It’s my favorite time of the year. The trees are almost bare, it’s as cold as it can get in Texas during the fall and it’s miserably wet, which means it’s time for a “Twilight” rewatch.
Set in the dreary town of Forks, Washington, a human, Bella Swan, and a vampire, Edward Cullen, fall in love. But when three other vampires stroll into town, they threaten Bella’s life and her relationship with Edward.
“Twilight” is a movie that some may call cringe or silly, but it is everything to me. OK maybe not everything, but it’s definitely something worth revisiting every year.
With “Twilight” celebrating its 15-year anniversary on Nov. 20, I think people who cast it off as something that’s “only for teenage girls” should give it a chance. Are the movies a feat of cinema? By all means no, but the saga still deserves some respect due to its pop cultural significance.
You cannot scroll through X or TikTok without seeing or hearing something that references “The Twilight Saga.” Funny phrases like “Bella, where the hell have you been loca?” and “This is the skin of a killer, Bella” have been running rampant on my TikTok for you page for years.
The movies are incredibly culturally relevant. The books and the movies set the stage and were the inspiration for things like “The Vampire Diaries,” “Hotel Transylvania” and even “Fifty Shades of Grey,” which started out as a “Twilight” fanfic.
Even though “Twilight” has its troubles—terrible effects and mediocre acting—we all have to start somewhere. First, the acting. I know it’s bad, and you know it’s bad, but let’s be real: did we expect it to win an Oscar? No. The ragtag cast makes for interesting and varying performances over the course of the franchise adding to the layers of why people love it.
Although critics often regard them as off-putting, the weirdness and awkwardness of the characters are extremely true to the books. Edward is 117 years old and hasn’t been able to bag a lady throughout his entire immortal life while Bella is a 17-year-old outcast who’s new to town and just plain odd. Why would the actors try to make them cool when there’s already so much material to work with?
Overall, the reason “Twilight” is so good is because it’s so bad. The movie leans into the characters’ broody teenageness, clearly striking gold with its intended audience. Even if you’re not a teenager, I recommend putting yourself back in those uncomfortable desk-chair combos and remembering what it was like to walk around as a high schooler. It’s the worst time of anyone’s life, and “Twilight” perfectly embodies that even with its otherworldly extremes.
I am not asking anyone to take it seriously—make fun of it with your friends, by all means. That’s what it’s for. But at least watch it before completely kicking it to the curb.
