Occasionally, strong prose and a powerful narrative voice can elevate an otherwise mediocre story. It is in instances like this when a book is adapted to film and something is lost in translation. Once it has lost its strongest element, the power of the story deteriorates.
It seems this is the issue with "Twilight," adapted from the best -selling novel by Stephenie Meyer of the same name about a morbidly handsome vampire who falls in love with an ordinary young high school girl. Take the vampires out of the story and you're basically left with a bad high school drama. With the vampires, however, the story maintains an interesting level of originality, but just never really feels all that fresh.
Bella Swan has just moved to Forks, Washington, from Phoenix. Her mother recently remarried and moved to Jacksonville with her new husband, so Bella decided to give her father a try up in the land of chronic depression.
"Stick it where the sun don't shine," as the joke goes. "Seattle, Washington."
In Forks, Bella quickly falls in with a band of popular normal kids, but the handsome and mysterious Edward Cullen soon catches her eye. His gaze is penetrating. Robert Pattinson was a perfect casting decision. His bold jaw line and dark eyes are perfect for the character.
Edward is a strange boy. When Bella first meets him in biology class, he doesn't say a word. He only stares at her angrily for several minutes before finally storming out halfway through the lecture.
Not long after, Edward clumsily tries to make amends. Bella finds his awkward approach and social inexperience infinitely attractive, and when Edward stops a moving van to save her life, the stage is set: The two fall in love.
Bella eventually learns Edward is actually a vampire, one that can read the minds of everyone in the room, he says, except for hers. The closer he gets to her, the harder it is for him to resist the smell of her blood. He could lose control. He could go too far.
We learn that Edward is a member of a family of "vegetarian" vampires, who abstain from human blood and feed on animals in the woods. Edward's father is the town doctor, Carlisle, whose adopted family consists of five former mortals. He transformed them into vampires in order to save their lives, and then welcomed them into his home. He did this to Edward in 1918 and he hasn't aged a day since.
That would make Edward about 107 years old, a good 90 years older than the girl he loves. It seems there would be a mild difference in wisdom here.
Bella is herself a very passive girl.
The film occasionally tries to paint her otherwise, but we know better. She mostly keeps to herself, reading with her iPod on. She seems to fall in love with Edward because he protects her. She admittedly knows nothing about him. When she finds out how dangerous he is, she wants him more.
Did I mention he had been watching her sleep? Does this sound like a powder keg for domestic violence to anyone but me?
rollanschott@dailynebraskan.com
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