Donna Freitas: November 2009 Archives

I was in the theater last Friday morning, the day of the release of 'New Moon,' with the rest of the screaming, teenage Twilight fans. Though, a good number of us were in the "I'm thirty-something and I love Twilight and I don't care what anyone else says or thinks" bracket, too; or as Washington Post writer, Monica Hesse suggests in her article, "Twilight,' the love that dare not speak its shame," a category of "Good, smart, literary women [who] tried to resist the romantic-vampire phenomenon. And then, alas, they bit."

Anyway, the biggest shocker of all for me as to why I enjoyed the movie so much: Jacob Black. I loved, loved, loved how the film portrayed Jacob Black, his transformation from sweet teenage boy to powerful, vicious werewolf, and most of all, watching the evolution of his relationship with Bella. Taylor Lautner as Jacob was likable, funny, romantic--and broody, too, but not on the level of the film's version of Edward. As a long time member of Team Edward, I was not prepared for how much I was going to like Jacob--in fact, I thought I wouldn't like 'New Moon' as a film very much because it's really Jacob's story more than anything else. But as I watched Bella grow close to Jacob and eventually enter into a series of moments where they come close enough to kiss, I found myself thinking, "Kiss him! Kiss him! He's way less broody than Edward!" It almost feels blasphemous to admit this.

The countdown to the release of 'New Moon,' the second movie in the Twilight Saga, is long underway. In less than forty-eight hours all will be revealed! OK. Maybe I'm being a bit melodramatic. Regardless, I'm excited to see what's in store for Twilight fans on the big screen when 'New Moon' hits theaters. Here are my top five hopes--I say hopes instead of predictions because, really, I know I'm just wishful thinking:

1) That Edward is portrayed as less like a stalker this time around and more like the romantic hero he is in the books. He actually smiles quite a bit and even laughs in the series--but there was only one scene when he smiled and did anything playful in the movie version of Twilight. I didn't like that portrayal of Edward at all!

2) That Edward's face won't look pained for the entirety of his time spent on the screen. Okay. See hope #1 above.

3) That, despite the trailers and the movie poster, this movie will not be as Jacob-heavy as we've been led to believe. Of course, I am well aware that 'New Moon' the book is almost all Jacob, all the time, but still: I can hope, right?

If you haven't seen this already it's a must. Twitteleh: Twitter for your Jewish Mother, is hilarious. Twitteleh is a spoof on both Twitter (obviously), and the affectionate reputation Jewish moms have for checking in on their kids a bit too much, their sons most of all, and in this way that is pushy and at times, well, out of control nosy. The Twitteleh video is aimed at those sons looking for a quick and easy way to appease Mom's constant need to know, and it's instructional in nature--"Every time you want to update your Jewish mother, go to Twitteleh.com and answer these three questions"--the three questions being:

1. Where are you?
2. What have you eaten?
3. Are you wearing a sweater?

Hilarious. Seriously. And it stars a very, funny Jewish mother to boot. Not to be missed.

Stephenie Meyer will do only one appearance to promote New Moon, the second movie in the Twilight Saga (releasing Nov. 20th), but it's a biggie: Oprah will feature Meyer for a full hour this Friday, November 13th, on her show.

News organizations and blogs picked this up from Meyer's own blog, where she told her fans that, though she swore she was going to be a "hermit" as far as the press went, she'd decided to make an exception when the call came from Oprah. (And who wouldn't really?) She wrote the following:

"I am so pleased and amazed and thrilled with what Chris Weitz has done with New Moon that I want to talk about it, and to show my support for him. And since I'm only doing one interview, better make it big. Really big. So....I will be on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Friday, November 13th."

She did prep fans, though, not to get too excited about the possibility of specific, insider information revealed on the show, since this is more of a Twilight primer Oprah course for the previously uninitiated. Then she went on to try and make up for this potential disappointment:

Everything you wanted to know about Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight Saga that has turned into a world-wide vampire-loving phenomenon--is available today, Wednesday, November 11th, and it's illustrated. A graphic novel biography series called "Female Force," which has featured such powerhouse women as Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, and J.K. Rowling, among others, has added Stephenie Meyer to their list of famous women people want to know about.

A preview of "Female Force Bestsellers: Stephenie Meyer" was released about a week back and to rave reviews: pre-sales of the book already topped 12,000 copies and right now its the #1 bestselling graphic novel.

I love the graphic novel form and what's really fun about both the form and the way it tells a story--especially stories about significant women--is that it evokes these women in the typical superheroine format of comics. I'm excited to check it out before the release of New Moon in theaters next week.

Really: what's a day without gazing at "Twilight"'s Edward Cullen--I mean Robert Pattinson--and that gorgeous face of his. And those smoldering eyes! Can't forget the eyes. The moody look. That twisted smile. Sigh. Okay. I'll stop. But really: want to...

I'd never really thought of Alice Sebold's bestselling novel "The Lovely Bones" as a ghost story--though to call it haunting is an understatement, too. But there is no getting around the fact that the story's protagonist, Susie Salmon, raped and...