Die-hard 'Twi-hards' wait anxiously for 'New Moon' release

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By Colleen McKinney

The second movie in the Twilight Saga, "New Moon," opens in theaters everywhere November 20, 2009. You've probably heard of people who have already bought their tickets and are generally excited for the movie, but for the self-proclaimed "Twi-hards," they've taken waiting to a new level.

A visit to the Rave movie theater at the Mall of Louisiana yields a line, 40-60 'tween girls deep. Black and red tents line the sidewalk to the entrance, while the theme songs for the movies, written by Paramore and Death Cab for Cutie, waft out of stereos and iPods.

"I've been camping out for two weeks," says sixteen-year-old Kelsey Smith, who is currently first in line for the midnight showing of the movie. "A few people have dropped out of the line, but they aren't true fans. It's only three days, 14 hours, and 47 minutes until the movie starts, and I plan on being first in that theater to see my Edward."

As I walked down the line of girls, accompanied by a parent here and there, there was a buzz of activity in the air. Some are too engrossed in their collector's edition copies of New Moon to notice anybody else. Others have a reading of their favorite passages every hour, followed by intense discussions afterwards. The quiet excitement was interrupted by the shrill scream of number 24 in line, Jessica Smith.

"Oh my GOD! Ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod!" The other girls rushed to her tent to see what the fuss was about. "Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are HOLDING HANDS!" Smith shows her laptop screen, with a picture of the stars of the franchise holding hands on a tarmac, to everyone in the near vicinity. More "ohmigod's" rang out in the crowd, with one girl proclaiming, "This is just like, so real!"

After the explosion, everyone returned to their normal activities of playing Twilight Monopoly, reading Twilight guides, and writing Twilight fan fiction. "I write about 20 pages a day for my fan fic, Evening. It's about what happens if Edward Cullen's long-lost identical twin, Edmund, who also happens to be a vampire, moves to Baton Rouge and falls in love with a girl named Zoe," gushes Chloe Rodgers, a fifteen-year old fan. "Zoe is really based off of me, but I don't think you can tell when you read my story."

A few minutes later, Chloe's mom pulled up in her minivan in front of her daughter's tent. Those not involved in the daily reading helped to unload bags of McDonald's, boxes of snacks, and cartons of soft drinks, enough to feed the entire crowd for a few days.

"I support my daughter in any way I can, so when she told me she wanted to camp out for this movie, I agreed," says Susan Rodgers, taking a box of Twilight decorated cupcakes out of the front seat. "I collect money from everyone's parents and go pick up food and drinks. My Sam's Club membership really comes in handy."

"This is all so harmless," Rodgers responds to my question about the effect of this extreme fandom on her daughter and the other girls here. "They're not drinking, doing drugs, or developing eating disorders by reading these books. They're just in love with a fictional character that will give them unrealistic expectations of love later in life. You tell me, what's so wrong about that?"

*Relax, this story is fake.

Originally Published: Issue 824 - November 18, 2009

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