Unless you live in a cave, you have heard of Twilight. The third installment of the franchise, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse opened Wednesday night and once again everywhere I look, I see Twilight. Now I am a bit torn on the subject. When the first Twilight movie came out in 2008 I had absolutely NO desire to see the film. Not only do I prefer reality to fiction, but I also have outgrown the tween stage of my life. I remember turning on the t.v., logging onto Perez Hilton, and seeing every magazine cover talking about Twilight. I had no idea what was going on. Why would people be so obsessed with a teen movie about Vampires? The more that I heard about it, the more my curiosity was peaked. So last summer I went out and bought the first book in the series and got hooked. I read the 3 other books in the following days, and eventually rented the Twilight movie. I remember explaining the movie to my boyfriend and saying, "this girl falls in love with a vampire and her best friend is a werewolf..." and thinking, 'Oh lord, I sound so lame.' Although I have read the books and seen both films, I can't explain for the life of me why there is such an obsession about Twilight. I do however understand the obsession with Robert Pattinson (but that's a whole other topic). Yes, I have read the books. Yes, I have seen the two films, but I see them when I see them. I do not camp out at 3 AM, nor do I go to the first showings. I will eventually see all of the films in the franchise, but it's not my top priority. Maybe it is because I have never been a fanatic of anything, but I find the obsession somewhat bizarre. The fact that Twilight is everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE, is becoming increasingly more annoying. Unfortunately the last installment of the franchise will not be in theaters until 2012 which means we have two more years of hearing about Twilight and the crazy, die-hard Twi-hard fans and Twi-moms (mothers obsessed with Twilight...yes, really) that come with it.
I'm a film major so I know that stories and films about Vampires have been around for ages. I have seen the original Dracula film, F.W Murnau's German silent classic Nosferatu, & Brad Pitt's awkward kiss with Kirsten Dunst in Interview with the Vampire, but has anyone else realized all of the Vampire related shows on television right now? I watch The Vampire Diaries, Thursday nights on the CW which I like much more than Twilight. It's a bit more mature, fast paced, and gory than Twilight without the full on blood bath's featured on HBO's True Blood. However I have seen previews for two new vampire shows coming this fall: The Gates & Moonlight. I have to wonder if the vampire genre is going to bleed out (pun-intended) from overexposure? Today's genre of vampire is no longer the classic we used to know. Sure it is dark & mysterious but it mixes in a contemporary feel and love story's much different from before. In my opinion, I think vampire films and shows will be around forever, but that there will be an overload, an overkill, that will turn everyone away for a while. I'm guessing that will come in 2012 when The Twilight Saga ends, but don't quote me on it.
It's strange to say, but this vampire obsession and more so Twilight, has become such a part of our culture, and in a sense, defining of a generation. I'm sure one day Twilight memorabilia will become collectors items, and a show called I love the 2000's will relentlessly make fun of this Vampire craze, but for now, we are stuck with it as is. So we all better get used to hearing about Vampires and Werewolves for a few more years. The only question I have left is: I wonder if Count Chocula is jealous?
