After having just seen Beautiful Creatures and remembering how people have made comparisons to both that and Twilight, and having hinted at my frustration of the possibility of Beautiful Creatures not getting a sequel or becoming a franchise and Twilight becoming a franchise, I figured I'd examine why I think Beautiful Creatures worked in the areas that Twilight didn't, and on a new segment called Topic Of The Day, where I discuss a topic or subject regarding film that interests me or I feel the need to state my opinion on. Here we go:
*Note: This article is not meant to offend or criticize Twilight fans.
For this post, I will discuss the main characters and themes of each film:
First off, I'll discuss the two lead characters in each film, starting with Beautiful Creatures. The two lead characters are Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes, who are a couple of teens living in the South and Ethan is a mortal, while Lena is a witch, or "caster" as they are referred to. As I said in my review of Beautiful Creatures, I thought their chemistry was delightful to watch and they are very likable. Ethan is a boy who reads every book banned from his school and thinks about a life outside of his small town by going to college. When he discovers that Lena is a witch who feels that she will be "claimed" for the dark side on her 16th birthday, Ethan still sees goodness in her, no matter how dark she thinks she will become. Lena is somewhat of an outsider who, because of who she is, struggles to understand how it feels to be normal. However, Lena is a character who isn't dependent on a man to get out of a tough situation and can hold her own against her enemies. As Ethan continues to remind Lena that there is good in her and she will be "claimed" for the light side, she begins to persevere and try to take control of her destiny.
Now onto the lead characters in Twilight, Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, who are two teenagers that live up in the rainy town of Forks, Washington. While in Beautiful Creatures, the woman in the couple is the supernatural being, in this, it is the man, who is a vampire. While Ethan thinks about better plans for his future, Bella Swan just imagines a life with Edward, abandoning plans of going to college or anything like that, just so she can get married with and spend forever with her vampire boyfriend, aware that she'll watch her loved ones die while she'll still live. You see, what bugs me about the character of Bella is not just because of how she revolves her life around her boyfriend or because she has no motivation, but because whenever she is in peril, she can't get herself out of peril without a man to help her out. To me, what's confusing is why Edward is even attracted to this girl in the first place, or why he would want to be so possessive of her and practically force her into marriage.
Next, I'll go into the themes of each film. Beautiful Creatures deals with a girl who at first feels that her destiny is already written in the stars for her, but eventually realizes that she controls her own destiny. So, Beautiful Creatures deals with the theme of controlling your own destiny and because the film deals with a relationship between the two leads, it showcases the message of couples giving each other stable emotional support, and that is exactly what Ethan and Lena do. Also, one conflict that is present is how Lena struggles to feel "normal", something that other outcasts can relate to as they tend to feel the same way. However, Twilight is just about how important it is to have a boyfriend and because of Edward's stalker behavior, it pretty much showcases stalking as romanticism. Like my friend Alexina, who read the books, told me, "If you really look deep into the story, it gets very creepy".
Consensus:
So that is what bugs me about why Beautiful Creatures, a film that has a better story, more interesting and likable characters, and portrays important conflicts and themes might not get a sequel while Twilight was able to become a franchise and those films have a weak storyline, unlikable characters, and just shows how important it is to have a boyfriend. I'd love to see the witches from Beautiful Creatures use their magic to wipe out the vampires from Twilight.
So, I have vented my feelings about both films onto this article and I will discuss another topic soon. Not sure when, but until then, thanks for reading!
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