It has been 20 years since author Stephenie Meyer took us to Forks, Washington, to embark on the romantic series that would become The Twilight Saga. The original four books, followed by film adaptations and two companion novels, have had a profound impact on a community of fans: affectionately known as Twihards. This is why a special edition box set has been released to celebrate two decades of supernatural love.
The Dream: The Story Behind It All
Meyer began writing Twilight in 2003, inspired by a dream she had. The dream portrayed a scene that ended up being pivotal in the book, where love interest Edward confesses that he’s a vampire to the protagonist Bella. This scene in the book began it all, and she wove the story from there.
Over the course of four books, the couple had ups and downs. They broke up, started a war, got married, and even introduced a famous love triangle with a werewolf named Jacob. The core relationship, however, captured the hearts of many, selling over 160 million copies of the saga worldwide. This popularity sparked a film deal, which cemented Twilight in the cultural zeitgeist forever.
Going Hollywood
The first, and most beloved, Twilight film was released in 2008, directed by Catherine Hardwicke. The signature blue tint and cringeworthy awkwardness coined the movie as one of the worst of all time for many viewers. True Twihards, however knew that it was the best depiction of the book there could be. It captured the moody atmosphere and conveyed Bella’s terribly awkward behavior and inner monologue perfectly, making it a cult classic.
The subsequent films did not have that same campy feel, as each one got a larger budget and became a bigger blockbuster. They decreased in authenticity and charm, but not in success. Edward vs Jacob became the main selling point, as Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson rose to movie stardom. For many, their love for Twilight starts and ends with the films, a very valid way of intaking this lovely, admittedly trashy, story.
Flipping the Script
With the success of the Twilight films come and gone, Meyer began to revisit her story with a 2016 gender-swapped adaptation: Life and Death. That one tells the story of Beau and Edythe instead of Bella and Edward. It was a short, one-off project, but it prepared Meyer for her future re-imaginings.
The final installment in the special edition box set is Midnight Sun, a 2020 novel that tells the story of Twilight, but from Edward’s perspective. The novel reignited the passion for many fans and maintained the saga’s relevancy for a fresh generation, while creating new love for the hottest dream boy of the 2000s.
Looking Back With An Adult Lens
The controversy sparked by Twilight has often come from young fans of the novels revisiting as adults. From an adult perspective, you see problematic messages you’d potentially been exposed to at a young age. For much of the books and most of the movies, Edward tends to be a rather controlling, even manipulative, partner to Bella, who has a completely unhealthy attachment to him.
The movies set Bella up to choose the lesser of two evils: her overbearing boyfriend or an obsessive werewolf whom she doesn’t even like. For girls who read the books, maybe way too young, it’s a bad example of how you should treat the men you love and how you should let them treat you.
Many of the book’s themes seem to be informed by the religious background of Meyer, a graduate of Brigham Young University. Edwards’s obsession with waiting until marriage feels a little too purity culture for modern audiences. Bella’s surprise vampire pregnancy arc feels a little too anti-abortion for many, and it feels problematic for those readers.
Taking The Good With The Bad
In the last five years, Twilight has seen another growth of its fanbase, often referred to as “The Twilight Renaissance.” Newer fans in the post-Midnight Sun era take the series less seriously, making light of the odd story and filmmaking choices across the franchise (e.g., Renesmee and her bizarre puppet form from the last movie).
Renaissance embraces the campy nature of Twilight as a whole, with the good and the bad. New fans are able to take what they like and change what they don’t, especially with fanfiction and online discussion. Some may think it dilutes the “pure” spirit of the story. However, online communities reclaiming the series have revived the fandom even greater and increased the staying power of the franchise.
For the modern Twilight fan, the franchise is more about having fun than it is about convincing people it’s the perfect dark romance that it’s not. This flexibility is what has kept the series relevant enough for a box set. Regardless of what you think, Twilight isn’t going anywhere. People are still walking down the aisle to songs off the soundtrack and passing their copies down to their preteen daughters. Our love for Twilight will likely be as immortal as the vampires featured in the books.
What's Your Reaction?
