So I was one of those girls who fell fast and hard for Twilight when it first came out, avidly read (and re-read) the series, and was waiting at midnight for the release of the Breaking Dawn book when it came out. I went to an all night IHOP, got about 100 pages in and was like: oh no. Pregnant Bella? No, no, no, no, please don't be going there! I loved this series because it was all wish-fullfillment teenage romance before the complications of marriage and kids! And she's too young!!! Please, NO TEENAGERS HAVING BABIES!!!!!But as we all know now, it went there:
Then when the movie came out last Fall, I was in a rough place personally, so while there some moments that were really gorgeous and awesome, I couldn't love it. I myself got engaged at 18 and married at 19. And there were some really hard times. All I could see when I first watched the movie were the potential hard times ahead that were maybe glossed over by this perfect wedding and happy ending feeling. I thought: they're too young to be pledging forever!
But I bought it today and watched it again with my husband (married ten years now, huzzah!), and with my personal stuff all sorted through, and expectation of Baby Plot from the beginning, I really enjoyed it. And from the box office numbers, it looks like a lot of other people did too.
I mean, it's got that slow, luscious wedding scene. Let's face it, we are wedding crazy in this country, and we got this fairy-tale wedding, completely tucked away in the forest with dripping flowers and a to-die-for dress. There were no bridezilla's, there were a few requisite funny/awkward family and friends moments, but it was pretty much perfect.
And then we got to go on the honeymoon and there was so much screen time devoted to the naked/semi-naked newlyweds getting it on or wanting badly to get it on! So much naked kissing! Where other movies would do one maybe quick sex scene, this movie draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaws iiiiiiiiiit ooooooooooooooout. I don't even know what to say about all that skin shown except: well, at least the actors are of age now!
And then there was Baby Plot, which I guess you can consider a metaphor for real life Hard Times as a Newlywed. Bella looks perfectly creepy as she gets more and more skeletal. I loved the gore of the birth scene too, but there was one moment in particular that really caught me and made me tear up. It's right after Edward hears the baby's thoughts (which should not be that coherent at this point, but I digress), and anyway, we finally get to see the tender bonding moment of them being a family together.
I couldn't find the exact still I was thinking of, but the scene starts here:
And then eventually they are snuggling on the couch together and finally laughing again for the first time since their honeymoon and I thought: ahhhhh, finally they get to enjoy each other.
So as I mentioned earlier, I've been married ten years. And there have been some ups and wicked downs, but in the end, having a partner in life and being able to laugh together with a person who knows you pretty completely is downright magical. It doesn't matter when you meet, what matters is the long haul together. So today I'm raising my glass to toast LOVE---something you don't just get to grasp hold of one day when you're wearing a pretty white dress, but the everyday magic of having someone to hold, for long as you both shall live.
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Heather Anastasiu is the author of GLITCH (St. Martin's Press/Summer 2012) Glitch in three words: Dystopia, Superpowers, & Love :) Check out my website for more news and updates.
Funny how similar we are. I was married at 17, pregnant and defiant. I knew I had met the man I wanted to be with my whole life, but had no real idea what that meant.
ReplyDeleteI knew about babies: I had been babysitting practically full time since I was 11 so I ignored all the concerns voiced by adults. And I was right. I knew how to take care of a baby - my poor new husband didn't. He had never babysat, or even held a child younger than 6. He wanted to marry me. He even told himself he wanted the baby, and the second baby that followed 15 months later, but he was wrecked by it all. Definitely not ready.
Our early married life was like one long fight. 10 years of tearing at each other and angst, and suffering, and still this impossible love that kept us clinging on. We would have these incredible highs followed by devastating lows. I alternately wanted to kill him and marry him all over again.
I'm happy to report that we did manage to weather the storms (things seemed to really smooth out after we passed the 10 year mark)and have been married 31 years now.
Our kids are charming and accomplished adults. Our grandboys are perfect. Hubby and I are on a grand adventure as he pursues his dreams of being a composer and I grow into being a writer. And still, after all this time, when he gets that look in his eye, I melt inside.
Ain't love grand?!
Great post. I too loved the wedding and long kissing scenes. It wasn't hard to tell that they're a couple in real life.
ReplyDeleteBut I found the baby/death/rebirth as a vampire plot unappealing. (And her regaining all her muscle and weight... doesn't that break the established world's rules about what happens when you become a vampire?) Maybe I just think they could have told the story more quickly and fit the whole book into one movie... But then they might have had to trim some of those kissing scenes. Noooooo...
I was married at eighteen and a mother at nineteen and was soooo aware of the taboo of being a mom THAT young. After twelve years of turbulence, we are still very happily together, but I still sometimes cringe when someone finds out how young I was when I started a family. I haven't seen this movie yet, but I read the book, and I agree that it did gloss over the difficulties of being married and becoming a mom while still growing up.
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