I have gone on such a long and turbulent journey over the past few years as I’ve matured that has led me to the point of finally being able to say that I unabashedly and unironically love Catherine Hardwicke’s Twilight (2008).
I didn’t want to admit this fact for so long, honestly partially due to some internalised misogyny that I can now see and admit to in retrospect. I hated the idea of falling into the stereotype of girls who love these movies. This is especially strange as when I was much younger, I think around twelve, I read the entire book series (I was quite an advanced reader for my age) before I had seen the films or had any concept of Twilight’s place in the culture, and I loved them! And so, it makes me sad that a couple of years later, as I became indoctrinated by the online world of discourse, I developed an internalised-misogyny-driven superiority complex, which meant that I had to look down on them.
These books and films were subject to such an unbelievable amount of scrutiny for years during the mid-late 2000s. While they always had a dedicated cult of fandom, it’s easy to forget just how much of a cultural punching bag they were for the media and public alike. It really feels like only in the last year or so, society has reeled back much of its bitter and cruel hatred for Stephenie Meyer’s books and the film series Catherine Hardwicke birthed from them. And the fact that it’s two women at the creation point of the Twilight phenomenon is of course no coincidence. Make absolutely no mistake here – the basis of this hatred is misogyny and a particularly rancid distain for teenage girls. They hate the music we listen to, the clothes we wear, the celebrities we like, the books we read and the movies we watch.
The books are certainly not sophisticated or brilliantly written literature but they were never trying to be! Why do we not bat an eye at the multitude of trashy, unsophisticated action or crime novels out there and just accept them as entertaining fun. Yet suddenly when Stephanie Meyer, who has spoken about how as a stay-at-home mother she began writing these books simply as a release and to allow herself to be creative, why do we all of a sudden require her to be the next Shakespeare or else her work is simply not valid? The sad answer to this question is that media that is created by women to cater to young girls and women is so often immediately undermined and not taken seriously. I find it deeply sad that the Twilight franchise represents only one way in which I saw internalised misogyny manifest in myself as an adolescent.
However, the focus of this piece is not the books, but rather Catherine Hardwicke’s adaptation. Let me be very clear that I think all of the sequels in the Twilight film franchise, while highly enjoyable and not without cultural value, are pretty bad with some fairly horrendous writing. I would consider myself as enjoying those films in a guilty pleasure way so by absolutely no means do I think the series as a whole is of high merit or artistic quality. However, people really forget that before it became a blockbuster franchise, before the young-adult film franchise craze it inspired when The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner and Divergent dominated the culture (and not to mention all of the many failed attempts at launching similar franchises ala Beautiful Creatures, The Mortal Instruments, etc.) and before people ever thought they could make a lot of money from adapting the series, Catherine Hardwicke came along.
Catherine Hardwicke, from her personal vision for adapting the novel, made what is in many ways essentially an indie movie. Born from a very low budget and armed with unique style and genuine intent to make a good film, Catherine turned the book into something incredibly memorable. This was not made as a franchise starter or a cash-cow. They had no idea how successful it would be. Catherine has spoken of how there were no big producers involved and no expectations from the studio. There wasn’t even a test screening. She was simply freely creating an adaptation of a teen novel with no expectations or pre-conceived ideas from any party involved. I think it’s fair to consider the sequels as cash-grabs produced to generate profit and pander to teenage girls based on the success of the first one. It’s important to note on this point that even though she created the franchise and had originally expressed intentions to make her own sequel, the franchise was taken out of her hands and placed into that of three different male directors. What was the artistic creation of a female filmmaker was contorted into a high-profile blockbuster franchise now helmed by a group of men.
So why is the film genuinely compelling?
Well, I think it’s important to first acknowledge that there’s no getting around how concerning and uncomfortable much of the gender dynamics are. They were created by Meyer in her books but there’s no avoiding them in adapting the story for the screen. I will never defend it, however I’ve been able to make peace with it now as something that while I dislike, doesn’t impact my enjoyment of the film. The other issue that arises from Meyer’s original story is that the climax is seen by some as underwhelming or just a little rushed, which I understand. It’s definitely the first two acts of the film that I find more memorable than the action-heavy final act.
