Breaking Dawn Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg On Why Twilight Is So Polarizing

   Melissa Rosenberg's name has become almost as synonymous with the Twilight franchise as Stephenie Meyer's or Robert Pattinson's. As the screenwriter of all five movies, Rosenberg has shaped the onscreen version of Bella, Edward, Jacob and company as we know them today, helping build Bella into a more proactive character, making other incremental changes over the years, and now splitting the series' final book, Breaking Dawn, into two films. With Breaking Dawn - Part 1 in theaters today, I talked to Rosenberg about the challenges of this movie's plot, how she wrote a scene about two people wanting to sleep together when no one said the word "sex," and how she reacts to the polarizing reaction Twilight gets online-- you may be surprised by how fired up she gets about it. Check out our conversation below, and see Breaking Dawn pretty much anywhere this weekend.

What was the difference in what Bill Condon brought as a director, especially the way he worked with the actors?
Bill, first and foremost, is a storyteller. He's an Academy Award-winning screenwriter, so he really speaks the language of character and theme and emotional complexity. That's really his forte. He certainly pushed me in that direction. He really kept on pushing me deeper and deeper. He was always more drawn to the first movie than the second, because it's a more intimate story, it's a more character-driven story.

There's a huge section of the film that's basically just Bella trying to get Edward to sleep with her. How do you tell a story about sexual frustration where no one ever says the word sex?
It's al about giving the actors something to play. In this case Bella, she's got that whole case of lingerie-- a lot of it is lifted from the book. I expanded on some of stuff, like the waterfall leaping, and the chess game was Bill's idea. He loved the idea of bringing that into it. A lot of people who are less familiar with how things work thick of screenwriting as dialogue, that we're just writing the dialogue. Actually the thing you're always striving for is to convey something cinematically. If you can convey a story without dialogue, that's sometimes what you're really striving for.



You've had these three movies with these characters who love each other but can't be together, and this time they get to cut loose and actually enjoy married life.
That was great. I loved writing the whole honeymoon section, because they're actually having fun. The struggle is over whether they're going to have sex or not. It's not life or death here! This is about desire and playfulness, and it's lovely to be able to see those actors play that.

What can you write for the actors now that you couldn't when you didn't know them that well?
I wrote Twilight in a vacuum-- we hadn't cast yet, so I didn't know who I was writing for. The script needed some adjustments when they came on, to write toward them. The characters and the actors became one and the same as the movies went on. You just become more familiar with your voice. It takes less effort to actually hit it.

What specific things do you write for the actors? Are there particularly people who get along, or actors who are especially good at comedy?
Oh yeah-- you always want to give Billy Burke something funny. He's amazing, he not only can deliver the driest line, he also really delivers the poignancy and emotion of scenes. He's a very versatile actor. And Anna Kendrick, you just want to throw funny lines at her.

Anna Kendrick is interesting, because she's the audience surrogate in that wedding scene. How important is it to have someone standing outside the situation and recognizing, yeah, this is kind of extreme, to get married at 18.
I personally love to undercut the earnestness as much as I can without-- you want to have a sense of humor about yourself. And there's plenty of earnestness left, so I wasn't undercutting them too much.

Was there a challenge in Bella's role in the second half of this movie, because she's literally stuck on the couch in her pregnancy. How did you make sure she wasn't just lost in the narrative?
Well, she's fighting for her life. It's a challenge, and that was one of the hardest parts of writing this movie. From the moment she's pregnant to the moment she gives birth, how do you have this not being about someone lying around dying. She, in this movie, the character of Bella is the most pro-active in some ways. She has made a decision to keep this child, and she is convinced that she can do it. She's convinced that she's going to live. She's not waiting around to die, she doesn't think she's going to. But the whole time she's really fighting to survive. It has to be conveyed by the actor, and in the scenes she has with Edward and Jacob. She doesn't see it as lying around waiting to die.



Do you have a favorite part in the movie?
The wedding. The wedding toasts, for sure. That's the kind of stuff I love writing. And Bill shot it with all the reaction shots he gets out of Billy, Bill is a really good partner for delivering that humor.

Have you learned to look past the criticism and the negative attention from fans?
I can read 20 comments that are all positive and glowing, and then there's the one guy, wherever he is, who says "Yeah, she butchered these, her hands should be cut off." And that colors my whole day, and I can't write then. The critics I hear louder than the praise, and I think for sure there's a lot more praise than critics. But my personal damaged psyche hears the critiques more.

