Breaking Dawn

When dawn broke the morning of November 18th, 2011, I could barely open my eyes.  Why?  Well, if you know me at all, the answer is obvious.  I was up the night before until 3am indulging my love of all things Twilight at the local Harkins Theaters Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 movie marathon.  It was everything I hoped it would be, with swag bags, VIP lanyards and all-you-can-eat popcorn and drinks.  I had an amazing evening, but not so amazing day-after.  I should have slept on the day that I took off just to recover, but instead, I used the day to take kids to school, take my daughter to the airport, catch up on bills and other business and throw a dinner party.  Boy did I regret the decision not to sleep when I found myself down for the count for the rest of the weekend.

Today, I can't say that I regret my decision to stay up until 3am wallowing in Twilight bliss, but I can say that I am pretty pleased with the way the movie turned out.  The art direction was stunning.  The characters and story-line were way more intense than they have been in any of the other movies.  The plot was precisely what I remember reading in the books, and I was surprisingly happy with the ending.  I won't offer up any spoilers here, but for those people who haven't seen it yet, it is a must see.  I believe this series will fall right in there with some of the other most famous movie series of late, ie: Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.  I think it will be immortalized right alongside its main characters, because some stories never loose their appeal.  Its hard to imagine a day when an everlasting love between opposites becomes un-interesting.  I mean, isn't that the appeal of Romeo and Juliet?

Though my daughter won't be going to see this latest installment of the franchise until she's much older, I think the stories do a good job of introducing people of all ages to what it means to truly love yourself.  All of the characters learn to love themselves, and part of that love includes seeing themselves through the eyes of another.  Stephenie Meyer did an amazing job and though I would not say the books have the most flawless writing ever, the story is perfect in its ability to be extremely personal and universal simultaneously.

I snuck home after the midnight premier and spent a few hours reading the end of Breaking Dawn again, just to quench my thirst for one more year until the final movie comes out and I have to say, I don't regret one moment spent reading those books.  I hope the last movie is as impressive as this first one was and I have a feeling it's going to be.  I also can't wait for the boxed set to come out so that I can watch them all with my little girl once she is old enough to appreciate and understand them.  I have heard lots of criticism of Bella and the franchise, but I believe they are both imperfect, beautiful and flawed, just like most of us and that, to me, makes them ultra relate-able.