However, these qualms with the story which can’t really be attributed to Hardwicke aside, Twilight (2008) is a masterclass in mood and atmosphere. It’s extremely gothic, not just in how it features vampires, and there is a dauer gloom that seems to hang over the town of Forks. Everything is drenched in this palpable bleakness and in many ways, it so perfectly personifies teen angst and the purgatory that is high school. The blue/green filter that the film is presented in is often joked about now but it’s such a striking visual choice. While the likes of the Hunger Games and Maze Runner films, and frankly also most of today’s current blockbusters, have such a sludgy-grey, unappealing look with no stylistic flare, Twilight is so memorable in its vivid, aesthetically bold colour palette. The blue and green hues which highlight the forests which seem to cage in the residents of the town, only serve to further seep Forks in eerie ambience. The soundtrack is similarly moody with an eclectic mix of mid 2000s staples like Paramore, Linkin Park and Muse. It also has what is, in my opinion, one of the single greatest score pieces ever composed in ‘Bella’s Lullaby’. It’s used a couple of times throughout the film in different bursts and is heartachingly gorgeous.
One of my only points of conflict with the film, which may anger some, is that I’m still not the biggest fan of Kristen Stewart as Bella. Don’t get me wrong, I think Kristen is a very gifted actress who went on to do stunning work in other projects, however I really just think she was miscast. I reread the first Twilight book not too long ago and something that stood out to me is that for whatever reason, Kristen’s performance just portrays Bella as being not as intelligent or headstrong or wonderfully stubborn as she is in the novel. There’s something off about it where her intense awkwardness leans more in the direction of frustrating than it does charming and I wish she was a little less one-dimensional. That being said though, I think Twilight deserves so much credit for essentially launching the careers of both her and Robert Pattinson who are now undeniably two of the greatest and most singular performers of their generation. Pattinson is so endlessly charismatic as Edward (and pulls off the feat of still managing to seem incredibly cool and desirable despite the creepiness of some of his actions). And for obvious reasons related to their personal lives, they do have very believable chemistry.
I always think it’s cool when supernatural elements in films are able to be subdued and used in lowkey, lived-in ways. Yes, Twilight is literally about vampires, but it’s also oddly not. The way that the Cullen family are so likeably and three-dimensionally characterised makes their vampire nature less of point of focus – before they’re vampires, they’re a family. They’re such a likeable clan of side characters who I’ve honestly always thought are at times more interesting than Edward himself. More importantly though, the palpable connection between Bella and Edward is what dominates the film, with the incredibly over-dramatic angst of being seventeen (even if you happen to have been seventeen for a few decades) fuelling their courtship. Their early interactions are so wonderfully awkward and charming. I have always found their relationship far cuter and more romantic when they are clumsily flirting and nervously stealing glances than when it turns into the ‘I want to be with you forever I would die for you’ melodrama.
Something I never see spoken about is that Twilight is also genuinely funny. The sequels are what I would consider to be ironically funny in a way where you’re definitely laughing at them more than with them. But there is so much snappy banter and so many unironically and intentionally hilarious lines in the first one, mostly said by Edward, that my sister and I quote all the time (“It’s the fluorescents”).
However even with all of my points about the palpable atmosphere and mood, Robert Pattinson’s wonderful performance, the great soundtrack, the perfect depiction of teen angst, the charming early romance between Bella and Edward, the likeable side characters of the Cullen family, the subdued use of supernatural elements and how funny the movie is – I really don’t even need to offer any of this to prove anything. Because my final point is that all you have to do to know that Twilight (2008) is a good movie is to watch the baseball scene. That’s it. Watch the baseball scene right now and tell me the movie isn’t cool. You can’t. Checkmate.