The Kid dragged me (though I had to drive) to the 11:35pm showing of Twilight on Friday night so she could see it on the IMAX screen.

I admit to having skipped the books, for I’ve long been out of both my vampire phase and my teenage years, so all I had to go on was the hype surrounding the film. Guess I hadn’t paid that much attention to it, either, or no one really brought it up, but that cute kid who plays Edward Cullin was once Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In both roles, he reminded me of my nephew, Christopher, with his lanky good looks and quiet demeanor – though I doubt Chris will ever have the gumption to wear as much makeup.

The Kid had been reading book one of the series over the last month, in anticipation of the movie. I really wasn’t sure what to think about the story (and was equally unsure of what to think about the Goth makeup she chose to wear that night). The surprising thing was my motherly reaction when my tweenaged kid said, “Mom, you GOTTA take me to see Twilight. You GOTTA take me!”
“What the heck is Twilight?”
“It’s a movie about vampires.”
“Vampires!?!”
I flashed back to Ann Rice novels…
I fished around for the large silver crucifix in my jewelry box…
I said a prayer (or four or five)…
“Um…”
“Yeah. Vampires in high school.”
“In WHAT?!?”

We settled in with our popcorn and the movie unfolded on the massive movie wall. The verdict? It was sweet. A very PG-friendly vampire story that’s a far cry from the ofttimes gory, overtly sexual adult offerings in the genre. The writer in me was yawning for two hours (BO-ring); the mom in me figured another generation of Goth couldn’t be any worse than another generation of ultra-conservative Republicans.

So the Kid now has my permission to fully consume the stories. We’re off to Barnes & Noble to pick up the set.

The makeup, however, is not allowed.