Do you know why Twilight is so polarizing?
It's seen as a girl movie. And girl is not cool. Anything female is not cool in the Comic Con world. If you're a guy who likes this movie, it's like, oh, you're not a real man, this is a girl thing. It falls into that, and it pisses me off actually. It's a reflection of our culture and our culture sees anything female as less-than. You know what? These girls around the world have made us a $1.8 billion franchise. So there's a lot of power going on there. If the culture could allow guys to enjoy something that was actually female, I think that stuff would go away.

I wish people could recognize how much fun the wedding scene is to watch. It's a spectacle like an action movie, and instead of explosions it's a wedding dress.
Guys naturally are not going to be drawn in by that, but it's also so much social conditioning, that it's not OK for them to be drawn into that. It's the same social conditioning that ends with us making 77 cents on the dollar. 

 

'Breaking Dawn': Twihards gather to watch Bella and Edward wed

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” grossed $30.3 million from midnight showings early Friday morning according to an estimate from distributor Summit Entertainment, and it appears to be on pace to have the biggest opening yet for any movie in the vampire franchise adapted from author Stephenie Meyer's bestselling novels.
24 Frames checked in with some fans who came out for the movie’s first screenings at the Rave Motion Pictures 18, which showed the vampire flick on five screens at 12:01 a.m., with one additional showing at 12:45 a.m. Many people at the theater were continuing a tradition of seeing each installment at midnight that dated back to the 2009 debut of the second "Twilight" movie, “New Moon.”
“We’ve been doing it for two or three years. You wait all year to watch it, so you might as well come and see it at midnight,” said Alejandra Toribio, 21, of Long Beach.
“I feel like the movie’s always better when you see it before it’s really out,” said Liz Hook, 14, of Westchester, who came to the movie in her pajamas with her twin sister and a friend.
The audience was by far mostly female, but there were a few men on hand to support their friends and some fathers bringing young daughters to watch Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) marry her undead beau Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), despite the protestations of her best friend, werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner).
“I’m not a fan. I’m just here to support my friends. I’m just dragged along,” said Jay Rice, 24, of Gardena.
His friend Yontique McHenry, 21, of Harbor City said to him, “People are gonna see this [article], and they’re gonna beat you up because you’re a fake fan. And you have a seat!”
“Go 'Twilight,' ” he responded, flashing a thumbs-up.
There were the occasional guys who considered themselves true fans, though, including 25-year-old Alexander Solis of South Gate, who donned a “Twilight” sweatshirt and T-shirt for the event. So what’s his answer to the great “Twilight” debate?
“Team Edward. Because he will be marrying Bella!” said Solis, who bought his ticket for the movie a month ago.
Favorite characters varied from Jacob (“I don’t find Edward attractive. He’s too pale,” said Rosario Carrera, 31, of Orange County) to Jasper, a vampire played by Jackson Rathbone.
“I’m Team Jasper. I think he’s funny-looking. In the film he’s all crazy-eyed,” Hook said.
Melissa Nelson, 31, of Torrance, said she was eager to see how the movie depicted Bella's surprise pregnancy -- in the film, she and Edward conceive a child on their honeymoon, though carrying the baby to term threatens Bella's life -- because of how she was introduced to the series. Nelson said she watched the first movie on a portable DVD player while her cousin was in labor.
“I was her birthing partner… While we were waiting for the baby to come, we were like, ‘Might as well watch a movie,’ ” Nelson said. “I’m really interested to see the transformation of [Bella’s] body when she’s pregnant.”
Nelson came to see the movie with other adult friends, but on Saturday she plans to bring young cousins and her 4-year-old son –- who’s Team Jacob and “can recite the movies for you” she said -– after she makes “sure it’s child appropriate” at the midnight screening. “He asked today, ‘Well, when am I going to see ‘Twilight’? Cause you know the new one is out today and we have to go see it,’ ” Nelson explained.
She said her husband scoffs at the series. “He says they’re fake vampires. He’s like, ‘How do they walk around in the daylight?’ ”
As for the franchise's enduring popularity, most fans chalked it up to the sweeping romance of the supernatural tale.
“It’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ for now,” said Dawn Fagenson, 45, of Brentwood, who owns a cardboard cutout of Lautner as Jacob and has traveled to Forks, Wash., where the series takes place.
“It’s a very classic story,” said Jennifer Daskevich, 43, of Westchester. “They’ve done really well with marketing to younger people. We don’t really fit into that category, but they’ve done a really good job of casting young, dynamic people. It’s a great love story.”
A number of moviegoers cited their awe for the “great love story," but there were a few who were more cynical. Liz Hook’s sister, Joans, discovered the series when she was in fifth grade and “was really into them” upon the first read.
“And then after I read them, I was like, ‘Why did I read these? These are really stupid,’ ” she said. “Bella’s so desperate. She needs a man in her life, otherwise she cannot function. So I really hate the point of it, but it’s just fun to go [to the movies] with your friends.”

