Women Writers Talk New Moon

As New Moon descends on the world today I asked a couple of colleagues who write and think about film from different cities to answer some questions about the global phenomenon.

The questions I posed are followed by the answers by the different women.  Some of the participants requested anonymity.  The participants are: Jen Yamato, Cinematical/FEARnet Contributor; Candice Frederick, Reel Talk; Erin Donovan, Steady Diet of Film; Shannon Ridler, The Movie Moxie; Karen Gilmore, Reel Artsy; Jessica Barnes, Cinematical; Sasha Stone, managing editor, Awards Daily; MaryAnn Johanson, FlickFilosopher.com and Jenni Miller, Cinematical.

You should add them all to your regular reading.

1- The studio is trying to hold down box office expectations but based on many indicators New Moon could make $100 million dollars this weekend and it has the potential to even break the record for highest weekend gross of the year (the record is now held by Transformers at $109).  Do you think the movie business is taking this film seriously as a potential game changer or is it looked at as a fluke?

JEN YAMATO: I think the power of female ticket buyers has been noticed by Hollywood, thanks to Twilight, but its perceived success still comes from pre-determined factors: namely, the huge worldwide following of Stephenie Meyer’s source novels. And so to replicate the success of the Twilight films, a studio may still think a pre-sold audience is necessary. But if anything, New Moon seems to prove the potency of female audiences’ appetite for romantic stories and hunky male bodies – especially when its actors have tabloid-worthy private lives to devour off-screen. The Twilight phenomenon is not simply a film movement, but a multi-headed entity with tentacles in merchandising, books, music, the currency of celebrity, live events, and beyond. In that regards, it is unusual.

CANDICE FREDERICK: I think it is probably viewed for what it is, a cult phenomenon, like others have been in the past. They’ll harp on this until the next one comes around.

ERIN DONOVAN: Everything is a fluke until someone figures out how to reliably monetize it.

SHANNON RIDLER: I think the movie business did not take Twilight seriously and it’s too soon to say with New Moon as just being released today.  I think it is a potential game changer which proves that women and girls will go to the theatre if there is something they really want to see.  It also has proven that this particular audience can, will and plans to see what they like numerous times in the theatre – which is not something we see often.  I don’t think it’s fair to call it a fluke considering it was a 4 book series and at least a 3 film series, I think it’s fairer to call it a perfect storm of timing to get this content to its audience.  Very likely it will be imitated but I can’t imagine any results being anywhere near as strong as we’ve already seen.

KAREN GILMORE: Summit is taking this film seriously, that’s for sure! And right now don’t you think that every studio is secretly wishing that they had New Moon on their roster? Twilight is a juggernaut whether people chose to embrace it or poke fun at it. Team Edward apparel has taken over Hot Topic and several other stores. If you walk into Target’s entertainment section Twilight merchandise is front and center. Hollywood wants movies that go beyond the movie and the Twilight Saga does that. It’s already a game changer, look at how many vampire (and werewolf) related stories are popping up in film and TV.  Do you think The CW would have been so eager to push Vampire Diaries if not for Twilight’s success? No way!

JESSICA BARNES: I think Hollywood has been taking the teens pretty seriously for some time now, and while there are adult fans of the series, teens are the bread and butter of the franchise. The film reminded studios that women of all ages are still a viable market for box-office returns.

SASHA STONE: I think they have to play it close to the vest or else risk losing the fan base.  If Twilight became as big as Harry Potter in conceptual advertising, it would lose its fake edge.  Since it appeals to goths and outsiders (or wanna be goths and outsiders) it has to hold on to its cred.  It can’t ever to have appeared to have sold out.  All of this is smoke and mirrors as they ride this thing out to its conclusion.  The stories are ultimately vacuous — it’s all about the romance and that is what makes it irresistable but also temporary.

MARYANN JOHANSON: If it does really well, it’ll be considered a fluke. If it flops — which seems unlikely — it will be seen as evidence that movies aimed at girls and women don’t succeed. We cannot win here.

JENNI MILLER: I don’t know much about box office stuff, but I do think that it is both a fluke (after all, MTV passed on the book rights) and a wake-up call for Hollywood that teens and women of all ages can and will blow your BO out of the water. Of course, the cult surrounding it is what makes that possible. Without the books, the hype, the constant press and touring and gossip, this movie wouldn’t have been that big.

2- Do you think the franchise gets enough respect in the Hollywood establishment or the film blogosphere?  If not, why do you think that’s the case?

