I was in the theater last Friday morning, the day of the release of ‘New Moon,’ with the rest of the screaming, teenage Twilight fans. Though, a good number of us were in the “I’m thirty-something and I love Twilight and I don’t care what anyone else says or thinks” bracket, too; or as Washington Post writer, Monica Hesse suggests in her article, “Twilight,’ the love that dare not speak its shame,” a category of “Good, smart, literary women [who] tried to resist the romantic-vampire phenomenon. And then, alas, they bit.”
Anyway, the biggest shocker of all for me as to why I enjoyed the movie so much: Jacob Black. I loved, loved, loved how the film portrayed Jacob Black, his transformation from sweet teenage boy to powerful, vicious werewolf, and most of all, watching the evolution of his relationship with Bella. Taylor Lautner as Jacob was likable, funny, romantic–and broody, too, but not on the level of the film’s version of Edward. As a long time member of Team Edward, I was not prepared for how much I was going to like Jacob–in fact, I thought I wouldn’t like ‘New Moon’ as a film very much because it’s really Jacob’s story more than anything else. But as I watched Bella grow close to Jacob and eventually enter into a series of moments where they come close enough to kiss, I found myself thinking, “Kiss him! Kiss him! He’s way less broody than Edward!” It almost feels blasphemous to admit this.

The moral of the story: ‘New Moon’ as a film successfully sets up Jacob as a real rival to Edward–which is no easy task–and may even leave audiences wondering why Bella chooses Edward in the end. I know I felt conflicted about it. And overall, ‘New Moon’ is full of action, never has a lull, the Volturi are fantastic and add a wonderful dash of humor to the experience. ‘New Moon’ is certainly not high brow stuff–it’s fun and frothy, through and through–but isn’t that why it’s so great to see? Fantasticly entertaining. And I’ll be curious to know what you other Twilight and Team Edward fans think about Twilight II, and if you liked Jacob as much as I did!