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The date was November 21st, 2008 when pop culture as we knew it changed. This, of course, was the day that the first Twilight film was released. Whether you love or hate the Twilight Saga, there is no denying the impact it has had on pop culture as a whole. It has been eight years since the final film, Breaking Dawn Part 2, was released in theaters. However, many Twilight fans still reminisce about the feelings they had when they first saw the film in theaters.
On May 4th, 2020 the author of Twilight, Stephenie Meyer, announced she would finish and publish her spin-off novel, Midnight Sun. Twihards around the world are rejoicing that they can finally read Twilight from Edward Cullen’s point of view. So, will Twilight have another cultural impact as it enters a new era?
When The Lion Fell In Love with The Lamb
It is hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that draws people into Twilight. From the beautiful gothic dreary scenery of Forks, Washington to the mysterious and alluring draw of the Cullen family, there is a lot of appeal to the film. However, many critics weren’t so infatuated with the story and characters in the film. In 2008, there was a serious lack of young adult book to film adaptations, therefore making Twilight one of the first of very many to cash in on this idea.
Harry Potter, of course, comes to mind but Harry Potter is a middle-grade book series, not a young adult. When I first watched the film as a young girl, I was really captured by the whimsicalness of the story. Who didn’t envy Bella Swan living in a beautiful small town surrounded by even more beautiful vampires and werewolves? Twilight’s ability to take a theme like vampires and present it in a young adult harlequin-romance style film captured a lot of people’s attention. Horror and romance go together like peanut butter and jelly, people are just afraid to admit it.
Flaws & Faults
The amount of discourse and hatred for the film lead to the ever-iconic meme of “Still a better love story than Twilight.” Granted as I have grown up from my raging Twilight-crazed-obsession into a blooming and maturing adult, I can take the rose-colored glasses off and see the ugly flaws in both the films and novels. The many fandom wars and hate for the saga are blown way out of proportion. Twilight isn’t the greatest film or piece of literature to ever grace the world with its presence, but it isn’t the inherent evil that everyone paints it out to be either.
With questionable details and plot points such as Edward watching Bella sleep every night, the film still isn’t as terrible as people claim. A lot of the hatred for this film may stem from the fact that not many “chick flicks,” or movies geared towards women, are safe from the scrutiny of the male gaze. I recommend Youtuber Lindsay Ellis’s take on this concept to understand it a bit more.
A Love That Will Never Die
Even after all this time, fans of Twilight continue to have movie marathons and make ever so hilarious memes from the books and movies. With the announcement of Midnight Sun, people are joking about “regressing into their Twilight phase.” As people pull out their “Team Edward” shirts, many fans are still thankful for these movies. Without Twilight, many people would have never gotten into reading. It was a gateway novel into the vast YA world that has inspired a lot of best selling authors today.
Books such as The Hunger Games, Divergent, and even Vampire Academy were all given film adaptations thanks to the success of Twilight. Both the vampire and young adult genres have a lot to thank Twilight for. While the story’s take on vampires is a whole different debate, it gave stories such as True Blood and The Vampire Diaries a spotlight. I think there are some kudos needed to be given for the popularity Twilight brought back into the vampire genre.
Midnight Sun
During the height of the Twilight craze, the first twelve chapters of Midnight Sun were leaked online. This made Stephenie Meyer announce that she would never finish and release the book. Twelve years later and here we are, with Midnight Sun which is set to release on August 4th. This announcement rekindles everyone’s love for both the Twilight books and movies. This novel is a retelling of the original book from Edward’s point of view, so the possibility of a new film is very slim at the moment.
A New Era
I think as we enter a new renaissance of Twilight media that it will spark up the interest in the young adult genre. I hope the new media surge inspires young teenage girls to not be afraid to embrace the stories they love. We hope it also inspires people to get out and write stories they’re passionate about despite what others think. And finally, I hope that genres such as horror or sci-fi are turned on their heads with new concepts and ideas no matter how silly they may seem.
If we can all accept and love sparkling vampires, then what else could come next? All in all, I hope people read Midnight Sun with a smile on their face as they are reminded of the time the whole world stopped and watched as the lion fell in love with the lamb.