JEN YAMATO: There is no doubt that the Twilight franchise is dominated by female fans. It doesn’t get a fair shake in the film blogosphere because, simply put, the blogosphere is itself dominated by male voices. To say the appreciation is divided by gender seems reductive, but it’s true; men and non-fans (i.e. those who have not read and loved the books) just don’t connect to the stuff that Twilight fans, mostly female, find potent.  The difference in attitudes in the film blogosphere is one of respect vs. attention; the majority of online writers can’t ignore that Twilight is a phenomenon, one which most importantly, drives traffic from a heretofore untapped online demographic. But respect for Twilight – the books, the films, their fans, and the reasons why fans like Twilight to begin with — is something that is severely lacking at the moment.

That’s partially why it’s so impressive to me that the Twilight phenomenon has borne an entirely new segment of bloggers: Twilight fan sites, created and run by fans themselves. The fan site community has become its own self-contained space, and they’re doing just fine for themselves.

CANDICE FREDERICK: I’m not sure if respect is the right word, but I do think the vampire phenomenon has folks taking notice and have even jumped on the bandwagon with other vampire spinoffs like the show “Vampire Diaries.” People will most likely hop on anything that is selling money for the moment until the next biggest thing comes around.

ERIN DONOVAN: Teenage girls aren’t really the film blogosphere demographic, so it’s not surprising that films catered to them will not be respected by bloggers.

SHANNON RIDLER: I don’t think the franchise gets enough respect in the Hollywood establishment or the film blogosphere. The Hollywood establishment overall seems to report on it as they do most things that are very popular, talk about it while it’s hear and then on to the next thing when it’s gone.  The film blogosphere is a different story there seems to be two streams: The TwiHards who talk about anything and everything to do with the Twilight and other film sites that talk about it just because it’s big news even though they don’t care about the series at all.  I’ve noticed this specifically with horror film websites where Twilight be something their audience is in yet they report on it all the same.  I think when Twilight is reported on but the writers obviously don’t care they just do it to hits on their site.

KAREN GILMORE: Twilight is one of those subjects that quickly became polarized in the blogosphere. Either people love it or hate it and there isn’t much middle ground. Why? Because that’s probably what draws the most hits to a website. Fandoms and over critical gossip/trash sites seem to be beacons on the Internet. They entertain people with their avid devotion or snark.

JESSICA BARNES: No, I don’t think it is all that respected. Partly, because just as a film there were some major problems with the first installment of the franchise, and in spite of Hardwicke’s efforts most of the film was pretty stilted – it was almost as if the plot didn’t show up until half way through. But mainly I think most of the derision comes from my belief that women’s taste isn’t all that respected in pop culture discussions. So-called chick flicks are considered to be low-brow and sentimental at best and at worst, just crappy films. I was stunned to see how Twilight fans were treated at ComiCon with accusations of how they ‘ruining everything’, as if somehow those fans weren’t legitimate followers of a fantasy franchise, they were just boy crazy.

SASHA STONE: I think it is probably snickered about because it is aimed at tweener girls, the least respected group, no doubt.  But money talks so they’ll eventually have to bow down.    No one really giggles when young boys are shelling out their allowance to watch Megan Fox bend over a car because, on some level, Hollywood and the blogosphere is run by and dominated by young men and boys — even older men who run things are secretly young boys underneath it all.

Girls are a whole different animal.  Because less money is spent on entertainment aimed at them, and because they aren’t as reliable in terms of box office, it remains a mystery as to what really draws girls in droves.

MARYANN JOHANSON: Well, it’s absurd, and ridiculous, and offers a terrible role model in Bella, who is passive and whiny and extra super annoying. As movies, these are awful, and don’t deserve any more respect than, say, the oeuvre of Michael Bay. However, if adolescent male sexuality — for boys of all ages! — can be catered to on a regular basis by Hollywood, it must be seen as a measure of progress, if of a depressing sort, that adolescent female sexuality is being catered to, if only in this one franchise.

I would be marginally happier if Hollywood actually acted the way everyone says it acts — it’s a business! it’s all about the money! — if that held true when it came to movies aimed at women, even if they’re awful. *Twilight* made a crapload of money; *New Moon* will make even more. Will that result in more movies like these? I’m guessing not, because “everyone knows” that women don’t go to the movies, and movies aimed at women don’t make money. Even though they clearly do.

JENNI MILLER: It gets no respect in the blogosphere except as a traffic-driver — in the past, I’ve been just as guilty as courting that audience for numbers, even going so far as to email the people who run fansites.  Because they are rabid for info on Twilight, and it WORKS! The movie — I haven’t seen the second — isn’t actually THAT bad, but I think everything around it is what pisses online journos off. It’s for fanGIRLS (of all ages), as someone awesome at Cinematical pointed out — the comic book people (like myself) are just as nerdy and screaming but on the inside! I literally squealed going into the Tim Burton Q&A yesterday. I stayed to shake his hand. People like him are my Twilight. So that is why I think Twilight is easy to make fun of; I’m guilty of it myself. So the people who do pander to that audience to get traffic get no respect, even though it’s for THEIR audience, and they get no respect, no matter what. Which is unfair, because you do have to give your audience what they want.

