I am not ashamed to say that I am a fan of Twilight. Well, not that ashamed. I do still feel that I have to defend my enjoyment - I fully recognize the book series is hardly high-quality literature, and the movies are, well, no better than the books. I don't care. It's entertaining to say the least. It's a part of pop culture, and I've embraced it, while I am still critical of it's message.
New Moon is my favorite book in the series, and any Twi-hards will hate my reason - because Edward isn't there! That's not to say I prefer Jacob (and here I am with my mom drinking wine and counting down the minutes to
Taylor Lautner's big reveal... ahem) but it's nice to get that mopey Byronic hero out of the way for a little while. There is actually something really cool and unique about this series, that can at least be observed in the movies: female desire is actually taken seriously. It's not a gimmick, or played for cheap laughs, or pornographic. In most chick-flicks or teen movies, the main female protagonists dress scantily/sexily. Bella, however, dresses in ratty t-shirts, thermal knit, plaid and thick, shapeless coats, and is the one to push the boundaries of her and Edward's physical relationship. Meanwhile, in New Moon, Jacob spends more time with his shirt off than on, and even
Robert Pattinson as Edward gives the eager audience a little strip-tease. It should also be telling at this point that I haven't even mentioned our beta friends yet.
