Twilight movie debate: Part 1 -- The debaters take on questions 1 and 2

December 6, 7:11 PMBook ExaminerMichelle Kerns

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Ready to rumble Twilight fans? Take a look at Meet the Twilight movie debaters if you haven't yet met the members of Team Loved It and Team Disappointed.

And now, without further ado, let's take a look at how both teams answered question #1:

Does the movie successfully transfer from page to screen the feelings and emotions in the book?

First up, Team Loved It:

Mr. Patrick Black: I feel that the movie does a very good job in this regard.  My reading of all the books including the fragments of "Midnight Sun" could be coloring my take on the film, but it was very easy for me to feel and believe the emotions portrayed.  The major emotions, those between Edward and Bella, come across very well.  Edward's combination of longing for Bella and his, well loathing is a bit too strong a term, for himself for putting her in danger, as he sees it, to be around her.  Bella's feelings for Edward are equally well portrayed.  The one lack I'd say there is in Bella's side of the equation is that it is possible to take her feelings as being more superficial as we don't have her "voice" telling us the depth of as we do in the books.  There are a couple scenes that bring the fact that this is more than a crush, such as her talk with her mother and the scene in the hospital where Edward tells her she should go away so he can't hurt her. 

The more times I see the film the more the emotions come across in some small things.  Things like Jasper and Alice holding hands on the drive to Phoenix, watching Bella's expression when Edward picks her up to get her over the steps going into prom, and Carlisle and Rosalie playing with the bat (I assume to determine who would get to hit first) at the start of the baseball game.  While fairly subtle, for me these scenes and others like them add a lot of depth to the emotional story.

 

Ms. Raelynn Coombs: I am on the side of “Loved It”, but I do have to say that like most movies based on popular books, the movie rarely does the book justice and  you are always going to have a divided fan base. If you have read the books, you have planted your own images in your head and not everyone thinks alike, so, there is no way to depict the images from book to screen so that they will please everyone.  In my opinion, the movie definitely successfully transfers the feelings and emotions from the book to the screen and then some. The way that Edward somewhat comically portrayed his intense need to want to kill Bella as she walked into the classroom and stood in front of the oscillating fan was amazing. Also when Bella is lying in the hospital bed after her run in with James, and Edward tells her she needs to move to Jacksonville, Kristen Stewart does an amazing job of showing her angst, fear and heartbreak of not having Edward in her life. For those of you who say there was no chemistry between Robert and Kristen, I just don’t get it! I thought the chemistry was so noticeable that for me it made the  characters of Edward and Bella more believable.  Jackson Rathbone’s  portrayal of Jasper, really made me feel his struggle and pain of trying to stay a “vegetarian” vampire.  Although, I do still believe that one will never get the full effect of emotions from a movie that  you can get from  books, the people behind Twilight did an awesome job!

 

What say you, Team Disappointed?

Mrs. Mary McGill: Let's face it, the easiest part of the book to convincingly portray is the love story, because it's so darn one-dimensional. In that way, the movie is successful. In so many other ways, it fails. We really don't ever get a full explanation as to why Bella comes to passionately love Edward, or vice versa. The bond Bella and Alice share in the book is almost completely ignored in the movie, as well as any mention of Jasper's mood-controlling gift, which directly effects the emotions of Bella during several pivotal moments in the story.
 

Ms. Jen Koeller: In my opinion, the heart of the Twilight Saga is the feelings of all the characters, not just Bella and Edward's love for each other and struggle to maintain their relationship, but the sacrifices, hardships, and temptations of the entire Cullen family, and Bella's love for her family and its war with her love for Edward. I felt that the movie didn't fully express any of the emotions. The most well-developed was Bella and Edward's relationship, but even it fell far short of the mark. Their feelings for one another and the conflicts between them could have been developed more. Also, I was really disappointed in Edward's scene at the ballet studio, when he sucked James's venom from Bella's bite. That was a turning point for Edward, finding out whether or not he could resist killing her once he had tasted her blood. By having someone else stop him, Edward was denied the chance to discover his strength, which was a great emotional triumph for him in the book.

