Stephanie Meyer's Hollywood aspirations

Homegirl Vickie commented on one of my recent posts where I reviewed the latest offering from Stephanie Meyer. She wondered whether I would be seeing Ms. Meyer's Hollywood debut: Twilight, the movie.

Well, I spoke about it previously, and back then I was actually looking forward to it. I was somewhat embarassed over my obsession with these young adult novels, but who cared, you know? I wanted to see Edward and Bella in the flesh. Looking back now, I see that the reason I wanted - needed- to do so was because I had no clear picture of either of them in my head. No one really does. Yeah, Edward has auburn hair and skin that sparkles like diamonds. Yeah, Bella has chocolate eyes. Anything else? Nope. So basically everyone has been left to their own devices.

So, yes, I will see Twilight, the movie. I will withhold my opinion until I've given it a fair shot. Only once have I ever seen a movie that lives up to the hype of the book (The Princess Bride), but I have hope. Maybe the movie will calm the gnawing annoyance I've had with Ms. Meyer recently.

We shall see.

Literature Review - Breaking Dawn

Let me just preface this particular review by stating that I absolutely LOVE Stephanie Meyer. I enjoy her books. I have read each of her books several times through, and look forward to reading more.

That being said…

Well, I finally broke down and did it. I read Breaking Dawn. Recently, I’ve been having major second thoughts about author powerhouse Stephanie Meyer, not because I don’t love her books – I do – but because I don’t necessarily agree with the message she sends her intended demograph of tween, preteen and teen girls; in every one of her books, the main character is an under aged girl who falls for and marries older men, starting families with them. Breaking Dawn was no different. Married, pregnant, and then having children, all before the age of 20. And to top it off, this new “imprinting” thing she’s added to the story, where the werewolf men imprint on their soul mate, even when that soul mate is an infant or a toddler. There’s something about that that just smacks of lack of free will to me, at least in the cases of the females being imprinted upon.

I don’t know if I’m reading too much into it. I just know that the concept makes me a wee bit uncomfortable.

Now, for Breaking Dawn itself. It was all right. A bit anti-climactic in the end, but the conclusion was satisfying for a series finale. Interestingly, the length of time between the previous book and the release of this book produced some evidence of flaws in Ms. Meyer’s writing. For example: her characters are poorly developed. I have absolutely no picture of Emmett, Jasper, Roselie, Esmie or Charlie in my head. This whole time, I’ve been picturing Roselie as a dark beauty until Jacob started calling her “Blondie”. And I’ve been having a difficult time finding where Edward’s “siblings” and “mother” even fit into the story. I understand the purpose of Alice; she’s the most well-developed of all the siblings. Here’s how I see it. Edward was first. Then Alice. Alice was lonely, so Ms. Meyer introducted Jasper. Carlisle made Roselie for Edward, but he didn’t want her, so Ms. Meyer introduced Emmett to keep her company. I don’t know – I just think the presence of the characters don’t play any particularly important role in the story.

Anyhoo…while I have my doubts about Ms. Meyer’s intentions, there’s no doubt that her stories are beautiful. Breaking Dawn is no different, and deserves the same consideration as the rest of her novels. I think I’d give it a 7.5 to an 8 out of 10.

On a side note, it seems that, although the Twilight series has been successfully concluded, Ms. Meyer has decided to beat her dead horse with a stick and come out with Edward’s version of events.