The Beginning of the End, the Twilight Adaptation

This is the saddest, most heart-wrenching opinion/review I have ever given.

Part I –

Seven years ago, I saw a movie trailer that enticed me to buy the book. The name was Twilight and my life changed dramatically.

If Twilight isn’t your cup of tea, if you scratch your head and wonder WTH anybody sees in it, I have one thing to say:

Pray God that you find something in your life that has as big an impact.

Twilight made me want to be a better person. But it also opened a door and exposed the realm of Writer, a place that I’d never dreamed of going.

Having set the stage...

Part II –

Stephen Meyer, author of The Twilight Saga, celebrated the tenth anniversary of the series by releasing an adaptation of Twilight called Life and Death.

I have no words to express my disappointment in this—her evident response to critics of Twilight. I never saw Bella as anything but a strong female figure. Edward was a seventeen-year-old boy not a creepy old man of ninety as some would say. I could go on and counter every criticism with my opinions. Especially regarding the strange vitriol people are comfortable throwing at the series. But I’ll stop there because evidently Ms Meyer let the naysayers into her head. 

She responded by re-writing Twilight and gender swapping the lead characters. As in, female vampire named Edythe and male human, Beau.

Not a bad idea...IF she’d created a completely new storyline with different character traits and idiosyncrasies. But she didn’t. She simply exchanged pronouns and names and left the meat of the conversations and scenes the same. I mean word for word.

Gaahhh.

What a treat it would have been if she’d created a new story. Or finished Midnight Sun, Edward’s POV. How magnificent that would have been. But she didn’t. 

I compare it to discovering the previous owners of our house painted over the nests of mud daubers ( a kind of wasp that make their nest from mud) rather than taking the time to start out with a fresh, clean surface.

To be fair, not every scene is the same and some folks might enjoy it. Maybe someday I will try it again. But not now.

Twilight made me want to be a better person. Being a writer was a bonus. But for me, Life and Death has warped my view of Twilight like no critic could do. 
And the loss I feel is profound.

The Hunger Games, Genre, and Confusion

As most of our followers know, the movie version of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games opens in theaters today. If you haven't read the book, you are missing out on a helluva roller coaster ride.

My confusion stems from the book’s genre. 

In my opinion, the genre doesn’t fit. Yes, the age of the MC is correct for YA. But the Voice? 

IMO, ah, not so much.

Others would say the violence, teens killing teens on ‘reality TV’, is a point against the YA designation. But with so are many examples of drug use, explicit sex, and murder in other popular tomes, I don’t see this as an argument.

According to several agents, Voice is the key to whether a book is adult or YA. The MC in Hunger Games, Katniss, speaks in adult tone and manner and therefore the book is not YA. What do you think?

I’ll see Hunger Games next week after the crowds thin out a bit. One thing I’m curious about is how it made the transition from page to screen. The books were *sigh* fantastic but after a director gets a hold of a book and the screenwriter and the producer and the actors, well, boy howdy things can go downhill fast. 

Twilight is an excellent example of this kind of face plant. I loved the books. No. That is too ordinary. I lived and breathed those books. Yes I realize as a debut author, Ms. Meyer’s writing was not all it could be. Which she acknowledged. But I never skipped pages/paragraphs as I do with nearly all books. I read every word. Several times. Actually double digits even.

But the movies. *groan* Horrible acting combined with a stumbling script equals Cee R A Pee.

The Harry Potter movies are the other extreme. Great acting. Excellent direction. 

And Holy Cannoli, could you find anyone other than Alan Rickman to play Snape? I tell ya, he shoulda received an Oscar nomination for his performance.

My question to our followers who have read Hunger Games:

Is it YA? Or adult? Are you going to see it?