New Moon, Twilight Reviews

Just wanted to comment on the Twilight series.  So I saw New Moon before I saw Twilight.  I have to saw that New Moon was definitely an improvement over Twilight, but that neither movie had as much action as I expected.  Both movies drove me crazy while I was watching them.  It's not that they're horrible movies or anything - I get the fantasy thing, and I get what the author wanted to get across - the thing that drives me nuts is how slow the movies are, and how, um, silly Bella's character is.

Twilight is an hour and a half of Bella staring at Edward while he stares back at her with pouty face.  WTF is that?  That's not realistic.  Here's the movie:

E: Hey
B: Hey
**E and B stare at each other for extended periods with a pained or solemn expression**
B: You weren't in class.
E: No.  I wasn't.
**continue to stare**
The end.

New Moon has a bit more to it:
E: Bye.  Don't do dumb stuff.
B: **pouty face**
**without E to look at, B stares out the window**
**continues to stare**
J: Hey.  I'm hot and I like you.
B: Oh.  Hey maybe I could like you too.  Don't leave.
J: I never would.
J: Wait.  Just kidding, I'm dangerous too.  See ya.
B: **pouty face**
**more staring**
B: Well now that I'm depressed, I'm going to dumb stuff 'cuz its a rush.
J: Hey um, I'm back and I'm dangerous too...but I still like you.
B: I like you too.
E: I really like you.  Just kidding about that me leaving thing.
B: Oh, sorry J, I really do like you, but you were just a rebound.  E is the dangerous guy I pick.
E: Rad.
The End.

These movies are not horrible or anything, but I fear that the messages are not appropriate lessons for the target audience, who are pre-teens and teenage girls.

In the beginning, Bella is established as the new girl - everyone wants to get to know her.  But she doesn't want to be friends.  She lacks self-confidence, doesn't look people in the eye when talking to them, and keeps her head bowed pretty much the whole time.  She doesn't want to celebrate her birthday or open gifts.  She doesn't smile.  She is depressed.  There's no good reason for her depression in Twilight, but by New Moon, her moods are dependent on which guy is paying her attention.

She falls in love with a vampire, who has his own depression issues.  He hates his life, is pissed that he has no soul, and stresses over whether he is good for Bella.  He has to learn to control himself around her, which is extremely difficult for both him and his family members.  He does love her though, and the two of them share an emo-type romance where they stare at each other.  At least there's no naughty, because Edward can barely restrain himself if they kiss.  Well Bella begs Edward over and over to transform her into a vampire so they can live together forever.  He refuses.  She can't accept that he loves her the way she is and doesn't want to hurt her.

After an incident on her birthday, Edward tells Bella its over and disappears.  She falls into a deep depression and is plagued by nightmares.  Jacob, the friendly werewolf next door tries to befriend her and confess his love for her.  She won't reciprocate, although its clear that she feels something for him too.  Jacob promises that he won't ditch her.  Then he too, disappears.  She gets depressed again.  We later find out that he's a werewolf, and is afraid that he might lose control and physically hurt Bella.  See the parallel? 

Well Bella has little regard for her own safety, and doesn't care about her future.  All that matters is that Edward loves her.  Once he's gone, all that matters is that Jacob is chasing after her.  Then he disappears, then all that matters is Edward again.  Her entire existence and value is placed on whether Edward wants to be with her.  That's a bad message to send to little girls.  I wish we could see a confident young woman on the screen, who makes good choices for herself.  And Bella literally begs Edward to turn her into a vampire.  In order to do this, he has to commit an act of violence against her.  She doesn't care.  Again, not a good message to send to young girls.  Plus she spends half the movie doing really dangerous things because it gives her to chance to able to glimsp Edward warning her to stop.  She doesn't heed his warnings, and continues to seek the "rush" she gets from seeing him.

One more thing relating to violence - kudos to the guys for removing themselves from situations where they are afraid that they might lose control.  However, the message in the movie is that ultimately, one may not be able to exercise restraint, and that the resulting violence is excusable.  We see another werewolf who lost his temper "for a split second" and mauled his fiance, leaving her permanently disfigured.  But she stays with him, reinforcing the idea that extreme violence is okay, and that it is okay if men lose control.

All in all, I didn't mind watching these two movies, but as an adult I can see the overarching messages and flaws.  I'm afraid that younger and more impressionable girls might not be able to see beyond "Edward fever," and may not have an adult figure to talk to them about the messages that the movie sends.

Now, on a more superficial level:  Edward is too pale!  I can't get caught up in him because he is wayyy too pale, and the red lipstick is awful!  Besides that and the pouty face, I'm not really into him at all.  I'm more for Jacob - not only is he better looking, in my opinion (face and body), but he's got a healthy tan glow going on!  Jacob is way hotter than Edward, and at least he knew how to smile, have fun and do more than just stare at Bella.

Side note:  my boyfriend and I have fun re-enacting scenes from Twilight.  We make sad pouty faces and then just stare at each other for a couple minutes.  We like to share this with our friends.  They enjoy it too.