the dead. (Huggan, 192) Early mythological vampires date back centuries
The review also does a great job providing enough background to the story without actually giving away to much as giving plenty of other pop culture references within the film.The writing still is effective in such a way that the reader can tell it was meant for some sort of magazine. It is able to present a sense of being informal and yet professional at the same time. On another note I personally think that the comparisons and the contrasts presented about the characters of Bella and Katniss and each of her respected films is extremely helpful. This can be said with the idea that a lot of individuals may have had or do have some reserves about seeing the movie because it could be to similar to Twilight because although both had good box office success, Bella as the heroine of Twilight failed to impress audiences in a lot of ways. With this being said, a compassion done between the two may have assisted the reader in trying to make the choice to see the film and could have proven to be very
“I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul and to me, this has always been enough.” That is a quote from The Notebook, a famous book written by Nicholas Sparks in 1996. This quotation inspires people to have faith that love is the only thing in the world that they need. They need not have prosperity or fame. They simply need an individual to love with all their hearts for all eternity. The world is a place where love seems to somehow find its way through in the most difficult of times. Nicholas Sparks is a dedicated author, father, husband, and donor who sees that clearly and demonstrates that in his novels. To understand the genuine significance of Nicholas Sparks and his novels, one must know his background, the truth about what the critics think about his novels and his influence on today’s society.
Anyone that has watched The Vampire Diaries and Twilight have noticed similarities and differences with the main women protagonists, love, supernatural powers, and craving of blood. In the Vampire Diaries people are introduced to Elena Gilbert a young outgoing teenaged girl. She has lived in Mystic Falls her entire life, unfortunately her parents are deceased. They passed away in a car accident while their vehicle sank in a nearby river. Elena had a normal life until it was interrupted by meeting Stefan Salvator a 165 year old vampire. Unlike the Vampire Diaries, Twilight has Bella Swan. She seems like an awkward shy teenager. Bella moved to Forks, Washington to have a better father-daughter relationship with her dad. Both Bella’s parents are divorce and share custody; which is why Bella had to move to Forks. Just like Elena met Stefan, Bella meets Edward Cullen the handsome intriguing 107 year old vampire.