2008 Woodie Awards
'Twilight' a faithful adaptation from book
Cory Taylor
Issue date: 11/25/08 Section: Entertainment
Stephenie Meyer's teen-vampire novel "Twilight" finally made its way to the big screen this weekend and took in a record 70.6 million dollars. Director Catherine Hardwicke's ("Thirteen," "Lords of Dogtown") film is the highest grossing yet by a female director and is sure to pass the 100 million dollar mark by next week. To date, the Twilight book series has collectively sold 17 million copies. Why the enormous success? Considering the profitable franchises of Harry Potter and Hannah Montana, it comes as no surprise.
"Twilight" tells the story of a socially awkward, though completely normal, high school girl. She is Bella (Kristen Stewart) and has moved to a small Washington town to live with her father, who is the town's police chief. Bella is introduced to the mysterious Cullen family, and it is the pale skinned, dark-eyed Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) that quickly catches her gaze.
One day, a car nearly crushes Bella, but Edward crosses the parking lot, jumps between her and the car, and shoves it away.
Bella is, from that moment on, completely infatuated with Edward.
Edward is attracted to her, as well, partly out of physical attraction and partly out of his thirst for her blood. When Bella discovers that Edward is a vampire, and that he has no intention of causing her harm, her besotted state inflames ten fold.
As far as the adaptation from book to screen, the result contained varied opinions. "When I heard Catherine Hardwicke was directing the movie, I was excited because I knew she wouldn't make another stereotypical teen movie," said USM sophomore Amanda Lucius. "Though with every scene you could see her more creative style, I felt my intelligence questioned by little details spelled out in extreme close-ups. I know this movie was made for tween-girls but even they have the ability to infer."
Freshman English major Beverly Locker was not at all concerned with the nature of specific scenes. "I felt as though the general themes of the book were kept intact," she said. "This is really the most important thing."
It is no surprise that a story such as this is so warmly received by its target audience. Teenagers rampantly spout the phrase "I love you" about as commonly as "your face," leaving it to seem normal that such an emotion can be genuinely felt with a few burning glances.
"Twilight" tells the story of a socially awkward, though completely normal, high school girl. She is Bella (Kristen Stewart) and has moved to a small Washington town to live with her father, who is the town's police chief. Bella is introduced to the mysterious Cullen family, and it is the pale skinned, dark-eyed Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) that quickly catches her gaze.
One day, a car nearly crushes Bella, but Edward crosses the parking lot, jumps between her and the car, and shoves it away.
Bella is, from that moment on, completely infatuated with Edward.
Edward is attracted to her, as well, partly out of physical attraction and partly out of his thirst for her blood. When Bella discovers that Edward is a vampire, and that he has no intention of causing her harm, her besotted state inflames ten fold.
As far as the adaptation from book to screen, the result contained varied opinions. "When I heard Catherine Hardwicke was directing the movie, I was excited because I knew she wouldn't make another stereotypical teen movie," said USM sophomore Amanda Lucius. "Though with every scene you could see her more creative style, I felt my intelligence questioned by little details spelled out in extreme close-ups. I know this movie was made for tween-girls but even they have the ability to infer."
Freshman English major Beverly Locker was not at all concerned with the nature of specific scenes. "I felt as though the general themes of the book were kept intact," she said. "This is really the most important thing."
It is no surprise that a story such as this is so warmly received by its target audience. Teenagers rampantly spout the phrase "I love you" about as commonly as "your face," leaving it to seem normal that such an emotion can be genuinely felt with a few burning glances.
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Haley Booker
posted 12/01/08 @ 1:30 PM CST
GREATT! I love the movie and book!!!
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