Thursday, April 28, 2011

ROSWELL and TWILIGHT: Their similarities

While reviewing the seasons 1, 2 and 3 episodes of Roswell, my favorite American TV series in 2000, I could not help but think if Stephenie Meyer created her Twilight saga based on the concept of Roswell,  because the similarities of the plot and concept are just so obvious.

ROSWELL
This TV series, which run from 1999 to 2002, is developed and produced by Jason Katims and based on the book series, Roswell High. It retells the story of the UFO who had thought to be seen around Roswell, New Mexico in 1947.

The series starred Jason Behr, Shuri Appleby, Katherine Heigl and Brendan Fehr. The four are students of the Roswell High. Max(Behr), Michael (Fehr) and Isabel (Heigl) knew all too well they are aliens, they had kept their origins secret even to their parents to avoid being turned over to FBI. They assured each other to guard the secret, thus, Isabel strictly reminded Max and Michael not to fall in love with humans. But one day, a fateful accident happened which would forever change the course of their lives.

When Max and Michael took a sandwich break at Crashdown owned by Liz Parker's parents, a shoot out took place and Liz  was shot in the stomach, watching her drenched in blood, Max could not just let her die, his first instinct was to save her, but Michael prevented him because it would expose their real existence, but Max rushed to her side and healed her wounds using his extraordinary alien-power.

Some people in the shop did not notice it but Liz remembered it too well. When they met at their biology class, Liz was curious to find out Max's unlikely existence, so when they performed a scientific experiment in the laboratory, she secretly secured a sample of Max's saliva and put it in the microscope and found a shocking evidence, that he, after all is half-human. She badgered Max to tell her the truth and pursued him---in the school's vacant room-- until the latter told him his secret, after few more episode, of course, they eventually fall in love.

TWILIGHT
The Twilight saga, which made into a blockbuster movie series since 2008, is divided into four installments: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. The opening story tells us that the Cullens are vampires who chose to live in the county of Fork because the gloomy weather would help them hide their secret.

Bella (Kristine Stewart) had just tranferred to the Fork High School, soon Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) found himself romantically drawn with this beautiful, innocent teenager. But there's something mysterious about Edward that Bella wanted to find out.

Soon, she would uncover the mystery of Edward's changeable eye colors, pale skin and disappearance during day time when the heat of the sun penetrated the surroundings of Fork high school. Edward slowly drawn with this woman's unique charm and innocence. But he is aware he has a secret to protect so he planned to avoid her, but one incident changed everything. When a speeding car almost hit Bella he run to her side and saved her. Bella was curious with his extraordinary strength that she conducted a research and confronted him---they went to the wooded area of Forks High and Edward finally told her his secret. Well, of course, soon, they eventually fall in love.

Alas! These two stories breathed in the same platform: Star-crossed lovers drawn to each other and despite circumstances of their existence, bound to end up together. They would also fight adversities along the way, that would threaten them to drift apart, but in the end, well, as the fairytale story goes...and they lived happily ever-after. Same plot, same concept, same target audience (teens and young adults), same character building.

If you are not yet convince, read the following similarities...

CONCEPT:

Roswell: Alien-based concept with principal characters, who came from two different world, found themselves deeply in love and would soon fight odds to be together. One is alien, the other is human. The alien tried hard to hide his origin, but soon yield to his feelings, confided his secret to the woman he cannot resist. His co-aliens warned him to avoid her because being romantically link to a human would be too dangerous for their secret , but he just cannot resist his emotion, he would soon fall in love to this human through one incident---an almost fatal accident in the coffee shop where she was shot. He saved her.

Twilight: Vampire-based concept with principal characters, who came from two different world, found themselves deeply in love and would soon fight odds to be together. One is vampire, the other is human. The Vampire tried hard to hide his origin by avoiding this human whom he knew he cannot resist. His co-vampires warned him to stay out of her, but his emotion is too hard to ignore, he would soon fall in love with this human through one incident---an almost fatal accident in the parking lot where she was almost hit by a speeding car. He saved her.

In seasons two and three, Roswell concentrated more on alien things, discovering their origins and lots of alien factions were being introduced, alas! Twilight also followed the same path. In the second and third series, New Moon and Eclipse, introduced more vampires and werewolves and concentrated on the conflict between these two groups. Roswell's final season revealed Liz, because of her intense feelings for Max, attracted an alien existence and she too got a supernatural power where she can create fire and so on, they eventually got married. Twilight too has the same format. In the last series, Breaking Dawn, Edward and Bella finally tied the knot and Bella became a vampire and got the vampire's supernatural power!

Diary Narration: And the most obvious connection of all: DIARY! In Roswell, Liz Parker was shown writing her experience of the day in a diary, she also narrates some of the episodes through her diary. In the Twilight saga, the retelling of the story also comes from Bella!

CHARACTERS:

Roswell: Max is so protective of Liz, he made sure he is always there to protect her and watch over her when dangers seemed too close. He tried to resist his feelings but the presence of this woman is so strong that soon he found himself deeply in love with her. His sister Isabel and friend Michael became so furious with his decision but they eventually accepted Max's girlfriend, although Isabel remained hostile to Liz. There's also a sheriff who became close to them and Max had to fight hard with Kyle over Liz's love and attention.

Twilight: Edward is also very protective of Bella and made sure he is always there to protect and watch over her. He also tried to resist his feelings but the presence of this woman is so strong that soon he found himself deeply in love with her. His adoptive siblings Rosalie and Jason were furious with Edward's relationship with Bella but eventually they accepted her although Rosalie remained hostile to her. There's also a sheriff in Twilight, Bella's father, Charlie Swan, and Edward had to fight hard with Jacob over Bella's love and attention.

I don't know if it's only me who noticed the similarities, but I was closely following Roswell in 2000 so I am very familiar with the episode's concept and plot....and what a coincidence, I saw it too in the Twilight saga!

Though the succeeding stories, as the series progressed, followed a slightly different route, the concept and circumstances being introduced are strikingly the same! Roswell concluded its final episode in May 2002 in the US while Twilight book made its public debut in 2005.


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