QUOTE: "I know [that Midnight Sun, a retelling of the Twilight story from Edward Cullen's perspective, is] what everyone cares about. I also know that the right answer would be for me to say, 'Oh yah, it's done! And it'll be out next month!' But that's not true. … What's true is that I'm really burned out on vampires. And I don't want to write it badly. So I want to wait until I'm excited about the material again, and I'm excited about Edward, and that it's something that's motivating. … I want to do it when I can do it right. You know, I have my share of human stubbornness, and I have to tell you, it's a little bit hard when people are like, 'This is the only thing you can do, and it's the only thing we care about!'"

—Twilight scribe Stephenie Meyer, in an interview on the Twilight fan site twilightseriestheories.com

Stephenie Meyer may be wearying of her vampiric creation, but her fans most certainly are not. The latest installment in the cinematic franchise, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, raked in an estimated $175.3 million in its first six days of release, just shy of New Moon's six-day take of $178.9 million.

QUOTE: "What appeals to me in [Eclipse] is you have a desirous girl. She wants sex. She is absolutely clear about that. She's a horny girl! And it's such a taboo to have a girl want sex more than the guy, or to have looser standards about that. When he says, 'I don't want to have sex until we're married'—and he is trying to protect her virtue—but she's like, 'You're a f‑‑‑ing dinosaur!' But she goes along with it because she wants sex. That I find appealing. Because telling girls that what you're feeling is shameful or wrong in any way, or that it's weird that a girl would feel that, is damaging."

—Melissa Rosenberg, screenwriter for the Twilight Saga movies, on why Bella intrigues her. Rosenberg's own mores regarding sex, she admits, are different from those of author Stephenie Meyer. But she still finds enough seeds of what she'd classify as feminism to latch onto, and she considers Bella to be a pro-choice advocate. "The thing that drives me insane is the whole concept of having unprotected sex and getting pregnant and then you're not able to have an abortion," Rosenberg adds. "This happens in films and television all the time. It doesn't even come up, you don't even address it, no one even talks about it. They actually do talk about it in Breaking Dawn. It's Edward saying, 'I think we should get rid of this thing,' and Jacob's saying, 'I think we should get rid of this thing, too.' And Bella says, 'No, I'm choosing not to.' But at least someone's talking about it!"

Some theaters in Texas are pulling trailers for the R-rated Paranormal Activity 2 from screenings of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse for being too scary. And some pundits have responded by suggesting that the removal smacks of gimmickry. "Although, while I assume the complaints were genuine," writes Clark Collis of Entertainment Weekly, "I can't help but be reminded of the publicity stunts of '50s horror director William Castle who insured viewers of his film Macabre against "death by fright."

Children on reality shows are rarely compensated for their time onscreen or given legal safeguards, according to a recent Los Angeles Times article. Reality TV producers say children don't need safeguards and don't qualify for pay because, of course, they're just being themselves—on camera. But Times writer Emilia Barrosse begs to differ. "First of all, no matter what, once you're on a reality-TV show, your life is no longer as real as it used to be. From whatever angle you look at it, even if you're living your life as usual, it's going to be in front of several cameras. Suddenly, family dinners become family portrait sessions and alone time means close-up time. Even if you were doing the same things you always did, it would be inherently different because the experience is no longer yours—it's the viewers'."

Behavioral researchers say reality TV may alter our sense of emotional norms, making exaggerated reactions seem acceptable. Dr. Roderick Hart, a communication studies and government professor at the University of Texas-Austin, says, "People can be seduced into thinking [overreaction is] the most common way of reacting to life, when it's not. … Reality television has hyped all the emotions. You can't just be happy. You have to be ecstatic. You can't be upset. You have to be violently angry." Sarah Coyne, professor of family life at Brigham Young University, co-authored a recent study on media aggression and found that out of 120 hours of programming, an average of 52 acts of hostility (physical and verbal) are broadcast per hour on reality TV. Non-reality programming contained only 33 such incidents per hour. Coyne concludes, "[Programming is] producing this culture of being mean to each other," Coyne said. "We're setting up our culture to being overreactive." (The study was published in June's Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media.)

QUOTE: "The fine art of self-presentation used to be something mastered only by models and movie stars. Mere mortals did their best for special occasions, like family outings, with what was, one hoped, a single, pleasant expression. Then having a camera phone aimed your way became as much a part of life's pleasure and pain as ordering a coffee at Starbucks. 'People are so much more attuned to adjusting how they look in front of a camera," said Keith Gould, the creator of Daily Mugshot … 'Now they make precise decisions about every part of their face and angle of their head.' As a result, the self-snap is fast becoming as vital a facet of how we present ourselves as our clothes, figures or voices. Photographing oneself easily and well is a talent that … is now a given for young people. And it is a skill that, if you are single or younger than 50, you cannot afford to neglect—especially if you are both."

—New York Times contributor David Coleman

Wonder Woman has been given a new look by her caretakers at DC Comics. Her skimpy, strapless hot-pants outfit, so iconic in the '50s, has been replaced with more practical leggings and trench coat—an ensemble more in keeping with the daily rigors of fighting crime. "She is still supposed to be sexy," says DC artist Jim Lee. "You want to keep the ideals of who Wonder Woman is. She's sexy, she's strong, she's powerful and she's this princess at the same time. But you want her to be a superhero that is taking on the most evil threats the world has seen, from demons to armies. You want to have a costume that speaks of that kind of ability and power." Lee added that Wonder Woman's former getup might've been just too revealing to be very practical. "When I draw Wonder Woman in her classic costume it looks normal to me," he says, "but when I see it on TV on Lynda Carter [star of the 1980s series Wonder Woman], I can't help but go, 'Oh my god, she's half naked."

QUOTE: "I always have two reactions when Lola comes into my room with an outfit on: One is, 'Oh my god, she looks amazing, what incredible style.' And then my second reaction is, 'She's dressed completely inappropriately for school.' I usually tell her to take off her 3-inch or 6-inch platforms and pull her skirt down just a little bit and take off some of the black eye makeup."

—Madonna, in an interview in People, promoting her 13-year-old daughter Lourdes' new clothing line. (Lourdes' nickname is Lola.)