4th ‘Twilight’ movie features adult content, themes

With the release of “Breaking Dawn: Part 1,” the pop culture phenomenon can no longer be written off as kid stuff.

Until now, it was easy to dismiss the Twilight film series — which has grossed nearly $2 billion worldwide — as fodder for adolescent girls. Lots and lots of girls.
But with the arrival of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1, which will begin breaking box office records at 12:01 a.m. Friday, the story takes a surprisingly adult turn. This one tackles marriage, sex, abortion and family demands, themes that can no longer be deemed kid stuff — and reflects the growing inclusion of adult content in TV shows and movies aimed primarily at teens.
The legions of fans who devoured Stephenie Meyer’s novels, which have sold more than 100 million copies, knew what was coming: In Breaking Dawn, the 18 year-old Bella (Kristen Stewart) marries the vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson), who looks 17 but was born in 1901 (he could be her great-grandfather!) They honeymoon on a remote island off the coast of Brazil, where Bella loses her virginity and discovers vampires like their sex extra rough.
Then, along with the black and purple bruises dotting her body, Bella discovers she is pregnant — and the baby she’s carrying, which is growing at a supernaturally fast rate, may be an immortal human-vampire hybrid that will drain the life from her before it’s born. Edward and his clan of vampires implore her to terminate the pregnancy, because it may kill her. But Bella refuses.
Strong stuff — strong enough, in fact, to earn the first cut of Breaking Dawn - Part 1 an R rating. But Oscar-winning director Bill Condon ( Dreamgirls, Kinsey, Gods and Monsters), who shot the two Breaking Dawn movies back to back, knew he was required to edit the film down to a PG-13.
“More than anything, I wanted to make sure that the intensity of two specific things — the first time they make love during their honeymoon and the birth scene — wasn’t watered down,” Condon said from Los Angeles. “The ratings board is so subjective. They have certain rules everyone has to follow, and one of them has to do with the amount of thrusting you can show. There was never any nudity or anything like that. And the solution we settled on was to give you Bella’s point of view as much as I could in those scenes. For example, during the birth scene, we limited what you can see to her point of view as she’s lying on that gurney. And it turns out that allowing the audience to use their imaginations to fill in what’s happening makes the scene even more powerful.”
Despite the restraint, though, Breaking Dawn - Part 1 represents a surprisingly bold change of direction for a series that, in the previous three films, had traded primarily on high-school angst and boyfriend troubles. This time, there will be blood. The movie is the latest example of an ongoing cultural shift that allows movies ( Easy A, Remember Me) and TV shows ( The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl) aimed at teenagers to tackle subject matter that might have seemed too adult even a decade ago.
“The culture has gotten more comfortable over time talking about issues,” said Breaking Dawn screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, who was an executive producer on several TV series (including The O.C. and Dexter) before signing on to adapt all of Meyer’s Twilight novels into movies. “Maybe this is an overly hopeful and idealist perspective, but we’ve learned that talking about something is much healthier than pretending it doesn’t exist. In the TV and film world, that allows us to get into these issues within the context of a story. Everyone is always nostalgic about the 1950s, but there was all this horrible stuff going on then, too. Film and TV have helped bring these things out into the open.”
The ability to delve into adult territory within the context of a familiar horror genre — vampires — also earned Twilight a devoted following that transcends adolescents. Danai Pestana, 26, a fifth-grade teacher at Somerset Academy in South Miami, happily admits that she read all four Twilight novels in the span of a week — and had to lock them in the trunk of her car so she wouldn’t keep reading whenever she stopped at a traffic light.
“ Breaking Dawn is very much an adult book, very intense,” Pestana says. “It’s pretty crazy. The whole series is bizarre, but I thought it was perfection. This is a true love story, so it’s going to appeal to an older crowd. You can relate to her first love, her first time. And that’s a wonderful thing.”
But even as Meyer’s novel brought adults into the Twilight fold, the book also drew the attention of critics who disapproved of the message it might be conveying to young people — a complaint that will only grow louder when the movie opens.
“ Breaking Dawn was what got me interested enough in Twilight to write a book,” said Beth Felker Jones, a professor of Christian theology at Wheaton College in Illinois and author of Touched by a Vampire: Discovering the Hidden Messages in the Twilight Saga. “The themes are so intense: the wedding night, the honeymoon that leaves the wife bruised and then this horrific vampire C-section. Meyer took some criticism from her fan base because they did not expect this pregnancy/child birth narrative. They loved the romantic teenage-love part. Maybe they could get into a wedding, but not a devastating childbirth.
“There is also a kind of abusive strand to the Edward and Bella’s relationship,” Jones said. “Edward is very controlling, watches her sleep and prevents her from going to visit her friends. That’s a lot like abusive relationships in real life. And then that she’s willing to give up her humanity for him — her soul, her life? There are questions to be raised here for the way girls are being trained to think about love.”
For Condon, the rich stew suddenly bubbling beneath Twilight’s simple surface was one of the main reasons why he wanted to be part of the series.
“Within all of Hollywood’s oldest genres, there were always ‘encoded movies’ in which all this stuff was going on that none of the characters ever spoke about directly,” he said. “A lot of people have complained about the last two Twilight films, but they were really just one long, extended second act. This one is the third act. When I read the book, I was blown away by how much happens, but also how strange it all is. Twilight has always had the potential to be a horror movie, but it hasn’t quite embraced it until we get to this story. I hope it doesn’t upset the girls too much. We’ll see.”
Gabriela Gomez, 15, a sophomore at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Miami and unabashed Twi-hard — the preferred moniker of the Twilight hardcore — says she knows exactly what’s in store for Edward and Bella and still can’t wait to see the movie.
“ Breaking Dawn was my favorite of all the novels,” she said. “I know everybody hates it, but I loved it. It’s a different concept from anything that I’ve ever seen or read before. It was disturbing, but it was cool because you learned a lot about the vampire stuff. Which is pretty gross!”
Whatever critical barbs are slung at Breaking Dawn — and there will be many — fans will not be able to complain that the movie doesn’t do the book justice.
“People assume a great deal was edited out of the movie in order to get the PG-13,” Rosenberg said. “But we didn’t hold anything back. In fact, when it came to the birth scene, I was going to cut out the, um, sort of Caesarean, if you will. I was saying ‘We don’t really need to see that.’ But Bill was like ‘No no no. It’s gotta be in there.’ I can’t imagine people walking out of the movie thinking ‘I just wanted more blood and guts.’
“But maybe they will. I’m sure the deleted footage will show up on the DVD,” Rosenberg added, laughing. “And the movie is still pretty damn sexy!”
The heated discussions that Breaking Dawn - Part 1 will generate should keep fans tuned in until Nov. 16, 2012 — when Part 2 finally arrives.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1

