Romantasy

I've never seen a movie on its opening night--not Titanic, not Star Wars, not Lord of the Rings, not Harry Potter. I'm not sure if that means I'm uninteresting or just plain smart to avoid all the fans dressed as their favorite characters and squealing at the actors on the screen. I certainly do not make a habit of seeing movies targeting the teen population...on opening night...in the area where I teach. It's a little hard to get away from work that way and some of my students are still baffled by the fact that I don't live on a cot in my classroom all weekend.

However, to honor a birthday promise to one of my favorite 16-year-olds, I accompanied her and several of her friends to the premier of Twilight tonight. And even though I spend time around teenagers all week, I still forget how squealy and ecstatic girls become over what I have coined "romantasy," or a fanciful romance story. That's right: the movie started and girls throughout the theatre squealed with anticipation and excitement. And the first shot of the lead male character, Edward Cullen, provoked yet another round of squealing with additional comments like, "He's so hot" and, "Oh my gosh, look at him!" and, "There he is! He's freaky, but I like that." There was a stirring, a physical current of anticipation in the room, complete with girls giggling and speaking to each other in high registers. I just sat there and inwardly grinned--so thankful to be finished with that era in my life, but also enjoying watching them experience the thrill of a craze. Of course, a romantasy just wouldn't be complete without the kissing scenes, which earned themselves a dreamy "aww" from the crowd. The movie ended with yet another squeal session before everyone began filing out, smiles on faces and brains already preparing a full dissection of each moment of the movie. The matinee was a brilliant time to go because the line for the 7:15 movie was out the door when we left!

While I found the whole spending-the-evening-with-teenagers experience humorous, I was also honored that they would invite me into their social lives for an evening. It was nice to forget bills, Christmas gifts, cleaning, and work for a few hours; for just a few hours, everyone lived happily ever after--romantasy at its finest.