3- Why do you believe this film franchise has become such a big juggernaut?

JEN YAMATO: My explanation for Twilight’s success comes from the books, which hooked readers by tapping into a very specific, universal emotional current, and from the pop cultural obsession with the stars of the film. Summit Entertainment has done just about everything that they could, and rather smartly, to embrace the fervor with which most Twilight fans love their property. And to some extent, the idea of our collective obsession with “movie stars” – whose personas jump off the screen and bleed into their personal lives, and vice versa – has been around for decades.

CANDICE FREDERICK: Well, the books were and still are wildly popular and the sheer buzz of the books by the devoted fanbase have sent this movie into orbit.

ERIN DONOVAN: There’s nothing like Twilight out there right now. It’s a credible story about the inner life of a young woman. Bloggers who focus on the science fiction aspects are missing the mark.

SHANNON RIDLER: I think the film franchise has become such a big juggernaut because it portrays a universal story with an accessible female protagonist in a near reality setting that has a fantasy subworld.  She’s a normal girl who is led into an extraordinary world and has experiences that are way beyond everyday life.  She’s normal but someone extraordinary sees her as special.  And, there is no denying the guys and men in the film are really attractive.  Also with the film presenting two love interests it can draw and even larger audience than if there was just one.

KAREN GILMORE: Robert Pattison’s hair. But seriously, what teenage girl doesn’t want two hot guys vying for her attention? It’s the fantasy, the choice between Edward or Jacob. It’s empowering in a way. With so many movies focused on the guy “getting the girl” Twilight puts all the power in Bella’s hands. It’s her decision and at a very basic level that’s why it connects with so many teenage girls (and women).

JESSICA BARNES: Twilight (for better or for worse) tapped into ideas that most women can relate too, and just there is plenty of fantasy content that is wish fulfillment for men about being the saviour of the world, Twilight clicked with brainy and clumsy girls who wanted to be a romantic heroine. It also had the added bonus of being something that moms and daughters could bond over together. So I guess in the end I think it was a little bit of good timing with vampires being due for another round of pop culture prominence but in the end I think it was because star crossed lovers always sell.

SASHA STONE: My 11 year-old daughter is very smart and a good judge of books but even she has been pulled into the Twilight saga.  It is a poorly written series and the films are just as bad.  But what draws the girls is the rescue fantasy built-in, the bad boy Robert Pattinson who is so utterly devoted to Bella he resists drinking her blood.  What girl wouldn’t dream of that, particularly as they enter the uncertainty of adolescence.  Twilight is an easy formula – a fairy tale with a goth twist.  My problem with it is that Bella’s life is given over to pregnancy, marriage and being a vampire all before she hits 20.  I would hope girls aspire to bigger and better things.

MARYANN JOHANSON: Because girls can be as stupid and shallow as boys? (I’m not kidding.) That would be, perhaps, a sign of feminist progress, too, if Hollywood were to acknowledge that, and to start pandering to it the way it panders to juvenile male sensibilities.

JENNI MILLER: I think THAT is a fluke also. Word of mouth or something. They sent out copies of the books to a previous employer when I was still there and I tried to read it and just couldn’t. Summit and Hachette Books have cleverly capitalized on Twilight in a most impressive way. Without the tours of hot topic, the tchockes, all that, I’m not sure it would have done as well. I think the hype catches on. Girls want to be in on what’s cool, and somehow it caught on with women too. And girls like what’s scary, what’s dangerous, what’s romantic — this is all of that and “safe.”

4- Do you think that it is good news for women and girls that Twilight has become as big as it has?  What does it mean for the culture?

JEN YAMATO: The Twilight books and films don’t offer the strongest characterizations for young women to follow, so the value of Twilight to me is not one of providing role models to women – the strength of the franchise is how authentic its characters’ emotions and relationships and choices feel to its fans. No matter how the films may misfire, I firmly believe that it’s good to offer movies with relatible main characters who are non-stereotypical women, and not just arm candy for male protagonists. The fact that New Moon goes even further to fulfill female-oriented fantasies, or even simply that it evens the playing field by objectifying male bodies for a change, may not be a progressive idea but it makes the mainstream cinematic landscape a little more balanced.

CANDICE FREDERICK: I think the young audience has actually ruled the box office for quite some time and still continue to do so. They I think are the largest population of moviegoers as a whole and if they keep watching, the buzz will continue. As for women, I think that mothers especially are the ones taking their children to see this movie and many other movies catered to this audience and it’s proven that it’s something that both mothers and children can enjoy equally. As far as pushing the culture of women and children forward, I don’t think that this movie defines this fact.