OK, Twilight fans! Come and get it! Your second-last instalment in the saga is being served just the way you like it : drab to the eye, bland on the palate, and room-temperature at all times. 

Actors Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart arrive at the Premiere of Summit Entertainment's The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1at Nokia Theatre LA Live. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images

Non-Twilight fans, you should know what to do by now.  Be rest assured the series hasn’t suddenly got good when you weren’t looking.
So, what is the go with Breaking Dawn Part 1?

Well, like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the Twilight producers have carved the franchise finale in two.
 Mainly so they can double-dip into the purses of Twilight’s massive, predominantly tween-age fan base.
 No real crime in that. The reel crime is how little is allowed happen in such a long running time.Proceedings get off to a promising, almost deceptively pacy start.
(Girls, don’t show up late.  Taylor Lautner’s hunky werewolf Jacob is only seriously taking his shirt off just the once. This momentuous event occurs inside the first minute. You have been warned.)

 

The opening act is quite rightly given over to the wedding everyone who ever bought a book by Stephenie Meyer has been waiting for.
The mortally foxy Bella (Kristin Stewart) and the immortally vampiric pin-up Edward (Robert Pattinson finally tie the knot.  Which means, um, they’re finally free to kiss (and stuff) all they want.  We used to have to wait an entire movie for that.

