by Amy Hite

Created on: October 21, 2009

Twilight mania has swept the nation, mostly because of Stephenie Meyer's bestselling series, but credit must be given to the money making movie as well. How do the two compare? As most would note, films adapted from books are rarely as good as the books themselves. Twilight is no different, but author Stephenie Meyer made it particularly difficult for the movie's screenwriter when she wrote her best selling series from the main character's point of view. The entire series is rooted in Bella's thoughts, feelings and experiences. Every person reading the book becomes Bella, and expects her to act as they picture themselves acting - quite a tall order for a teenage actress to portray. Kristen Stewart as Bella has trouble conveying the twists and turns of emotions and as a result, the movie falls short.

Part of the reason the book became such a best selling phenomenon is because it crossed boundaries. What was intended to be a teenage love story surprised and surely delighted its publisher when middle-aged women were caught reading the book with their tween daughters. The story of Edward and Bella captured the hearts and minds of millions with its theme of an impossible love facing impossible obstacles. The movie, as opposed to capitalizing on the book's widespread appeal, "dumbed down" the script to become just another teenage movie, complete with a lighted gazebo prom scene. As a result, middle-aged women everywhere groaned and threw up their hands, disgusted that their beloved book was massacred.

On the other hand, the movie did its job with the teen and tween following, as expected. Those that did not read the book were romanced by the shallow teen angst the movie portrayed, and those that did read the book were merely excited to see their imaginations come to life on the big screen. The success of the movie cannot be denied, but what is not known is what the success could have been had the movie played better with the book's entire audience.

There is a new director at the helm for the next movie in the series, New Moon. With what was no doubt a larger budget and a different creative mind, it will be interesting to see if the series begins to live up to its potential. Twilight super fans will flock to the next movie in droves, but it remains to be seen whether the rest of the world will give the series another shot.

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