Topaz eyes, lightning quick reflexes and stalker skills have never been so dazzling.
“Twilight,” the film version of the first book in Stephanie Meyer’s four-book series, hit theaters across the country Friday, bringing the now-iconic story of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen to the big screen. Bella’s story begins in the book “Twilight” when she moves to a small Washington town and falls in love with Edward, a vampire who only drinks animal blood.
The draw to the series can be powerful.
“I feel very invested in the ‘Twilight’ series,” sophomore Lauren Miller said. She has read all four books and plans to see the movie sometime during Thanksgiving break.
“When I first read ‘Twilight,’ I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but once I read it, I got really hooked. I really like Bella. I liked the whole supernatural aspect to do with vampires and werewolves. And Edward Cullen, of course.”
Feeling close to media characters isn’t a new phenomenon. Joe Watson, assistant professor of mass media and communication, said it is common for people to develop one-way relationships with media characters, making people feel like they know the characters.
“A lot of girls probably think of Bella as a friend,” he said. “We feel like we know the characters. We feel a sense of loss when they go away, and there’s an emptiness that it’s over.”
Miller said Bella seems very real to her.
“She’s not the perfect character,” Miller said. “She says the wrong things at the wrong time.”
Bella isn’t the only “Twilight” character that stirs emotions. Edward, described from Bella’s point of view, is beyond handsome, good at everything and basically magnificent.
“The media teach us about romance, what to expect, how to engage in a relationship, how to end a relationship,” Watson said. “I’ve got to think there’s a whole generation of girls who will have their love lives shaped by their expectations based on Edward Cullen.”
For some, they’re experiencing love for the first time through the media.
Junior Coop Cooper read “Twilight” because he is interested in vampires and their abilities, and he finished in a few hours because he couldn’t put it down. He said he hopes women don’t begin expecting relationships like that between Edward and Bella.
“I’m not going to be able to perform like Edward can,” Cooper said. “I think every guy wants to be desired by a girl like that at some point in his life. He has quite the power over Bella, but she seems to have it over him as well.”
Edward is not always every woman’s ideal boyfriend. He believes he always knows best, watches her sleep and has the ability to end her life with his venom.
“Edward’s a bad boy,” Watson said. “They can have exposure to a bad boy but not have to pay the real life consequences.”
“Twilight” is playing at 1:20 p.m., 4:10 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Friday at Hollywood Theaters in Lawrence.