Then comes a short honeymoon in Brazil during which Bella falls pregnant, like, immediately.  Then Edward, worried that breeding a bloodsucker may be too much for his human bride, quickly hauls her back to the House of Cullen in the woods.

And then, nothing.  Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 locks into a miserable storytelling loop for well over an hour.  While Bella wastes away to a near-death state awaiting the birth, Edward and Jacob bicker, buddy-up and bicker some more.
The cliff-hanger ending, when it finally does lumber into view, is fairly out-there material by Twilight standards.
Rabid readers of the Twilight books already know all about Bella’s unusually problematic delivery of her first-born.
Let me assure any newbie Twi-hards out there, such a sight is not for the faint-hearted.

The series-closing Part 2 will be here this time next year.  Only 364 sleeps to go, then.

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – part one: Review – Melodrama, 12A certificate lovemaking and emotional highs…

  

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – part one

Hormones and haircuts drive a wedge between vampires and werewolves as The Twilight Saga grows up and heads into the dangerous territory of emotions, angst and teen pregnancy and leaves pointy teeth and snarling beasties slightly to one side as wedding bells chime for the happy couple.

Following right on from last year’s The Twilight Saga: Eclipse the film opens with a beautifully staged wedding ceremony – keeping Team Edward fans happy – as Bella (Kristen Stewart, just getting better and better) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson, at ease and super-pale) finally get to seal their love for each other.

Naturally its a sad time for Team Jacob fans (and Taylor Lautner beefcake aficionados may be disappointed to know he only gets his shirt off once, in the film's first scene, as he heads off for a sad run through the woods after receiving his wedding invite), though he and Bella share a slow dance at the wedding reception as even Jacob finally comes to terms with her decision.

 The wedding takes up the first half hour of the film, with the usual angst and doubts set against hair and make-up issues (for Bella....Edward's hair is always perfect) until her loyal father (Billy Burke making a strong impression) finally get to walk her down the aisle...well, a tastefully constructed leafy path in the woods, but you know what I mean.

There is some fun to be had at the reception as clumsy speeches are made, with even minor characters from the earlier films making an impact. Anna Kendrick (who plays Bella's snide friend Jessica) makes a lovely in-joke in her speech about hunky Edward being just known as 'The Hair' while they were all at school.

With vows spoken and rings exchanged the happy human-vampire couple head off to sunny Rio de Janeiro and after a brief stop off in the vibrant city they take a motorboat out to the idyllic and isolated Isle Esme where a romantic beachhouse awaits.

 

Finally – well, three films later – able to consummate their love for each other it is time for a tastefully shot 12A certificate lovemaking scene (that involves Edward breaking the four-poster in mid-passion) and before you know it Bella is preggers – and that is just the beginning of their problems.

Luckily the local Brazilian cleaning lady is also mystic of some kind - handy that - and protective of the young human girl honeymooning with a demon (as the woman calls him). But when she sees Bella is pregnant her only response is one word... “death”!

Edward and Bella's hometown return leads to some long-awaited thrills (the emotional stuff is all well and good…but we need some werewolf action as well), with the film coming to the expected end as Bella bloodily gives birth, Jacob stands alongside the Cullen vampire clan to protect her and sets the scene for next year’s concluding film. Watch the credits for a tease on what is in store…

 

If the film's first hour is taken up with wedding and honeymoon, then the rest is pretty much absorbed with pregnancy and the looming threat of the the werewolf clan deciding to take against Bella and her unborn child.

There are some bad dialogue moments - such as Jacob shouting out “you did this” when he sees the heavily pregnant Bella for the first time! good call Sherlock...

As Bella gets more and more emaciated as the child eats away at her Kristen Stewart gets to reprise her now perfected tortured and angst-ridden expression. She is great in the role, but you yearn for her to smile once in a while.

Robert Pattinson is given less to do this time round, and in one amusing scene - not deliberate I'm sure - even resorts to looking up “demon children” on Yahoo...good to know that vampires need the internet too!

The Twilight films manage to cleverly blend melodrama with supernatural thrills, and while the film is not without its silly moments and cringeworthy dialogue it does deliver the drama and emotional highs we have come to expect…roll on the concluding film in November next year.
Watch the trailer for Twilight: Breaking Dawan - part one below..