Twilight (part two) Possible Spoilers

In this post I'd like to engage those of my blog readers who have read or are interested in reading Twilight.

First off, I'm going to ask those of you who haven't read it- have reading my posts changed your opinions on any aspects of the series? If so, what? Also, what concerns remain unresolved? Is there anything else you'd like to see me cover?

That last question would go for the Twilight lovers as well. Are there any Twilight topics that I have not yet covered, that you would like to see one Christain's opinion on?

Moving on.

1. What first drew you to Twilight? The Vampires? The fact that all of your friends were reading it? The really cool covers? (I admit it. Those covers are breathtakingly cool.)

2. What do you think of Bella? How has your perception of her changed over the series? Like all of us, she isn't perfect, but she really seemed to grow and mature in "Breaking Dawn."

3. How do you view Edward Cullen? Are you one of his fan girls (honestly, now!) or do you simply think he's a cool character? Is he unrealistic? Or does 100 years of self-restraint seem like a plausible excuse for his many qualities?

4. Which of the other vampires is your favorite and why? I enjoy Alice for her spunk, Carlisle for his conscience, Jasper because he's, well, cool, and Emmet because he's hilarious.

5. How has your perception of vampires changed over reading this series? As I pointed out in my first post, I think this "vampire-with-a-conscience" idea makes more sense than traditional "garlic-and-crucifix" vampire idea. Do you agree with that? (Random thought that I've been dealing with- probably influenced by so many Catholic friends. Could a vampire be "cured" if they drank Communion wine? You know- the blood of Christ that eternally satisfies their curse? Could be an interesting story to explore someday.)

6. Did you noticed how the idea of free will is subtly (or not so subtly) played with throughout the series? Essentially, it is all about free will. The free will of the vampires to choose whether they will be good or evil, the binding of the werewolves to the will of their leader or the love of the subject of their imprint, etc.

7. Do you think Meyers pushes too many boundries when it comes to violence, sex, etc? I personally think it really depends on the age range. I think the series is meant to be read by 16+ and it really bothers me that younger readers are among her biggest fans. Breaking Dawn is so not appropriete for 13-year-olds. However, I think for the 18, 19+ audience it is quite tastefully done. I don't read much fiction intended for younger teens- how do you think this compares?

8. Did you find the ending of Breaking Dawn disappointing? Not in the romance catagory- I think Bella/Edward and Jacob/Renesmee were very nicely resolved. But rather with the Volturi. Did it feel wrong to leave them still in power? Or realistic? Do you think there should be a book about Jacob and Renesmee as "adults" challanging the Volturi's power?

9. What did you think of Carlisle's decision to "vampirize" Esme, Rosalie, Edward and Emmett? And Edward's decision to save Bella? Do you think it was right? Do you think that vampires have souls? I find the biggest proof that they still have souls in the fact that they still have consciences and free will. If they didn't have those (as vampires of traditional legand do) I think it would be evidence that they no longer have souls.

10. Has this series changed your thinking in any other ways? The way you view romance? Parenting? Life and death?

Note this- if I get enough interesting replies to this, I will publish and interact with them in another post. So "your name could be here" if you take the time to respond! (I hope you do- I'm pretty intrigued by these questions.)

Breaking Dawn

Some thoughts on "Breaking Dawn"...since it's 1:00 in the morning and I'm not ready to put the computer away.

A lot of people seem to be somewhat dissatisfied with the plot twists. And I will warn you, Meyers breaks a LOT of rules in this book. Not moral rules (of course) but writing rules. Like letting your main characters get married when there are still 600 pages to go. *gasp*

Of course, anyone who knows me, knows that I love it when the hero and heroine actually manage to start married life before the story ends. It's so realistic. Young people can get such odd views of romance when "the wedding" is considered equivilant to "happily ever after" or "the end." Because, of course, neither is true. It's the beginning of a long and hard journey.

So I was thrilled when Bella and Edward- (oops, did I say that this was a spoilerific review?)

When Bella and Edward tied the knot right away. Lovely wedding scene...confrontation with Jacob...and then off on the honeymoon.

Ahem. A note needs to be said again that, though very tastefully written, (all things considered) this is still a book containing sections that are more appropriete for those over 18. Especially because Bella and Edward (surprise!) experiance an unexpected but natural effect of marriage.

Pregnancy.

Oooh! The other "forbidden" topic in young adult literature. Dont' let your heroine get pregnant- especially when there are 500 pages to go, and especially if she's married!

Huh. Wierd. Again, to me this seems like a totally natural thing to write about. Our grandmothers got married and had children by the time they were 15, 16 years old. Bella is already nearly 19. I was thrilled that despite the "vampires can't have children" thing, Meyers still managed to figure out a plausible way for Bella to get pregnant with Edward's child.

What was rather surprising, however, was Edward's reaction. Though by the end of the book I respected him again, his pressure on Bella to abort the child was disappointing.

Meyers, however, is pro-life, as becomes very obvious through Bella's passionate defense of her unborn baby. Indeed, Bella became much more endearing and admirable to me when I saw her love for her baby- even though her life was at risk.

It also explained many aspects of Bella's character that I think I missed previously. She really does care about other people- sometimes dangerously so. She's been accused of selfishness- but it's never something she's unaware of. She's simply human. In Breaking Dawn we see that her love for others far outshines her love of herself. We've had hints all along that such was the case, but I think a lot of us totally missed them. (She hates parties and gifts and having attention drawn to herself. We just thought she was being silly.)

Then of course there is the other Jacob-imprinting-on-Renesmee part that really we should have been much more prepared for. After all, didn't Meyers quote Wuthering Heights half a dozen times during Eclipse?

Renesmee herself is one of the most unexpectedly delightful elements of the book. She is such an endearing character- and provides the pivotal plot point for the confrontation with the Volturi. (why can I never spell that right? I'm much too tired to check, so have pity on me for once.)

In many ways I think Meyers has gone much further in plot progression than any of her previous books. Sure- the first book we had the "in love with a vampire" aspect, and in the second book we had "love triangle including a werewolf" aspect. Still, Meyers has never been able to manage the intricate plots of- say, J.K. Rowlings.

I say this because I have to be honest. Rowlings and Meyers have been compared a lot, but their writing is very, very differant. As it is, I think HP will be the series to go down in history as a great youth classic. The world it imagines, the characters it creates, and the plot it weaves are just a notch above most of what is out there.

Including Twilight. But that doesn't meant that Twilight isn't worth reading, or that I won't someday hand it down to my own mature daughters to read (whenever they appear). It just means that it probably wont' be included on school reading lists the way HP has been.

And, while I'm playing the critic, I must say that Meyer's biggest failing is the length of the books. Meyers, like most females, enjoys lots and lots of details. Breaking Dawn could have been at least 100 pages shorter without breaking a sweat (okay, maybe a little one). Most of the female readers won't mind it, but the guys and the adults will be a little bit annoyed by how many pages go by when nothing really important happens.

It is important- that's just the point- but it's hard to see. It's hard to understand how- even with vampires around, a book whose's most dramatic moment is a birthing scene could really be that fascinating.

And yet- it is. Which is why I'm rereading it now- without rereading the other books first. I will eventually, but Breaking Dawn will probably always be my favorite.

Beauty and the Beast- It's here!

Tonight was our second WONDERFUL performance! Despite some rain clouds in the sky (translated = we couldn't see the sun) and some actual sprinkles, the storm held off and we were able to go on with the show.

Last night (opening night) I was back stage, making sure that all the costume changes went smoothly (there really wasn't a lot to do- everyone except the Beast has enough time to get through their changes themselves- so I just sat around a lot). Tonight I actually got to sit out front and watch the entire show. It was so amazing! I can't wait to get better pictures of the set to show you- it is phenomenal. We use the roof in some of the sections, and we have this huge castle wall and turrents and windows and...yeah...

And you've already seen some of the costumes, but wait until the better pictures arrive!

All of our actors are SO amazing. We have every shape, age and size and every single one of them is thrilled to be there. Not just the actors, but the stage crew and the parents who do concessions and crowd management and photos and everything. It takes a LOT of people with a LOT of enthusiasim and love to do a show this good on a purely voluntary basis.

My thanks to you all for patiently allowing my blog to be consumed by the show. I'm afraid that my life has consisted pretty much of the show and work. I've spent more waking time on the set than at my own house in the past two weeks! But it has so been worth it. This has been one of the best summers of my life.

And now- two more shows, pictures, and a cast party! Hurrah!

Beauty and the Beast Costumes- Update 6

Salt is nearly finished! I just have to make him a sash....(actually, that will be the only thing I've actually physically made for him. Everything else I just directed.)

Disclaimer- again, I did nothing on the plates except tell them what colors to use. This musical is far, far too big for one person to do. It takes a village! (I'm quoting a fellow cast member there)
Here is one of the beautiful shiny spoons we are borrowing from a local community theatre!
On Saturday the "Beast" and I spent a lot of time working on his hands and feet.
I'm pretty pleased with what we've come up with.

Dress Rehersal tonight! Lots of pictures coming then!

Twilight (part one) Non-Spoiler

"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest therof thou shalt surely die." ~Genesis 2:17

It was the fact that this verse started out Stephenie Meyer's book "Twilight" that ultimately was responsible for the four books sitting next to me as I type this. It was the philosophical/spiritual question of "can anything be ultimately good or bad- even a vampire? Don't we all have a choice?" that intrigued me enough to pick up the first book and start ruffling through chapter one. It was reviews from other Christains that pointed this out and made me think that, rather than glorifying something that was evil, Meyers was actually taking a much more realistic approach to the subject of vampires than we humans have for the past hundred years.

Let me be clear. I hate the vampire myth. I only got halfway through Dracula and did not sleep well at all that night. But thereine lies the differance. Dracula and his creations have no choice about their evilness. They simply are demonic creatures. And yet, even demons made a choice, long ago, to follow Satan rather than God.

So what possible reason could there be for a young man, by name of Carlisle, to automatically become evil simply because he was bitten by a vampire that he was trying to drive out of London? None. Absolutely none. His physical needs (to drink blood) and looks (pale skin, etc) might change, but ultimately he still has a conscience. He still can choose "what is right over what is easy" (to quote another fantasy sage).

And Carlisle Cullen becomes the head of a vampire family that strives to live as "vegetarians", drinking animal blood rather than human's. Carlisle himself forces himself to become immune to the scent of human blood so that he can use his vampire strengths to save the lives of humans as a doctor. Whew! Talk about sacrifice!

And there are benefits to this lifestyle. Most vampires, because of their bloodlust, are unable to form any kinds of bonds besides those with their "mate." However, the Cullen family not only consists of three pairs of mates, but also of adopted parental and sibling relationships that are just as strong (or stronger) than those in a regular human family. They are unique in the vampire world- but ultimately, I believe they will lead the way for a world-wide conversion. (Nope. This isn't a spoiler, because even in book #4 it doesn't actually happen. But I personally believe that it will.)

All of this is what has been so captivating about this series. I point this out because I'm not the sort of person who would read something because it has vampires in it (quite the contrary) or because it has a wonderful teen romance story (again, the contrary).

But for those of you who might be frightened off by rumors of extreme Romance between Bella and Edward...yes. It's there. But it's not nearly as consuming as I expected. Or at least- as unrealistically consuming, especially once you move beyond book one. Bella and Edward both mature and change and believe me, once you read "Breaking Dawn" you will not have a shred of annoyance left with either of them. Well, perhaps old habits will die hard, but Bella Swan-

Nope. I'm not going to talk about Bella here. I'm going to do more reviews in which I don't have to be spoiler free and I can really go in depth on the character issues.

For now, I'm going to issue a general warning that this is a mature series. Sure, it's morally cleaner than a lot of stuff there (no pre-marital sex, or descriptions of sex, very resistant to murder of the innocents, pro-life, etc) but that doesn't mean that it doesn't deal with some very adult issues. It's a series that starts out fairly light, but, like it's characters, grows, darkens, and matures. While book #1 is appropriete for 16-year-olds, I would highly recommend that Breaking Dawn be reserved for the more mature.

Beauty and the Beast Costumes- Update 5

Here is another brief update! We have certainly accomplished more than what is pictured below, but I'm simply running out of time to take photographs! Anyhow, below you can see the nearly (but not quite) finished dress for Mrs. Potts:

Here is a green dress we borrowed from a local high school, coupled with our own mob caps and frilly aprons. (Only one of the Silly Girls would be silly enough to wear an organza apron that is completely impractical!)
Lumiere's coat! Pretty much done!
Two vests- one of the few projects which I didn't have to do much overseeing for. My "second in command" (who did last year's show) took care of cutting and overseeing these. Like the covered buttons? I love covered buttons...(okay, so I was in charge of the covered buttons...they are so easy to delegate to those who don't have much machine experiance. I think my crew did a lovely job!)
The show opens in 5 days!

Which Classic Heroine are You?

http://www.thequizzery.com/quiz.php?id=3147



Here is a very popular quiz that I made some time ago, long before I had a blog. There is also a male version- Which Classic Hero are you.



So- take it, and leave a comment below to let me know who you turned out as!