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Re-entering the ‘Twilight’ zone: Fans mourn the sunset of film saga
The mostly female audience cheer for free "Twilight" T-shirts at Park Ridge's Pickwick Theatre on Nov. 15. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media
Updated: December 23, 2012 6:30AM
PARK RIDGE — All angst-ridden teenage vampire romance movie phenomenons must come to an end.
We were prepared for it, my fellow Twihards and I, as the final chapter in the Twilight series, “Breaking Dawn Part 2,” opened Nov. 15 at Park Ridge’s Pickwick Theatre.
We’d read our books until the pages starting falling out, we bought the ridiculous posters and fanzines, we stocked up on every song ever recorded by Muse and some of us (I’m not saying who) even flew all the way to San Diego to see the cast at Comic Con this summer.
But we still weren’t quite ready for the whole “ending” thing. After all, this is a film that has the tagline “Forever,” the allure of immortality at its center.
There must be some way to keep this going, right?
If there was sadness among the predominately teenage audience about “Twilight” reaching its cinematic conclusion, there was also a buzz of excitement. When free “Breaking Dawn” T-shirts were thrown into the crowd girls screamed as though the shirts would turn into Robert Pattinson.
“I’m a little sad it’s going to be over, but I’m really excited to finally see the finished product because I’ve been building it up in my mind since I finished the book,” 18-year-old Giuliana Bartucci told me.
In “Breaking Dawn Part 2,” which follows the third part of the actual book, the heroine, Bella, has “died” giving birth to her half-human, half-vampire baby, Renesmee; has been reborn as a glamorous vampire; and is eager to resume her blissful life with her god-like, vampire husband, Edward. Of course, the inevitable angst is just around the corner.
Most fans I spoke with — all of whom identified as Team Edward (is there another choice?) — said that if the “Twilight” books or films were to continue they would like them to focus on Renesmee’s life, including her unusual and, let’s face it, borderline disturbing, bond with Jacob, Bella’s best friend and one-time suitor.
“I think it’s sweet,” Bartucci insisted of the story that Jacob is essentially Renesmee’s soulmate and could end up falling in love with her when she’s grown up. “It could be creepy if it was anything other than supernatural, obviously. But since it’s supernatural it’s OK. And it’s Taylor Lautner.”
“I thought it was creepy at first,” admitted 15-year-old Stephany Barth. “It will be cute later on, but right now it’s a little creepy.”
“Because you think of her as a baby!” Barth’s friend Shannon Ernst, 15, noted.
But teens weren’t the only ones eager to see “Breaking Dawn Part 2.”
“We’ve got three generations watching this movie,” said Kimberly Peters, 32, who came with her daughter and her mother.
Peters’ mom, Karen, 56, said she got hooked on “Twilight” at the urging of her granddaughter — and her memories of running home from school to watch the vampire soap opera “Dark Shadows.”
“She was telling me all about it....(I said), ‘It’s the what? The Cullen family? I used to watch the Collins family,’” Karen Peters recounted. “So there’s a lot of similarities.”
So what’s next for the Twihards of the world? Until a new chapter is written — or the incomplete “Midnight Sun” is finally published (please!) — it’s back to re-reading the books and re-watching the films; now, of course, with a sense of nostalgia.
“We’ll always be obsessed,” Haleigh Sir, 17, told me. “We’re true Twihards.”
