The movie Twilight staring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson generated $70 million within the opening weekend at box offices according to Mania.com. Stephenie Meyer is the master mind behind the books that inspired the Twilight saga to hit movie theaters nationwide. Twilight is the first in the saga setting the stage of a forbidden first love between Bella Swan (human) and Edward Cullen (Vampire).
Not to give too much away, there are settle hints in the movie that a viewer may not understand without first reading the books. I saw Twilight the first time in June, without reading the books, and thought there were a few scenes in the movie that I suspected to have more meaning. For example, Bella meets Edward at her new highschool in Forks, Washington after moving from Phoenix, AZ to live with her father. The first conversation between Bella and Edward takes place in Biology class during an assignment given to identify certain slides under a microscope. Edward asked Bella if she liked the weather in Forks which is constantly cold, cloudy and rainy. Completely opposite of Phoenix. She tells him she does not care for anything cold or wet. At Bella's comment, Edward smiles and chuckles lightly under his breath. When asked by Bella what was funny he says "nothing" and continues to smile.
When I watched the movie a second time I tried to figure what he thought could be funny about Bella's response to the weather. Was it the way she said it? The look she gave when saying it? Was I reading into it too much?
After reading the book I came to understand not only the clip mentioned above but a handful of others that are not fully displayed in the movie. The end reason why Edward was amused by Bella's answer of not liking anything cold, displayed later on in the movie, is when Bella accidentally touches Edward's hand and discovered he is ice cold.
When first assigned to read an article with rhetorical analyzing in mind I was not sure how to approach it. However, little did I know it comes in handy since I am constantly analyzing films, books, plays, and music for the deeper meaning. Hope I did not give too much away for those who have not seen/read Twilight.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteI don't think you gave too much away. And you ARE making some analytical comments, but they aren't rhetorical. It can be harder to do with a visual text. Think about, for instance, how certain scenes were shot (like the one in which time is "slowed down" at the scene of the car accident at school so we can perceive what Edward does, then sped up as he escapes so we can see how fast he proceeded). This is a rhetorical move on the author's part, though it's hard to name it with a traditional definition. In any case, the director shot the film a certain way to convey A,B, and/or C (one of the easy intended outcomes to identify here is that she wanted to emphasize the speed with which Edward moves). When we do rhetorical analysis, we look at the rhetorical move the author made and its itent; we might also examine for whom this (audience) is intended and whether or not the rhetorical move was/is successful.
Does this make sense?
***Incidentally, I'm teaching Twilight in 201. I'll have to let you know how that goes. :)