What I Learnt From The First Three Twilight Saga Movies

And by that, I meant the first three movies - "Twilight", "New Moon" and "Eclipse". Yes, as ever the slowpoke, I had just completed the third movie on DVD and found much insights to the trilogy, beyond the whininess and vampire-lore we have become familiar with through the years of media bombardment! Hey, I survived The Vampire Diaries first, so I think I can survive Twilight, yeh? *shrugs* LOL


[Mattel / Barbie corners the Twilight-dolls market]
The EXTREME: The feelings oozing out of the teenagers pores aka 'being emoted' in these film, is "intense", to say the least - from both the incessantly whiny and pinning 'Bella', to the smothering but most times barely audible 'Edward', to even the anal-probed-amgst and bushy-eyebrowed 'Jacob'. This is a parallel for the youths of today perhaps? The sense of "emo" gone over-drive cliff-down and you either LOVE it, or do not. Both extreme corners of their own emotions, but at the same time, there is no wishy-washy here tho (unlike the on-and-off love-status of the first two movies lol).

Has the attention-span and interest of youths has become so tunnel-visioned in the way that what they see and like, they will like, no options otherwise? There is no room for middle ground. "Love Me Forever", or leave me eventually and die a mortal death. But one thing is for sure - you can love two people at the same time, just one more than the other.

We no longer use the term "hussy", just replace gently with "conflicted". Tis not a small wonder why Facebook's "complicated" relationship status had become the rage in the last few years.


[Click on image to see Twilight toys from NECA circa NYTF 2009]
The EMBRACE: Why the film works so exceedingly well, and especially for girls (and perhaps even boys alike), is that the average-human that which is Bella, is embraced as readily within the blood-sucking Cullens family, as much as the Werewolves' pack-family. "You" are not treated like a "weirdo" from non-regular-peeps. The level of acceptance is heightened by the folks outside of the families (like The Volturi) tho, but within the nucleus of the family dynamic and the secrets that surround it? "You" are embraced for who you are, warts and all. Doesn't everybody just want to "belong"?

I remember a sense of prior-dread noticeably prominent in toy forumboards from the past, where the older boardies might bully+rag on the newbies, who in turn choose to be waste-product-recepticals who choose to disrespect anyone before them. Then a huge about-turn evolved when the 3A Legion showed folks an alternative to toy-collecting, and embraced the notion of all-creed-all-nations under a single toy-community. Folks should consider that direction - not necessarily a NEED to enrich the community (I am not THAT naive to think otherwise, c'mon) but food for thought if you intend to move your product to specific markets, IMHO.


[Click on image to view post of Shimmery Edward in 1/6!]
GLITTERY VAMPIRE SKIN: I had read numerous jibs at the notion of Edward's vampire skin glittering in the sunlight, and most times agree with them! But as a marketing concept, it think it makes this particular concept / storyline stand out from the doom-n-gloom traditional aspects of Vampires - who dwell in coffins and are not exposed to sunlight least they turn to ashes.

Movies like Bram Stroker's "Dracula" and "Interview With A Vampire" trumpet the epic-lore of forgotten eras, while classics like "Lost Boys" expound upon the youthfulness we all hope to retain still (*cough*). Twilight expands beyond the boundaries of literary pursuits and into the subconsciousness of the masses. Some will remain etched in our minds, some, well, some have "glittering skin" to remind us instead.

Someone mentions "turn to ashes upon seeing sunlight", and we are left to remember which vampire-movies were our favourites, while someone mentions "glittering vampire-skin", and which movie/s do you think of first? There you go!

Besides providing your detractors source for comedy-fodder, and being "special" from the rest might divide your viewers, but it gives your fanbase something they can call 'their own', and it sure would make an awesome toy figurine with shimmery 'skin' tho ... well, bedazzling clothes was the range for all of 3 minutes, yes? (*muffled-giggles*)


[Buy your Edward Cullen variant figurines from NECA on Amazon
But why only Edward? Because he had more costume changes than Jacob's bermudas]
IMPRINTING: To me translates simply to "dedication" - which in this day and age of mass commerce and an obscene abundance of "choice", is invaluable to folks hoping to eke out an existence 5, 10 years down the line. Remember this: the teens NOW, might grow up to be your FANS and SUPPORTERS later - when they graduate, when they get a job and be able to afford your art and toys, who will be more equipped and EMO-tionally empowered to help your "name" and work travel, or not. You might have imprinted on your current fanbase, but what of your future?

Then again, your "future" might be what is impregnated and throbbing in Bella's tummy, in Breaking Dawn Parts 1&2! But I'm not going to be going anywhere near there anytime soon, actually. Enjoy :)