As mass hysteria swept the world following the release of “New Moon,” the second film in the Twilight franchise, even Whitman’s legendary bubble was caught up in the wave of excitement.
A survey asking Whitman students about the film showed that 41 percent had decided to see it, 44 percent had decided to skip it and 15 percent were unresolved. Some respondents were decidedly more enthusiastic in their responses than others.
Senior Jocelyn Richard, via e-mail, answered with an emphatic, “YES. Are you seeing it midnight Thursday like a true fan? I’m getting my Jasper ensemble together.”
Junior Christine Simbolon, currently participating in a domestic off-campus studies program in Philadelphia, also responded.
“I’m ‘abroad’ in Philly and bought my tickets yesterday for the midnight showing. In fact, I’m going with five others from the program. And the group even includes two guys! It’s not just an obsession for the girls,” said Simbolon. “Granted, the movie has bad acting and the books don’t have the best writing, but it’s still fun and enjoyable and, well, addicting.”
Others were less than enchanted. Putting those gender studies and Core classes to good use, senior Becca Levy offered a different analysis of the film and book series.
“I’m not against vampires,” Levy said. “When I was in middle school I was all over Anne Rice. I’m not going to denigrate it as a genre, but I feel like [Twilight, specifically,] advocates unhealthy relationships and weak female characters. But I’m probably going to end up watching [New Moon] at some point just to laugh at it.”
Sophomore Abbey McGrath explained some of the problems with the previous film.
“In the book there’s so much that happens in Bella’s head,” said McGrath. “The director didn’t think about it enough to convey it in film. She just put in all these emo silences, and the audience is going, what the heck, what’s supposed to be happening? It may not be excellent literature, but it definitely wasn’t translated into film very well. But I’m still going to see the movie. I have my 15-year-old sister that I can use as an excuse.”
Outside of the jaded world of college audiences, others were unabashedly enthused. On the night of the “New Moon” world release, a crowd of fans huddled faithfully on the sidewalks of Walla Walla’s local cinema, passing the hours before the midnight showing. Cheyenne Duncan, 14, and her friends from Central Middle School in Milton-Freewater were the first on the pavement.
“I got here at like 5:30 [p.m.],” Duncan said.
Duncan discussed her personal favorite among the film’s characters, the enigmatic vampire Edward Cullen, portrayed by Robert Pattinson.
“I think he does a good job of it,” she said, smiling. “I think everyone has their own Edward in their head, so I don’t think there can be a perfect Edward. But I think [Pattinson] does a good job of doing his research on how the character would act.”
At least, a good enough job to melt the hearts of fans, incense the film’s detractors and generate more domestic income in an opening day than any other film in history, including “The Dark Knight.”
Well done, RPattz.