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Today’s Youth Advisory Board post is from Alyx Steadman who also saw “Twilight” at midnight alongside the masses last Thursday. As less of a “cultural anthropologist” (see Anastasia’s review) and more of a “fan,” Alyx explains the ways the film did and didn’t meet his expectations. To contact our Youth Advisory Board, just email them at youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com.

‘Twilight’ @ Midnight Part Two: A Teen Perspective

At 12:01 am Friday morning, thousands of fans saw the midnight premiere of the worldwide phenomenon known as “Twilight.” I was one of those devoted fans who stayed up way too late on a school night to be one of the first to know if the movie would be a huge success or a major bomb. After seeing it for myself, I thought Twilight was a success in that it did the best job possible given the pressure they were under to satisfy millions of fans. No matter what they did, someone would have been unhappy with the product.

Everyone who read the books has an image of who the characters should be and to me, the casting directors got most of them right. The Cullen family was everything I wanted and more. Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) was the heartthrob I hoped he would be, and while Bella (Kristen Stewart) wasn’t what I imagined, Stewart pulled her off nicely. The biggest casting mistake to me was the main character Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). He just wasn’t Edward for me. The way Edward was portrayed in the movie was more of a dark, brooding stalker than the heart throb perfection that was described millions of times in the books. It’s not that I hated Robert; I just wished he would have lightened up a little.

The first book, Twilight, is all about Bella and Edward’s love and how it is the most powerful, intense love ever. Seventy-five percent of the movie was spent trying to show this love, and to me, it didn’t work. Their love seemed to consist of some awkward scenes with them giving each other intense stares that lasted far too long. Some scenes in the book that felt romantic just looked creepy and uncomfortable on screen. For example Edward telling her, “You are my life now.” When I heard that line, my mouth dropped, and I looked over at my friend and saw the same shocked expression I had.

The best parts were the scenes not focused on their love (which sounds bad since most of the movie consists of these scenes). All of the other characters made things far more interesting for me. I kept praying to see more Alice or Emmet, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. Still, the other actors did a great job with the little roles they had.

All in all, I was pleased with how the movie portrayed the book. Even though I wrote a lot about what was weird or awkward about the movie, I did enjoy it enough to maybe see it again (because after all, I am a true Twilight fan). I think that as the movie series continues, they will just get better (just like “Harry Potter” did) and move away from the love and more into the story. And when “New Moon” comes out, I know that I’ll be the first in line to see the midnight showing.

About Alyx

Alyx Steadman is a freshman in high school in Montana, and loves every minute of it. He loves reading, writing, acting, singing, and being a social butterfly. In the past people have accused him of being a YouTube addict and a pop culture junkie (and sadly Alyx cannot deny these accusations). His love for teen culture has led him to many hours slaving on the computer soaking up every piece of drama Hollywood has to offer. In the future he hopes to pursue a writing career as some type of journalist. Excited doesn’t even begin to cover how he’s feeling to be in the Ypulse Advisory Board. “Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the world we were young in.”

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Categorized under: Movies & Music, Youth Advisory Board

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