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Reel World Sense: 'Twilight' saga outpaces classics

Nov. 20, 2009

By Ash Anderson
Entertainment Editor

With the release of "New Moon" comes the rise of a proverbial behemoth.

Distinguished feats, such as being the movie with the most pre-event ticket sales in the history of the box office, have been taken away from blockbuster hits like "The Dark Knight" and have been given to the latest adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's vampire romance saga.

But why? What makes these movies so compelling that they outsell some of the greatest literature adaptations of all time?

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "The Dark Knight" and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" all manage to rein in an ensemble cast while being able to maintain quality acting and powerful cinematography.

Unfortunately, at this point in its development, the "Twilight" saga cannot say the same thing.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that each individual member of the cast doesn't have any talent.

Kristen Stewart (Bella Swan) is, in my opinion, the next great method actress. Her performance in "In the Land of Women" was extremely moving and her portrayal of a troubled young adult in "Adventureland" gave depth to a character that would have otherwise fallen flat.

Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen) could have gone down in history as Cedrick Diggory -- the young wizard that met an untimely demise at the hands of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Instead, he's going to be remembered by some as "That Stupid Vampire," "The Twilight Guy," "My Husband Edward Cullen" and "The Most Beautiful Non-Human Ever."

Sad times indeed, friends. Sad times indeed.

Of course, it could be because it's the "Romeo and Juliet" for this century. It's no surprise that the play is referenced repeatedly.

Bella believes that she is destined to be forever in the arms of her love, Edward, but he thinks that their relationship is too dangerous. He then leaves, and she is heartbroken.

Enter Jacob Black, played by almost-legal Taylor Lautner. Only a few more months, girls. That six-pack can be yours for the low price of $19.95.

Jacob rescues Bella from her sadness, and, of course, Edward returns just in time to profess his love. Again.

After seeing the throngs of people camping outside of theaters to see the movie, I realized that the fad doesn't make sense to me.

Sure, I'll admit that the books are somewhat entertaining (I've read up through the third one), and that the movies are a mindless two hours, but the cult following behind them is starting to rival that of Harry Potter.

Neither medium has enough imagination or depth behind it to warrant hype of this magnitude.

While I understand that the majority of my reasoning will fall of deaf ears, I still can't help but wonder how in the world a romance saga could garner such unbelievable hype.

From teeny-boppers to college students to full-fledged adults, the "Twilight" series has its teeth sunk into the jugular of society, but you won't see me going out of my way to see it, especially with the lack of imagination that hinders the films from being of a higher quality.

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