Poor Robert Pattinson, the living, breathing incarnation of the fictional heartthrob of every teen girl (and their mother) on this planet–Edward Cullen. The romantic, sexy vampire had girls swooning on the page long before it was even a thought in their heads that they might catch of glimpse of Edward in the flesh.
Apparently, Pattinson’s movie portrayal of Edward Cullen has been so real to Twilight fans that his life as Robert Pattinson is becoming difficult, writes Brooks Barnes, in the New York Times article “His Cross to Bear: Heartthrob Vampire,” about Pattinson’s special kind of celebrity. And it only gets worse for him during the days leading up to one of the movies’ releases, as it is the case now, with the June 30th premiere of ‘Eclipse’ just around the corner.
The experience has apparently been hard on Pattinson.
“[T]he searing, worldwide fame that has come with the franchise has left him emotionally raw. Hunted by the tabloid media (“R-Patz Cuts His Hair!”), Mr. Pattinson changed hotels six times in the month and a half he has spent in Los Angeles filming “Water for Elephants.” He arrived for coffee wearing both a baseball cap and sunglasses to cover his floppy locks and haunting good looks, and he immediately vetoed a booth hand picked by a publicist for its privacy as too public. . .”I’ve learned to let it go a bit, but I’m still really bothered by it,” he said. “The more you are exposed, the more people irrationally hate you. . .”
Wow, hate? I thought it was all love. What do you think? Should Twilight fans just leave Pattinson alone? Should they get a grip and remind themselves that the real Edward is just a fantasy on the page and now the screen? Do we need a little separation between fiction and reality here, people? I think so.