Now I very well know that there are A LOT of people out there who aren't too thrilled with anything having to do with Stephanie Meyer's "The Twilight Saga," of books and films; so, if you are not a Twilight enthusiast to any degree, please, by all means, just skip over this blog entry altogether because regardless of how much others may piss-n-moan about the Twilight series of books and/or films that is what I'm writing about because I have not only enjoyed seeing all the Twilight Saga movies thus far, but this past month I completed reading all 4 books in the series and lemme tell you, they bowled me over. I still can't believe what good reads those 4 books were, especially the last in the series, "Breaking Dawn." I was truly entranced from beginning to end reading that book and its 3 predecessors. Fabulous, fantastic reading if you ask me.I realize that in every set of books that have morphed into screenplays and thus films, whether it be the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia series, etc., etc., there is always that 50/50 chance that either the books are better than the film adaptations or vice-versa; or, in an even more rare instance, the books and the films are about the same. Judging from what I've seen thus far with the "Twilight Saga", I'd almost have to say that the books ARE better than the films; however, those special effects folks in Hollywood bring home so many major pivotal parts of the books into cinema-form that it really is almost a tie on which is better.
As a matter of fact, the only discreptancy that I found in the books storylines being told via the silver screen is that there were some parts of the books "New Moon," "Eclipse," and "Breaking Dawn" that were switched around just a tiny bit in the films. As an example, in the film versions there were parts of "New Moon" in the "Eclipse" film and vice-versa and naturally I would love to tell you exactly which ones but they are fairly irrelevant in the collective overall storyline of the book series that it's really not necessary for me to do so. Plus, I dont wanna ruin anything for future readers and viewers of the books and films. Just as with anything musical, books and films are also a matter of personal interpretation and/or appreciation. My viewpoints regarding both the books and films may not be the way you or the folks who live down the lane perceive them; but, that's the great thing about stuff like this, the subject material always leaves both the doors and the windows open for further discusssion, for people to exchange thoughts and ideas with each other and all that other good stuff that makes us humans just a bit more civilized than the other species of creatures who inhabit this planet.
Upon my completion of reading the entire "Twilight Saga" series of books, there was one extremely interesting angle that I did come across which really struck a chord or two with me which I would like to share with others, again, without spoling the storylines/plotlines to future readers/ viewers of the books/films. Naturally, I will not be listing the page numbers and exact quoted areas from the books because unlike the textbooks which I use to so thoroughly annotate back in my college days, I just went along with the natural flow of reading.In the book "Breaking Dawn," there is a section of where Edward and Bella are discussing vampires and their place in the human-known universe and even though the characters and the books of the Twilight Saga are fictional, the point that he made is something that could actually cross-over into our real world comprehension. Simply put,. his point was this....if there can be all these good and not-so-good species of creatures on this planet, and every single one of them was created by a Divine being, why then is it so hard for people to believe that vampires weren't created in the same exact manner? Allow me to illustrate his point via another biological example. We all know there are "good" kinds of sharks and "bad" kinds of sharks. We have been taught that both were created for whatever reason. So if people can believe that something as harmless as a Sand shark and something as predatory as a Great White Shark both have their rightful place in the scheme of the overall Universe, why then couldn't it be possible that just as human beings were created, creatures like vampires were created too? I think the most widely asked bottom-line question for both of the aforementioned examples would have to be is why do they exist in the first place, yet ironically the answer would be the same for every possible example out there - every thing on this planet was created for a reason. Or so we've been told since time immortal began.
No, I'm not implying that I believe in vampires (or even werewolves for that matter), nor am I suggesting that anyone keeps their minds open to believing that such creatures exist but this line of rationale that was presented in the book by one of its central characters goes beyond people fearing the unknown as well as things they simply do not understand and/or can mentally grasp. I mean. When it really boils down to it, when you take away all the Hollywood filmmakers interpretations of what the world of both vampires and werewolves is all about, something which we've all been spoonfed about for the last 80+ years or so, and set all of that aside, all you really have left are the centuries old myths and legends regarding such creatures, which in turn makes you wonder, are they just mere stories that people made up to scare themselves during the Dark ages, or is there indeed some tiny kernel of truth to them? But what indeed is the true basis for those myths and legends? Did the storytellers of yestercentury create such stories as their way of implying that both vampires and werewolves exist as a means to keep the population explosions under control, or were such stories penned as a mere form of entertainment at a time when there hardly was any?
After all, those myths and legends were created for a reason and even if most people do regard them as purely unadulterated bullshit, I will venture to say the following - IF there were even a minute inkling of scientific and/or biological proof that either species of creatures truly did and/or do exist, I for one would definitely approach such proof with an open mind because in this day-n-age where the belief that there are alien life forms other than our own which do exist out there in the universe is becoming more and more widely accepted, isn't it kind of odd that when the average person is asked if they believe in vampires and/or werewolves - both legendary creatures here on the good ole' planet Earth - most people respond with a smile or a chuckle and say "Are you friggin nuts??" After all, aren't the little green men from Mars as much of a myth and/or legend as are Count Dracula and the Wolfman? Makes one wonder sometimes, doesn't it?
As much as I do enjoy and appreciate the "Twilight Saga" series of books and films, I think that as long as the Hollywood filmmakers can make a quick buck off of such stories, they will do so, regardless of how many sequels are involved in the process; however, one thing that cannot be denied is that whenever any piece of literature or any frame of film makes a person think and wonder about the world around them, it's really not such a bad thing after all. Besides, when you really analyze it, the "Twilight Saga" is more of a love story than a horror story anyways. In fact, I think it illustrates something that we GLBTQ folks have known for many centuries ourselves - it doesn't matter how different two people are from each other, if they really truly love each other, anything is possible. I know alotta folks have teased me and said that everything to do with the "Twilight Saga" is mainly intended for all the droves of young teenage girls in the world but I disagree, I think the storyline is relevant for people of all ages and from all walks of life. And that is always a good thing because when something as harmless as a great fictional story can connect groups of people into a collective whole, well then, there certainly is nothing wrong with that. Thank you for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment