Great Expectations - My First TATB Article

     A while ago I mentioned how the Twilight series has managed to awaken my long dormant muse with that little poem I wrote.  However, prior to that, I had written this for TA's Talk Back section in March and it was published on the site.  

     I was beyond stoked since it's my first published work anywhere and what amazed me more was the fact that it was one of the articles that got picked up if one were on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) site under the actors' names. Woo hoo!

Great Expectations

     Imagination - that fundamental facility of the human mind - allows us to be transported into worlds of fantasy where we enjoy the adventures of an adolescent wizard and his friends in Harry Potter; where we follow hobbits, elves, dwarves, wizards and mortal men as they reclaim Middle Earth from the Dark Lord, Sauron, in Lord of the Rings; and where we experience the life of a typical and unassuming teenage girl when she falls in love with a vampire and overcome all odds in the Twilight series.

     It is natural for readers to have a certain perception when we read fiction since it runs through our minds like a motion picture. Hence when our favourite fiction gets made into film, we have certain expectations on how it should look on the silver screen. Often fans of fiction are seldom satisfied with the resulting movies. Message in the Bottle, The Da Vinci Code, Eragon and Pride and Prejudice are such examples.

     Twilight was no exception. Stephenie Meyer’s series has a global fan following, has been translated to 37 different languages and is the biggest phenomenon to hit the world since Harry Potter. It is only natural that the fans had such great expectations when it was made into a film. There were many scenes that we wished we could have seen in the movie, we wished that the characters had more depth as in the book and we even have our own ideas on who should play the roles of our beloved characters. Fans had objected to almost every member of the main cast from Robert Pattinson to Elizabeth Reaser. In fact, only Ashley Greene was approved of from the beginning but even then, she was “too tall”.

 
     After the initial disapproval and fans have accepted the producers’ choices, we criticize certain aspects of the actors portrayal of the characters; thinking them inexpressive, stilted or awkward. Yet we forget that the actors worked from a given script, they did not improvise as they went along. We also forget that the film has producers, script writers and a director and they are the ones who directed the actors on how they want the roles to be portrayed according to their vision. As it stands, it’s a well-known fact that Catherine Hardwicke botched up the movie so much so that it was actually saved by her crew. Yet none of the fans are quick to point fingers at her. So why do we only blame the the actors for not portraying the characters as we think they should?

     These are all forgotten though when the movie is completed and the actors start promoting it either via interviews or personal appearances. Thousands of screaming fans congregate for hours to catch a glimpse of the actors and if they are lucky, to get autographs and photos taken with them. From the US to Canada to Europe, the fans came in drones and the actors, especially Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, were required to be present for those. As a result, the lines between fiction and reality blurs and fans start thinking of the actors as the characters. Nikki Reed was asked to hold a stranger’s baby while the mother stepped away, because she wanted her baby to be held by Rosalie Hale. Some female fans snub Kristen in favour of Rob, as if she really is Bella and they want Edward all to themselves. A favourite question that fans asked of Kristen was “how does it feel to kiss a vampire?” Then Rob gets requests of “bite me” from the fans and even from talk show host, Tyra Banks. Ermm hel-lo! Is Rob a real vampire?

     In addition, there were also various photo shoots with magazines, and to especially show the chemistry between the leading stars, some of them were very provocative. Such grueling promotion commitments would naturally cause the actors, especially Rob and Kristen, to bond so people start reading into their body language. They deduce that they must be romantically involved since Edward Cullen and Bella Swan are so perfect for each other, so must they. If that is not enough, they get no privacy with the paparazzi dodging their every move so that every minute detail of their lives are documented; from going to the vet to buying beer.

     It is only natural that these take a toll on the actors. It is difficult for the single Rob since he doesn’t have the freedom of movement to enjoy live as a single young man. It must be even more difficult for Kristen who is in an actual relationship to brush off the rumours. Can we really blame Kristen’s boyfriend, Michael Arangano, for feeling the strain when older actors in more established relationships like Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, and Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, have lost in the battle of romantic linkages?

     The actors have admitted that they did not realize the magnitude of the Twilight phenomenon when they signed up for the roles – Rob likened the sounds of screaming fans to the “gates of hell”. Yet they have been quite stoic and good sports about making so many personal appearances and meeting the fans, being interviewed and photographed. Of course the fans forget all these when the actors, namely Kristen, admits to not enjoying the series as much as the fans do; or that each time they appear in public it is an overwhelming “psychotic” experience. They question her loyalty when she supposedly refused to appear in the Oscars with Rob through a statement from her father. Fans take snippets of things said or printed as truth, never thinking they could very well have been misquoted or the words spoken under direction from any number of people behind the scenes. So why do we take delight in critiquing what they deliver, just because they are on the front line?

     Besides, is it really fair to expect these actors to have their whole lives consumed by the Twilight phenomenon? It is after all a work of fiction and they are, ultimately doing their jobs. How could we expect actors to allow their work to take over their lives when the average person does not and would shudder the thought of such a thing happening? Besides, once the euphoria dies down, they will still need to move on to other projects. The Twilight series will continue to live in our hearts and minds and we now have the movies to help visualize them. Can’t we just enjoy the movies and leave the actors to their lives?