Donna Freitas: August 2008 Archives

Wow. If you ever read my posts you already know that I have a thing for vampires--be they from "Buffy," "Twilight," or the old school "Bram Stoker's Dracula" variety. But it appears that HBO is as excited about vampires as I am--if their extensive, creative ad campaign for "True Blood"--their new show by Alan Ball ("Six Feet Under") premiering September 7th--has anything to say about their feelings.

Their newest ploy: I came across yet another fake website promoting the show--this one advertising "Tru Blood"--the preferred blood alternative drink of vampires on the show. When you head to the site, it greets you with the request that you "Please Enter the Date You Were Turned." You have to check it out. It's really fun.

Apparently I am not alone in thinking this.

The campaign has ad and marketing folks in quite the frenzy. I know I'm excited about it. I can't wait to see the show. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's as good as they are making it seem!

We heard about it with Harry Potter in spades: that J.K. Rowling's beloved series about witches and wizards would somehow corrupt the minds and religious practices of youth all over the world. We heard about it with Philip Pullman, too, that somehow his magnificent trilogy "His Dark Materials" was going to turn kids into atheists.

But apparently Buffy the Vampire Slayer (three cheers for Buffy!) really is turning women and girls toward Wicca--and a recent British study called, "Women and Religion in the West: Challenging Secularization" by scholars Kristin Aune and Giselle Vincett, proves it.

I think it's safe to say that I'm Beliefnet's resident obsessionado of all-things Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight Series." And those of you who followed my posts leading up to the release of book four, "Breaking Dawn," I was, um, kind of excited about it. I attended the NYC launch of the "Breaking Dawn Concert Series" on August 1st, and I even wrote an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal about the teen (and Twilight Moms) response to the intensely erotic, romantic dimension of the "Twilight Series."

But I'd already made a big decision about when I'd satisfy my vampire cravings (so to speak). In a heroic effort, I stayed away from all online chatter about "Breaking Dawn" for a full week, so I could really, really, really enjoy my the novel on vacation (beginning on August 10) while floating in an innertube in the Caribbean. Which is exactly what I did.

The only thing I knew (unfortunately) before I left was that there was a BIG BACKLASH and that it was being covered in all the major magazines,newspapers, and blogs. My initial thoughts were: "Oh no! Team Edward suffers a horrible defeat. Bellaends up with Jacob and Team Jacob prevails," or possibly, "Gaahh! Bella doesn't become a vampire after all!"

When I actually read "Breaking Dawn," however, I was mystified by what fans were so upset about. And I didn't find out until I got back this week.

So...SPOILER ALERT...What in the world are people so upset about?

It's no secret (ha! I am already making puns) that Oprah Winfrey is many an American's spiritual guide. There is even a book, "The Gospel According To Oprah" by Marcia Z. Nelson, that "praises Oprah for using her entertainment pulpit to promote such positive spiritual values as gratitude, empathy, forgiveness and self-examination." And, earlier this year, my fellow Idol Chatter blogger Todd Havens even followed Oprah's "The New Earth" web event, taking almost all of her weekly classes that centered around the chapters of Eckhart Tolle's best-selling book of the same name.

But what would it be like to literally live as if Oprah was your spiritual guide? Your ultimate guru? What if you followed her advice to the letter?

There is no shortage of girl-starpower fueling the "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" about four best girlfriends who find a pair of jeans that miraculously fit each of them perfectly and makes magic happen in their lives--or wait, this sequel is less about the pants. But I'll get back to that in a sec.

Blake Lively of "Gossip Girl" as Bridget. Check.

America Ferrera of "Ugly Betty" as Carmen. Check.

Alexis Bledel of "Gilmore Girls" as Lena. Check.

Amber Tamblyn of "Joan of Arcadia" as Tibby. Check.

What makes "Sisterhood 2" bearable is the talent and appeal of these four young, beautiful actresses, who really do light up the screen and take a rather weak, repeat of a storyline--they go to four separate summer job locations while in college and hope the pants will keep them together--and turns it into something interesting, fun, and at times, moving.

What "Sisterhood" loses this time around, however, is the sense of the miraculous around the pants.

Everyone's favorite teen soap opera/guilty pleasure "Gossip Girl" is back, premiering on the CW September 1. And of course, its back with a, well, um, bang (so to speak). GG got itself in heaps of trouble last spring as it...

I have a penchant for movies about survival--stories where the heroine or hero begins as down and out as a result of some loss, or setback, or even intense grief and despair, yet somehow, often rather a bit magically, we...

Um, this is not a joke--at least, not from the perspective of the Indiana family who believe that their cat, named Sissy, has fur in which Jesus' face appears. Having just attended a screening of the movie "Henry Poole Is...

Hello all you excited Twilight fans! The moment has arrived..."Breaking Dawn" is available! Please check out my geekiest-ever report for Publishers Weekly on my night out with Stephenie Meyer, at the "Breaking Dawn" concert in New York City the night...

Words can't express how excited I am to be going to the special New York City launch party for Stephenie Meyer's "Breaking Dawn" tonight at the Nokia Theater in Times Sqaure. But if you can't join the party...or you couldn't...

Well she is according to a major USA Today story anticipating the midnight madness about to befall us this evening when "Breaking Dawn," Book 4 of the "Twilight Series" releases. And apparently, Stephenie Meyer is the world's newest celebrity author...