Written by Jessica Ardrey
This writer has a confession to make. I, Jessica Ardrey, know all about Twilight. I have seen the movies and, yes, have even read the books.I would like to clarify that I am no fanatic. I have joined no“Team Edward” or “Team Jacob,”I have not reread the books a million times and I have not attended any midnight releases. (However, after finding out a friend owned a cape with the leading vampire’s face on it, I couldn’t resist a good photo opportunity.)I didn’t even think the books were very good. I suppose it’s a relatively creative concept, a doomed relatioinship between a human and a vampire, but it hardly holds up as a great piece of literature.Stephenie Meyeris no F. Scott Fitzgerald and the love-struck undead Edward is hardly a Jay Gatsby.Then there are the movies. As if tween girls weren’t already swooning over the smooth-talking, super devoted, super gorgeous Edward in the book series, the movie’s casting team snagged pretty boyRobert Pattinsonfor the lead role, someone I knew and loved as the late Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but my allegiance toHPis another story.The newest Twilight movie, New Moon, showcases some of the sappiest, cheesiest, eye-rollingest dialogue I’ve seen in a long time. I couldn’t help but feel somewhat out of place in the theater when the girls around me were misty-eyed and I was trying to suppress my laughter. The warewolf and vampire fight scenes were pretty cool, but were generally outweighed by Edward’s permanent tortured spirit face and the human heroine Bella’s tendency to stutter and call it acting.I say all that to say this: despite everything I dislike about it, Twilight (in theory) is not so bad.Before you rip me to pieces and set me on fire, first look at the positives of the series. The good guys are actuallygood. Edward doesn’t party, he doesn’t act irresponsibly, he wants to wait until he’s married to have sex, and he’s worried about his eternal soul. He wouldn’t be so bad to bring home to mom and dad, except for the undead part. He even refuses to drink human blood and lives off animals. The kid’s got morals.This lifestyle is a definite far cry from what teens are used to seeing. They hear that everyone drinks, everyone sleeps with everyone else, and they face a big bullhorn blasting the message to live life to the fullest (which evidently means lots of outrageous parties and lewd behavior).Being the non-fanatic/non-fan that I am, admitting the goodness that lies at the core of these books is hard, and if you ask me about it in public, I will deny it to the death. However, as difficult as it is to look past its imperfections, the Twilight series, if nothing else, gives hope to a new generation of teenagers, hope that they aren’t alone in their struggle for virtue.
