Twilight: Let me explain myself

So before you go and jump to wild conclusions about me due to my fondness of the Twilight Saga, let me first explain why I am so fond of it.  While the books themselves will not stack up against the classics, they are a decent read.  The author makes it easy to imagine the characters and does a great job of bringing them to life.  The hook:  she also captures what any girl would want to capture if she were to write a story about the most interesting love story, with the most out of the ordinary characters.   She allows the reader to use their imagination and stretches that imagination in so many ways!

Edward Cullen isn’t quite Mr. Darcy, but there are similarities.

He’s not mysteriously enchanting like Gatsby, but Bella could be compared in some ways to Gatsby's Daisy.

He lacks the boyish desperation of Romeo.  I guess a 100+ years of life helps one mature a bit.

And  he pales in comparison to the southern charms of the dashing Rhett Butler.  Imagine a vampire raised in the high society such as that of the Butlers of Charleston, SC.

However, Edward Cullen offers something distinct that these fine gentlemen do not.  He is a vampire and his not your average, run-of-the-mill vampire.  He can read minds, he sparkles in the sunlight, he’s there when you need him, he knows exactly what to say, and he practices a great deal of self-control.  And… he’s a vegetarian.  This sparkling vampire does not kill humans.  


Take all your favorite leading men and roll them into one and I think you'll come pretty close to Edward Cullen.

Doesn’t do much for you?  Well, that’s okay—he’s not for everyone.

The Twilight Saga, when I read it, gave this “Thirty-something” a chance to feel young again!  It took me back to some of those “Cinderella” happenings and those “Romeo & Juliet” moments of my youth.  Reading the story of Bella and Edward (and even Jacob) brought back so many breathtaking and unpleasant memories of my adolescence.    Surely you remember?  So no, none of us literally fell in love with vampires (or werewolves), but you must remember your first love. 

You must remember the butterflies in your stomach.  The lump in your throat when you’d try to have a conversation but the right words never came out and you just sounded so stupid every time you spoke.  Or the moment you realized your guy friend could be more than a friend? Or how you’d bite your lip when you got nervous because, much like pinching yourself, you wanted to be sure you were alive and really experiencing every single second of what was happening and you promised yourself you’d never forget it.  Oh come on, you have to remember!    And let’s not forget the feeling when your love left you.  How you literally struggled for breath when Mr. Right walked away, leaving you standing in the school hallway fighting back tears AND everyone knew what happened???  Ugh.

It seems that the Twilight Saga could be a modern day Romeo & Juliet.  No, it doesn’t stand next to it and there is no literary comparison—but that’s not the point.  It’s still a heart wrenching love story and face it: chicks dig it.  We love a great love story.  Period.

Girls want to be pursued, to be wanted, desired; we love to know that we are everything—your life, your breath.   We even enjoy a little adventure and just enough danger to feel alive, all the while, knowing you will protect us.  We still want our Knight in Shining Armor full of honor and devotion. 

So I’m admitting that I cannot wait to see New Moon.   Think what you’d like of me, but sometimes I enjoy feeling like a 16 year old again- just for a moment- and take pleasure in a good little love story.   [Lovely background music comes to a screeching halt.] But be sure to know that I don’t care to go back to age 16.  Stupid boys breaking my fragile little heart, no Edward or Jacob to be found…

…I’m off to see New Moon.