Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) just lost the weekend box office to The Blindside (2009). Could this mean that discerning audiences have discovered what the critics have said all along – the film just isn’t good? Tell that to the herds of stampeding fan girls who forked over their hard earned allowances to give this film a record breaking opening weekend. Apparently, even cookies of depression and self-loathing can be sweet when served by shirtless hotties.

It’s not really fair to solely blame Director Chris Weitz for “the Hindenburg” that Twilight is to the teen psyche. After all, Stephanie Meyer’s books were hardly groundbreaking literature – unless you count their ability to cause riots at Hot Topic stores. But Weitz is the one who said:

“Nothing surprises me in terms of reviews. Having been a reviewer myself, there are only two ways to spin this story. You can either be the one guy who says this is a great movie, or more likely, take a more jaundiced view of the whole thing. And given the media blitz that has accompanied ‘New Moon,’ it’s rather unsurprising. I do wish there was more appreciation for cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe. I think he’s a genius, and I think he made something beautiful.”

I could ignore this as a wounded ego talking. But where’s the fun in that?

Followers of the editing bin are familiar with the general skepticism through which I view the entire Team Edward/Team Jacob phenomenon. I was happy to give Twilight a chance, and had high hopes for the sequel. I read the books and even slogged my way through the drug trip that is Breaking Dawn. The one thing I have learned from the Twilight frenzy is while smarter women know how to laugh away the flaws in these films (and books), pre-teen audiences are happily chugging the kool-aid – much to their personal detriment.

Meyer’s characters wouldn’t know a healthy relationship if it bit them. Her female lead, Bella, actively puts herself in life threatening situations, lies to her parents, ignores her friends, and uses the people who most want to help her for her own personal gain. She treats everyone around her like something she stepped in, and that’s “okay” because she loves Edward. (He’s got his own fun bag of issues but they come out in Eclipse, so he gets a reprieve for now.)

In real life, the relationships in Twilight would lead to spousal abuse, but on the big screen it earns millions. Maybe, ten years from now Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson plan to balance their karma by gracing us all with a film remake of
Enough (2002). Until then, we have a generation of impressionable young women who believe that “this is love.”*

Let’s assume for a moment that I (as one of these CRAZY critics) am not a raving man-hater, that I didn’t enter that theater beating my tambourine and screaming “all romance must die!” Heck, I’ll even agree with Weitz that the film is quite beautiful – at times. It certainly was a drastic improvement on the blue monotone of Twilight Saga:
Twilight (2008).

But the vast majority of the criticism that has been levied against this film (not just by me) has been in regard to Bella and the fact that we are made to freaking hate her by the end of the film. Why? Because she simpers, whines, and otherwise drags her way through the movie over a boy who posesses one facial expression. Weitz had a bit of an uphill battle to take Meyer’s work and make it a well rounded story suitable for the big screen. But come on! He completely ignores or glosses over the FEW rational or kind moments that Bella has in the books.

Rule #1 of storytelling: provide a sympathetic character to whom the audience can relate. The most relatable person in this film was Taylor Lautner as Jacob (which would be great if this was a film about Jacob and his relationship troubles). Edward, meanwhile, is a hologram (though I’m not sure how upset I am about this given Pattinson’s inability to make eye contact … with anyone). Instead, we are left to watch as Bella goes from being a generally unlikable storybook character to all out bitch. By halfway through the film, I didn’t care whether she found her boyfriend; I was too busy counting the victims she left in her wake.

Maybe I am jaundiced. Maybe, I am “a murderer of love!”** Or, maybe, I am just not willing to bow to the “oooh, shiny!” effect. Being the one critic who looks at this movie and says: “that’s the greatest love story since the
Titanic!” doesn’t give you taste, anymore than rating this movie negatively because everyone else is doing it would.

It’s sad that Mr. Weitz believes his movie has been reviewed unfairly. He made the fans happy, that’s great! But he did so at the cost of producing a quality film. Weitz argued so strongly for the right to pursue his personal vision for The Golden Compass, that I hoped to see him carry that integrity forward in his career. Instead, he has chosen to blame the critics for calling a spade a bitch.

Twilight Saga: New Moon is a pretty film, but its initial box office record is a measure of the book’s astronomical popularity, and not the film’s cinematic merit. I’m sorry that Weitz felt the media response was a personal attack, but if he can’t take criticism, he shouldn’t work in Hollywood.

-Stephanie

link to article: MTV: Chris Weitz Responds To Negative ‘New Moon’ Reviews
*See my post Twilight In Love
**Cara Burns, Dan in Real Life (2007)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 9:10 am and is filed under Hollywood drama!!!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.