OK esteemed colleague Joe Williams, you’re right in your blog about the movie ‘Twilight’ being aimed at teen girls and that teen girls are probably going to love it (the ones who saw it with me did, and my 13-year-old son now wants to read the books).

But calling it twaddle? Sure, romance is the major component, not fight scenes and fart jokes (twaddle for male moviegoers).  And the movie does resemble certain TV series. But what’s wrong with that - a lot of TV series are better than Hollywood movies these days.

One thing I’ve noticed in movie criticism these days, is how reviewers dis romance while praising violence (no offense though to Joe, one of the least sexist guys around). 

Women do often like romantic fluff. And one teen girl told me the book ‘Twilight’ is like a Harlequin romance with vampires. But teen girls are biologically conditioned to be obsessed with relationships and romance. Read ‘The Female Brain’ by Louann Brizendine. Sure, romance is an easy target in general. But the Bella character is more interesting than many of the sexualized girls in movies today. The paranormal romance genre is largely character driven. Girl fans will talk/gossip about the characters endlessly, cultivating their relationships with other girls and meditating on how to relate to guys. Criticizing “Twilight” for making its mark - appealing to teens, especially girls - strikes me as almost sexist. Unless it’s acknowledged that 90 percent of entertainment - including the tiresomely violent movies aimed at guys -  is twaddle.

Is the movie faithful to the book - mostly. I’ll comment about this on Friday when the movie comes out.

Meanwhile, if you go: look for author Stephenie Meyer in a quick scene at the diner. She’s sitting at the counter (no lines though).