[Laer Carroll]

A recent review of the latest Twilight film totally misses why the movies appeal so much to their fans. It complains that little happens and could be condensed to 40 minutes.

Twifans watch the movies to spend time with characters they love, in situations they love. They are mostly young teen girls. Of all ages and sexes - the kid's mothers and grandmothers often love the movies just as much.

Those fans could not care less about the action. Edward and Bella and the hunky werewolf could sit around in their tees and jeans, or lounge on a (cloudless) beach, and the Twifans would love it. It's the experience of being there which they crave.

Vampire Edward is the appeal. He's handsome, young-looking though old in experience, and rich. Bella is sort of wimpy shrimpy teen girl in looks and character, but that is unimportant. She is just an avatar for the teen girls who go to the Twifilms. A cut-out into which they can project themselves.

Maybe it's a sexual thing. Action appeals to males. Feelings to females.

Though there are plenty of exceptions. You have no doubt met many. Perhaps you are one. My lady friend and I certainly are. Outwardly as feminine (and her case gorgeous) and masculine as anyone, when she picks movies they are action films. I pick romantic comedies. And we don't do this to appeal to the other. We do it in our own selfish interest.

What implications does all this have to we fiction writers? I imagine you will tell us.

[CMTheAuthor]

They are mostly young teen girls. Of all ages and sexes

I find that oxymoron highly amusing. :p

Anyway, the issue is the same reason Harry Potter is so beloved, Eragon is decently liked (despite being not all that well written), and why fantasy/coming-of-age hybrids are so dominant in the YA market: escapism.

This indicates that a lot of people are basically bored with what they consider to be mundane (in other words, real life). They want something new, something different, something amazing to come into their lives. And barring that, they like to read about such things, to feed their imagination so they can envision themselves as living that way.

For those of us who start with our characters already in the realms of the fantastic, the magical, and the futuristic, the task is harder. We can't rely on the usual pattern of having a protagonist come from a mundane background, so we have to compensate for it in other ways.

The only real answer is simply to have better plotting, better characterization, and better writing in general. That always will have appeal, even if the structure isn't what's considered "popular".