 

Ms. Maria Renteria:  No, It didn't get into the real depth of the story. It never captures the passion of Edward and Bella love for each other. It shows nothing of their curiosity, their undying devotion to one another. Did the screenwriter not read the book? It's pretty obvious in the book but none of it was conveyed on screen. The dialog was really corny. Don't get me wrong the book does have its corny moments and sometimes predictable lines, but the screenwriter really took it to the next level. Everyone from the main characters down to the waitress at the diner (they can't stop going to) has corny lines. "Chillax", seriously? The movie is all very vague, everything is just implied nothing really explained or expressed. If i had never read the book but had watched the movie, my thoughts would have been, oh i guess they like each other, but not believable. The actors were not believable. No one stays true to their character. Perhaps with a few exceptions; like Charlie, Carlisle, and Bella's mom. Is the actor of Charlie and the screenwriter dating because he sure has a lot to say for someone who doesn't say much! The movie seemed to show really only two emotions, anger and fear. They was no playful banter, no teasing of Bella from Edward, no smooth talk from Edward, no shy embarrassing thoughts from Bella and not once did Edward dazzle anything, least of all Bella. They were either frustrated with one another or they looked afraid of each other, hello Edward is in love with Bella!!! Let’s see it. Sure the book has that at the beginning but grows into much more than that, But the entire movie was like this. The movie barely and I mean barely scratches the surface of their love. I can’t even be sure if had that. Sure it’s clear they for some reason can’t stay away from one another but why? Huh movie? Why? There was no buildup of their love, they really learn a lot about each other which is how we learn about them. I didn't learn anything about them from the movie. 

 

Ms. Maria Renteria: I have to say no, and I don't know who could have. Let me start with Edward, Robert's take on Edward at some parts were good almost believable. But a lot of things he did or would say Edward would never do or say. For instance, there was a part where he throws his arms around Bella as they are walking from his car to class, Hello that would never happen, The whole meadow scene was just weird. He was really angry. He was yelling at her because she HAD to see him in the sun. Why was we yelling at her??? It just was ridiculous. At some points he came off like a drug addict, like he was on something, big time. That whole part where he jumps on Bella's car ( yeah right) and first thing he says is " I’m gonna take you to my house" just like that.   I don't know if this was a reflection of his acting or the writing. I think a little of both. We didn't get to see the romantic Edward, the obsessive and jealous Edward. :( Now with Bella, Kristen has the look of Bella, the hair, the pale skin but that's as close to Bella as she gets. She didn't have that shyness or clumsiness or temper that Bella has. Sure she shows a lot of awkwardness and she looks down a lot but doesn't quite get Bella. She doesn't give us that mature and stubborn Bella. The chemistry between these two actors just isn't there. They are not believable has the love struck Bella and conflicted Edward. The acting looked forced and does not come off natural.  

 

Ms. Raelynn Coombs:  Absolutely! I honestly do not think anyone could have portrayed Edward better than Robert Pattinson.  Before the movie, I was very doubtful that Robert could give me the Edward that I had envisioned in the books, but he pulled it off.  The way he dazzled Jessica and Angela in front of the restaurant in Port Angeles was great! Not to mention how he pulled off his intense desire for Bella. Kristen Stewart nailed Bella’s loner personality, clumsiness and her less than girly ways. But Billy Burke’s portrayal of Charlie was amazing  and last but not least, my favorite character from the books, Ashley Greene’s Alice was exactly what I had pictured! She was perfect for the role. Let’s just hope we get to see more of her in New Moon!

Mr. Patrick Black: Luckily for me, or unluckily depending on your point of view, I am not often a "visual" reader, meaning I don't form hard and fast images of what I think the characters look like in books.  For me it is more about the emotions of characters and I found all of the characters in the film to pretty well portray the feeling I had for them in the book.  Starting with Edward and Bella, I thought Kristen and Robert did a fantastic job.  As I mentioned above, the portrayal of Edward's pretty conflicted emotions in regard to Bella are very well done.  Kristen's portrayal of Bella is equal to Robert's of Edward.  These two actors came across so well in these roles that it is hard (impossible) for me to imagine anyone else in the roles.

The supporting characters are in general also very well done, especially given the restricted amount of time given to developing them.  Billy Burke is does a fantastic job as the protective but non-hovering Charlie ( you have to love the shotgun scene).  Ashley Greene as Alice is perfect and probably the supporting character I like the most in the film.  The image of her pitching at the baseball game just captures the character for me.  All the supporting characters are well portrayed, from the prickliness of Rosalie, the fun loving of Emmet, the loving acceptance of Esme, the awkwardness of Jasper (at least around humans) to the somewhat "fake" friendliness of Jessica (and the giving of Jessica the line from Midnight Sun about Bella being the new shiny toy was perfect for this) I think all of the portrayals really capture the characters.
 

 Ready for questions 3 and 4? Cast your eye on Part 2.