The Movie Kiss

Why is it that you can go to a movie and watch a pair of characters for two hours, wondering all the while why they would be together, yet get to the big kiss scene and still sigh? I just cringed my way through Confessions of Shopaholic. The books weren't really my cup of tea, but I was invited to see it with potential friends and thought "Ah, socialization and distraction. Awesome." It seems the older I get, though, the harder it is for me to watch people in awkward situations. I didn't find Becky's antics cutely amusing, but rather embarrassing. And since she didn't have the sense to be embarrassed for herself, I felt it more acutely. I caught myself watching for continuity errors, something I almost always avoid the first time I see a movie. It could be a passing thing, given my current romantic situation, but I found myself rolling my eyes at filmmakers' attempts to make the audience see the connection between the leads. But I still sighed a bit over that last kiss. Why? Perhaps because even though the story was weak, I still want to believe in a love that doesn't make sense to the rest of the world.

OCD

While I am often a touch compulsive, I don't know that I would call it a disorder. No, this about something else, entirely: Obsessive Cullen Disorder, a condition that so far has baffled medical science. OCD can be traced to Stephenie Meyer's Young Adult series Twilight, and can culminate in mid-night movie madness as I experienced late Thursday night.

A large, sixteen screen theatre shut down on Thursday, November 20 at 10:00 pm to prepare for the onslaught of OCDers. Some wearing "love at first bite" t-shirts, others proudly proclaiming their preference for "Team Edward", and even a few deluded"Werewolves Do It Better" proclaimers crowded in to these theatres to eat their weight in popcorn, perform interpretive dance to the new Taylor Swift song, and of course, see Edward Cullen larger than life on the big screen.

I enjoyed the Twilight books, and the filmmakers did a good job catering to rabid fans, even going so far as to put Edward's first appearance in slow-motion for maximum sighing time. It was a movie I enjoyed (I'm definitely a Team Edward fan), but being there opening night was something I'll remember when I have a teenage daughter who's swooning over the latest heartthrob.