Twilight ruining marriages?

**R13** · June 29th, 2010, 02:07 AM

With fans turning the area outside the Nokia theater in L.A. into a tent city in advance of the "Eclipse" premiere, the Los Angeles Times examines the phenomenon of fans whose lives are upended by their fierce love of the vampire books and movies. The Times found women who have nearly lost their marriages by neglecting their husbands in favor of "Twilight" fan sites, blogs, and message boards. One woman gushes that she's seen the movies "over 300 times."

So-called "Twilight addiction" proliferates on the Internet, where a fan can take any of hundreds of quizzes to self-diagnose their condition, and websites sell hand-made crystal-encrusted T-shirts that say "Twilight Mom." Some "Twi-Moms" as they're known, have even argued that their love of Edward and/or Jacob has actually improved their marriages.

"If there is a chemical that's released when you're falling in love, your brain has it when you're reading or watching 'Twilight.' You get that utopic feeling of first love and you want to experience it over and over again," one 50-year-old former engineer who has experienced her own "Twilight"-related marital problems, said. The names "Bella," "Jacob," and "Cullen" are climbing the popular-baby-name lists every year as more and more parents make their "Twilight" fandom a permanent part of their families.

While the phenomenon of life-altering "Twilight" obsession is mostly confined to women and girls, the Internet reveals that even some men are falling victim to the vampire love triangle. "How do I go about combating my husband's 'Twilight' addiction?" reads one desperate plea on Yahoo! Answers. "He even has a Team Edward sparkly shirt."

It seems that the super-fandom known as "Twilight addiction" always reaches a fever pitch, at least in the media, right before a new movie in the franchise is released. With "New Moon", we learned that "Twilight" mania wasn't just for teen girls, but their moms as well. With "Eclipse," we're seeing grown-up married men afflicted by the obsession. With two more movies to go ("Breaking Dawn" parts one and two, in 2011 and 2012), could the entire U.S. population eventually succumb to this crippling disease?

Movie Talk: Twilight Fans' Vampire Addiction Affecting Relationships

**SBG** · June 29th, 2010, 04:09 AM

It's one thing to really like the movies but this is just stupidity. My fiance really likes the movies. So well in fact we'll be at Norton Cinema watching the first 2 flicks of the series starting at 7 and the midnight showing of Eclipse. But she doesn't wear a "team" shirt or neglect me over it. People need to get with reality and realize it's just entertainment. No more. No less.

**cosmo99** · June 29th, 2010, 02:14 PM

I enjoy the movies and have read the books several times BUT I love my husband and don't neglect my son or him over a movie..... That is insane! Some people take fiction and try to make it their reality because their reality isn't that great, maybe these marriages were lacking something in the first place.