Red, White and Roux

I suppose that is finally time for me to write about the “Twilight” series of books. The media have been rife with news and reports about the opening of the movie “New Moon” based on the second book of the four-volume story. It opened bigger than the last Harry Potter film, and most everyone who writes about popular culture has taken note.

I have followed the critiques and analyses in a cursory manner. I didn't want what others wrote to influence my observations and insights. And I do have a bit to offer.

Generally, film critics trashed the first movie and have not been too kind about the second. The consensus among professional reviewers is that the movies can't stand on their own as good cinema. I think it is a good thing to view print and film as separate entities. The art should stand alone.

I am as guilty as the next guy of reading a great book and hoping the film delivers.

It rarely happens.

I can think of only a few movies that achieved an honorable and respectful sense of the novel while providing a separate, but meaningful movie experience. “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The World According to Garp” come to mind, along with “Chocolat.” I also believe that the Harry Potter films and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy did a more than credible job with plot, setting, and character.

I'm not so interested in the “Twilight” movies. My students generally agreed that the first was a supreme disappointment; however, they were excited about seeing the second. I think it has something to do with Jacob, the werewolf, taking off his shirt.

I was a “Twilight” observer for over a year. I finally succumbed, only because so many of my female sophomores were rereading the books. A student offered the series to me one book at a time. Each one took about three days. I read voraciously, got a tad bored, and then thoroughly enjoyed the last third of the final book. For readers of a certain age I can only recommend them as a cultural phenomenon. We might want to think about why they are so wildly popular with young women and why non-readers keep going back to them.

The vocabulary is at the upper-elementary level. We are talking fourth to sixth grade here. Scholastic Books puts the interest level at grades 9 to 12. There are many women older than that reading and enjoying the books.

Why?

They are so easy that even struggling readers can scan the lines quickly, getting a sense of plot and absorbing details of character and setting. More importantly, the themes scream to young women.

Imagine, if you will, a beautiful man who has absolutely no intentions of having sex even though he is consumed with desire for your body. Despite your lack of beauty and overt clumsiness, he wants to know every single detail about your life. He wants to spend hours just looking at you and gently touching your body. His raison d’être is protecting you. He is fierce; he is loving; he is gorgeous; and did I mention he is rich? That would be Edward, the vampire.

But, conversely, there is Jacob, the werewolf. He also loves you absolutely, but he pushes a bit harder on the physical side of things. He may not be content with a chaste relationship, but he endures because he is just so in love with you.

Aside from the vampires and werewolves, does this seem like real life?

Nope.

It may be every woman's fantasy to think that a man yearns to know her innermost thoughts and feelings.

I have been sitting here typing line after line of cynical observations, and I keep hitting the delete key.

Maybe young women need their dreams.

Denise Roux is a regular columnist for the Apalachicola and Carrabelle Times. To reach her, email her at rouxwhit@mchsi.com