ERIN DONOVAN: I always think it’s great to have movies young women can go to in groups. I also love that the books and films present a vast mythology that girls can really immerse themselves in. It’s a fantasy world made for them where they don’t have to project themselves into male characters (like with Harry Potter).

SHANNON RIDLER: I do think think that it is good news for women and girls that Twilight has become as big as it has.  If nothing other to get women and girls believing that they can actually make films.  I wish they had a female director continue past the 1st film but I’m happy that Melissa Rosenberg is continuing to screenwriter for the series.  If you look at bookstores now they have a huge sections for paranormal romance with women authors, many of which have done really well.  It’s great to see women’s work out there, especially when the stories feature strong female protagonists, and I hope it blends into other genres and art forms.  In terms of film culture, in the years to come the TwiHards will grow up and I hope they will be inspired to pick up a camera and contribute their perspectives and creativity to the film world.

KAREN GILMORE: Does Twilight have a positive influence on female filmmakers and teen girl culture? The answer isn’t so simple. Catherine Hardwicke got replaced by male directors but Melissa Rosenberg got to follow through with the scripts. Hollywood realized that fangirls can pack the theaters like fanboys but fanboys seemed annoyed by their presence at the major comic-cons, which is odd. You’d think that Twilight fangirl enthusiasm would be understood and accepted at comic-con but I guess not. We’ve still got bridges to build.

JESSICA BARNES: I don’t think its good or bad news. My pet theory is that it all goes back to those pesky Bronte sisters, who were one of the original sources of the troubled and abrasive romantic heroes we still fall for to this day. It didn’t matter whether it was Mr. Rochester, James Dean, or Edward Cullen; it’s all just a variation on a theme of the ‘bad boy’. As for what it means for culture? I considered it another example of the common themes and symbols that will resonate with women, but I also think sometimes we (women) don’t like what that says about us when something like Twilight can draw us in, because it means we are somehow ‘unenlightened’ or worse, just a sex-starved loser. Instead, we tried to make it into a different kind of phenomenon about why women like vampire fiction, or start controversies about the story being a closeted screed for abstinence. For me, Twilight is just the same old love story we’ve been writing for over 200 years.

SASHA STONE: I think it fuels the mistaken idea that we grow up to be rescued by men.  If there was one lesson I would want to impart on girls is that no man is going to rescue you.  It just isn’t going to happen.    I also think it gives Bella no other choice in life except to be pretty and knocked up as soon as possible.  As a mother of a girl that bothers me.  Bella is a promising student before she empties out her life to go hang with the miserable vampires.  It’s escapist entertainment for girls, so that part of it is okay, as long as girls don’t have aspirations to be her.  Because what does that mean ultimately?  It means exactly what the fairy tales mean: a dead end in reality.  However, there is certainly nothing wrong with enjoying a guilty pleasure, which is all Twilight should be.

MARYANN JOHANSON: I’d prefer to see smarter movies aimed at everyone, male and female, gay and straight, rather than the audience for dumb movies widening. But if *Twilight* is the best we can do at the moment, okay.

JENNI MILLER: I have very strong feelings on Meyers and her agenda that she’s brought into the books, consciously or not. Pro-life, pro-abstinence, etc. Is it worse than anything else out there? I don’t know. I haven’t read YA books in a while, but I’d rather they read Francesa Lia Block (who is just as obsessed with finding love and acceptance) than Meyers any day. I do think they’re not written well at all. But they tap into the amazing crush feeling we get or got when dreaming of the most beautiful boy in the school liking us. And it just so happens it changes your life and takes you on insane, life-threatening adventures. I have a problem with the inverting of the vampire paradigm, which is inherently about sex and the taboo – this time, sex is the taboo. Edward could kill her but chooses not to. When they finally have sex, it’s explosive. When she gives birth, it nearly rips her apart. (Sorry if those are spoilers, but they’re in the book, from
what I understand, and important to talk about when talking about Twilight’s attitude towards sex.)

Like many romcoms or romdrams (heh), it shows weird, socially unacceptable, possibly dangerous behavior as romantic. I mean, if Lloyd Dobler really stood outside our window with a boom box, it
would not be romantic; it would be creepy. But the idea of someone watching you while you sleep, following you to “protect” you — these are signs of abusive, controlling relationships. And yeah, they do
seem romantic to me as well, but if I step away and think about it, it is seriously fucked up.

As someone pointed out, though, Buffy has just as many fucked up moments with her love interests, but the show is far better written and smarter or at least has gotten that rep through its own cult following.

Tags: Comicon, New Moon, Summit, Twilight, Vampire Diaries