This is a great article from True Genius
The response to his entrance at San Diego’s 2008 Comic-Con was called “Elvis like.” With sideburns reminiscent of Elvis, and the wryly hair to match—and let’s not forget an eclectic singing voice mature beyond his years and just as unique as Elvis’ was in his day—the phenomenon that is Robert Pattinson is nothing short of fascinating.Maybe the parallels to Elvis are a bit much—okay, they are a bit much, but none-the-less the fan base that he has captured due to his being cast as the 110-year-old but still 17-year-old vampire, Edward Cullen, in the upcoming Twilight movie is amazing.I stumbled upon the name Robert Pattinson a few months ago while researching independent films to highlight on the magazine. In doing so, I came across the yet to be released film Little Ashes—a film about the early years of Salvador Dali (surrealist artist) starring Robert Pattinson as Dali, which led me to Robert Pattinson, which led me to HOW TO BE and Twilight (the movie and the books), which led me to the phenomenon that is Robert Pattinson.For those of you not in the know—or those of you who have been living under a rock as I apparently was prior to my recent discovery—Stephenie Meyer is the author of the uber popular series of teenage vampire novels known as the Twilight series, of which there are four. The first movie created of these books, aptly named Twilight, is set to release November 21 in theaters across the country. And we may see a response unlike any other we've ever seen.Yes, we’ve had the literary phenomenon that is Harry Potter brought to us by the talented J.K. Rowling that changed the face of literature for a generation and created mega stars out of the main characters in the subsequent movies—including the initial rise of Pattinson who played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. But Twilight is a different animal all together. Where as Harry Potter crossed generations and gender with the creation of an imaginative world of witches and wizards and all things magical, Stephenie Meyer has tapped into the hormones of young women (and not so young women) the world over, and has delivered the “perfect man” that is Edward Cullen—but in the skin of a vampire, and a 17-year-old boy. Women young and old the world over would willingly expose their necks for just a hint of Edward Cullen’s lips in all their perfection upon their skin—and they would welcome the same from Robert Pattinson.However, Edward’s character is truly far from perfect (yes, of course I read the books), as is his relationship with the main protagonist, Bella Swan (played by Kristen Stewart in the movie). But don’t tell that to Twilight fans. Most see Edward as the perfect man (a point author Stephenie Meyer drives home in every book), and the imperfect love that he and Bella shares as ideal love—something they all seemingly aspire to have in their own lives. (Point: I did say seemingly).While these concepts of perfection can be debated by critical readers (and can be seen as somewhat disturbing by some), the reality of Robert Pattinson being the “perfect man” is something that he is increasingly facing in the eyes of Twilight fans. In fact, when not oozing with zealous admiration they can be downright rabid in their protection of him and his abilities both on and off the screen.“A lot of people that are involved with the Twilight fandom have not only fallen in love with the books but the community that has been created around them as well. As corny as it might sound, this series has managed to change lives in that way, through the discovery of new people and new friends. I think that is something fans get defensive of, the whole experience the books have created for them. It is kind of one big fandom family and families tend to be protective of their members…once [Robert] was widely accepted as a cemented part of the Twilight franchise he automatically fell into that 'protection' as well,” says Bailey Gauthier, also known as NoMoreMarbles .The story of Pattinson’s transition to Edward Cullen is in itself an interesting one and is itself a study of just how fervent Twilight fans can be. In the beginning, Twilight fans weren’t so keen on Pattinson to play Edward. Pattinson himself has stated in interviews that he received a slew of hate mail stating that he was no Edward Cullen and fans of the series would support “anyone but Robert” in the role. With this, fans took action.“When his fan base heard this, the reaction was unreal. I heard so many stories of fans sending him support letters, there were fans defending him on YoutTube, and our site even made him a huge support book and fanmix (full of inspiring messages and songs),” says Michele from http://www.robertpattinson.org/.Whether it be in defense of his acting skills (which are very good BTW—at least in HOW TO BE), his looks, or even his personal music—and whether that someone doing the talking is a Twilight fan or not, dedicated Robert Pattinson fans haven’t let up on their support or defense of him.When interviewing Justin Kelly (producer of How To Be starring Pattinson), I asked him if he thought that the American female teenage audience could carry the success of a British indie movie here in the States—which isn’t necessarily the intended audience—simply because they were fans of Robert and not necessarily of the movie. Justin’s response was that he was happy that Robert Pattinson is bringing fans to the film. My response: highly probable—and a U.S. distributor would be smart to quickly catch on to this.I’m wondering if all of this fervency really has anything to do with Robert Pattinson the person, or if it’s just that he is now and forever will be seen as Edward Cullen—because after all, Stephenie Meyer has the effect of a rock star on her fans. It would make sense that the person playing her most famous creation would as well.“Most fans, from what we’ve seen, see [Robert] as Robert, the British actor with a great personality and a potential to be a well respected actor. We’re not sure if that's because the movie hasn't come out yet,” says Seana and Devon from http://www.robertpattinsononline.com/.“Robert is such a real person, you feel like he's your best friend. He's modest, he's genuine, he's shy and the fans find a very personal connection with him,” says Michele from http://www.robertpattinson.org/.“There will always be fans that have a hard time telling the difference between the actor and the role,” says Bailey Gauthier, NoMoreMarbles. “Personally, I will always see Robert as Robert and not Edward except for when I sit down to watch the movie. Robert Pattinson was actually the reason I decided to pick up the [Twilight] books in December [2007], and I know I am not alone in that.”I digress.Just how big is the Robert Pattinson fandom? No one can say for sure, but taking into consideration that Stephenie Meyer sold 1.3 million books on the U.S. release date of her fourth and final book in the Twilight series, and the previous three in the series have sold over 8.5 million combined, with the number growing daily as more people learn about them; and the Twilight trailer had over four million hits in the first 24 hours after release on Myspace Trailer Park; and that fans of Pattinson would currently flock to the theaters to see him in a commercial, the parallels to Elvis just may be fitting. We’ll know for sure after November 21. And to Robert Pattinson I would say this: brace yourself.Read our Review of HOW TO BE and article based on our interview with producer Justin Kelly.
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