And the shark jumped over New Moon

So I finally, finally got a chance to see New Moon. Yeah, you know, that one. The one with the cult-like following that’s breaking box office records? Maybe you’ve seen it twice already. All I have to say is… oh, what a disappointment. I laughed my way through almost the entire movie and not because the film was intended to be funny.

I did see the first Twilight movie and I’ve read the first two books. I wouldn’t call myself a fan necessarily, but I find the series to be entertaining – as well as wholesome—in a vampire meets werewolf love triangle sort of way of course. The first movie was pretty bad, mostly due to the lame special effects, poor acting and uninspired dialogue. With a new director, a new budget and the promise of a clan of shirtless young boys I had higher hopes for New Moon. How bad could it be?

Bad. I had a serious case of the giggles that began with the cheesy opening credits, increased with each gratuitous shirtless scene and glitter-glue-on-the-face special effect and resulted into flat out laughter when Bella and Edward took a Estee Lauder perfume ad-like jaunt through the woods.

Apparently I wasn’t the only theater goer who found the movie laughable. It seemed as if we (teens, moms, young girls, gray-haired couples) were all laughing and giggling at this ridiculous high-budget B-movie quality film.

So what on earth is driving sales? One thing: romance. Pure and simple, the Twilight saga connects with us on a deeper level and does an excellent job in this regard. What Stephanie Meyer has brilliantly done is created a brand that speaks to women and girls in a new old-fashioned way. When was the last time you saw a really good romantic film or read a great romance that wasn’t filled with gratuitous sex, violence or both? In my opinion, the market is wide open on this one. Even better, content creators and marketers don't even need to worry too much about quality.

Say what you want about vampires and werewolves being the next big craze, but it’s not about that. That’s just the icing—er, eyecandy—on the cake.

P.S. Go TEAM JACOB!!!