Twilight: so bad, it’s good

This year, the Twilight Saga celebrates its 20th anniversary, and in all 20 years since its release, it has reigned supreme as one of the top supernatural thriller series of all time. The series has a strong online presence of fans and haters alike, and its impact on pop culture is undeniable – but is the series all it’s cracked up to be?

The Twilight Saga is one of the most defining book series of the late 2000s. It had a strong resurgence in popularity in the 2010s with the release of the movie adaptations. The series has strongly influenced fandom spaces, and has played a key role in the rising popularity of dark and supernatural romance today. Yet, the series is not without its faults. 

On the surface, Twilight is a classic, edgy teen romance. It follows the perspective of Bella Swan, a stereotypical “not like other girls” girl in love with Edward Cullen, a mysterious, tall, brooding boy who turns out to be a vampire. The boy next door, Jacob Black, is a werewolf, and did I mention there’s a love triangle between the two? Of course there is, why wouldn’t there be? Every series from the 2000s had to have a love triangle. 

Though Twilight may appear as little more than a combination of popular tropes in an attempt to make the perfect cliche young adult romance, the deeper you dive into the series, the harder it is to ignore the cracks beneath the surface. 

For many, alarm bells start going off the second they realize the love interest of our 17-year-old main character is actually a 100-year-old vampire in the body of a 17-year-old boy, but mentally, he also stayed 17, so it’s ok, right? Edwards’ adoptive father, Carlisle, met his wife Esme when he was 300-something and she was 16, but he didn’t marry her till much later, so it’s ok, right? 

These details are weird, but ignorable for most readers, especially the large teen fanbase. But questionable age gaps aren’t the only uncomfortable trope the Twilight saga brushes over.

One cannot bring up Twilight’s questionable controversies without acknowledging the character of Jacob Black, a Native American boy based on and named after the author’s brother, who acts as Bella’s second love interest and future son-in-law. Throughout the book, Jacob and the rest of his tribe are shamelessly stereotyped as feral and uncontrollable, often causing conflict within the story and growing vicious and violent over the smallest of things.

A Native woman in Jacobs’ pack is shown with a violent gash across her face, and it is explained that she got it because her husband “got angry once”. The other members of the pack don’t question it at all. Domestic violence is played off as a normal occurrence amongst the tribe, and the Native people are actively dehumanized. I mean, there are few things more dehumanizing than turning them into actual violent animals.

Native people aren’t the only minority to be ostracized in the series.  Author, Stephanie Meyer, was adamant that the main cast be played by all white actors, including Jacob, in the movie adaptation. Meyer only slightly backed down by allowing some of Bella’s background friends to be played by people of color, and one of the main antagonists, Laurent,  to be played by a black man. 

In Meyer’s own guide to the vampires in her book, she states that “regardless of original ethnicity, a vampire’s skin will be exceptionally pale. The hue varies slightly, with darker-skinned humans having a barely discernible olive tone to their vampire skin”. This statement carries some extremely colorist connotations when you consider that Meyer also said her interpretation of vampirism turns each individual into the most beautiful iteration of themselves.

Meyer’s stereotyping and sidelining of people of color to background roles – especially when one of the main love interests is supposed to be one – is an abysmal and ignorant decision on her part, and the author’s subtle racism doesn’t stop there.

One of Edwards’ adoptive brothers, Jasper, who is also in a relationship with his adoptive sister, was a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. Jasper mentions that he lied about his age at the time to fight in the Confederate Army and is shown to be incredibly patriotic for his cause.

Aside from his past life as a soldier fighting for the right to enslave people, Jasper is intended to be a likable member of the main cast and never shows any character growth beyond this. It is a seriously questionable writing decision on Meyer’s part, making many wonder what point she was trying to get across with his character.

Twilight has no shortage of controversial and racist material within it, and it isn’t a particularly well-written or thought-provoking book, so what about it makes it so relevant to this day with such a dedicated fan base?

 The Twilight saga’s original fan base in the late 2000s and early 2010s primarily consisted of young teenagers who likely didn’t even notice the problematic contents of the series, and its popularity within that community has played a large part in continuing its legacy. But is its appeal to a teenage audience the only reason it gained popularity?

Although Meyer made some questionable decisions with the cast, the actors are incredibly talented and play their roles well. Kristen Stewart was nominated for nearly 30 awards for her performance as Bella Swan and has gone on to become a successful actress, featured in many popular movies and shows. Stewart played the role of Bella perfectly, and many fans agreed that she looked exactly like what they had imagined Bella to look like in the books.

Robert Pattinson, the actor of Edward, was nominated for 20 awards following the Twilight movie’s release. His performance as Edward was exceptionally well-received by fans, and he has since starred in The Batman (2022) and Mickey 17, both critically acclaimed movies. Though the actor admits that he had his past qualms with the series, he recently stated in an interview that he now has “very warm memories” from his time with the rest of the Twilight saga’s cast.

Though the choice of Taylor Lautner as Jacob was a controversial one, it was similarly met with strong approval from fans, as he was successfully able to capture the energy of a charming, friendly boy-next-door type character. Taylor Lautner has since taken a break from acting, but has starred in SNL skits about the Twilight series and has gone on to say that he, too, has “fond memories” of the movies and enjoyed the time he spent on set with his co-stars. 

Another feature of the films many people enjoyed was the film’s soundtrack, featuring talented artists and bands such as Christina Perri, Paramore, Linkin Park, Iron & Wine, and Muse.

The song “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri, produced specifically for the movie, has over 2 billion streams on Spotify and peaked at number 31 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also charted well internationally, reaching number 7 in Ireland and number 13 in Australia.

The series’s good cinematography and soundtrack likely played a large part in its popularity; considering the amount of criticism the series receives, those two features have never been on the receiving end of it.

Twilight successfully utilizes a combination of the vampire trope with a teen romance setting, including a “forbidden” love story and a love triangle that was highly appealing to its target audience. By using the traditional vampire and werewolf stories in a more lighthearted romance narrative, it gained traction from romance and thriller fans alike. Even though these were common ideas in media before the series’ release, the way they were used in the series was unique to it at the time, and used in a way that caught many readers’ attention. 

Meyer’s take on vampires being less undead monsters and more so beautiful statues of people whose bodies are “frozen in time” was distinct from the popular interpretation of vampires at the time and resonated well with mainstream media. Though she has some questionable takes on what being “beautiful” truly means, even I find her take on vampires interesting due to how distinct they are.

Now, Twilight is usually regarded by many as a guilty pleasure series. Yes, it’s bad, but it is undeniably entertaining. Many fans of the series, including myself, have a love-hate relationship with it, but the amount of effort put into it by everyone involved makes the Twilight saga a series worth investing your time in.