The hype around Twilight washed over my high school years. Debates around who was Team Jacob or Team Edward echoed through the hallways. The minute I had devoured the first Twilight movie, I spent the next few months consuming the books.
Back then, Twilight was the be-all and end-all. It was all everyone could talk about, especially when hormonal teenage girls got a glimpse of werewolf abs.
Over the years I’ve come to realise just how problematic the Twilight Saga actually is. I mean, no one should spend months staring out of a window because a boy left you, right?
More than a decade later and I found myself scrolling through Netflix, my eye-catching a glimpse of something familiar. The pale face, golden eyes and Kristen Stewart’s expressionless face were hard to miss – Twilight. A wave of nostalgia washed over me and I found myself clicking on the image.
While the idea of reliving my teenage years before bills and adult problems was one of the reasons I clicked, I also wanted to see if this movie was as good as I remembered. Just what is Twilight like through my adult eyes?
Here are a few of my new thoughts on the Twilight series, hopefully, you can relate to some of these:
Bella and Edward
I remember watching this as a teenager. Hormones raging and looking for my Edward. Why couldn’t all guys watch me fall asleep? He was so protective over Bella, never left her side and made sure she never tripped over her clumsy feet.
As an adult, I recognise the unhealthy relationship dynamic that these two have – not at all how I want my future kids to view relationships. Like, can a girl get some space and spend some time with her friends? Co-dependency and trauma bonding are just a few words that come to mind when re-watching these films. While the books dive a little deeper into the need for these two to be together, the films really just brush past this. We know that they are irrevocably in love with each other, but this isn’t adequately explained in the film.
After watching this as an adult, I found myself uninterested in the relationship and a little worried for Bella.
Jacob and Bella
One thing I will give the Twilight Saga is this – it cemented the romantic teen trope of love triangles. A large part of my Twilight-loving years had been spent professing my undying love for Jacob. Taylor Lautner was a hottie… and those abs … wow. However, watching the dynamic between Jacob and Bella with fresh eyes has left me feeling a whole lot of anger towards Bella.
In the age of modern dating, we all know what it feels like to get ghosted or led on. Even before these terms were cemented into the urban dictionary, many of us will have experienced some sort of unrequited love. Unfortunately, it’s Bella’s need to keep Jacob around, even when she knows she has no interest in him and that her actions are inevitably hurting him that truly has me shaking my fists in the air like an old woman.
Jacob isn’t completely innocent though. When Bella does voice her opinion and attempts to set boundaries with him, he completely bulldozes through them, huffing and puffing as he badmouths Edward. If this was real life, I would hope that Bella would be able to set clear boundaries regarding her friendship with Jacob, and Jacob, in turn, respecting them.
Is Charlie Swan… hot?
As we get older our taste in who we find attractive certainly changes, and as I rewatched this series, I found that Bella’s dad is actually pretty good looking. Move over Edward and Jacob!
All jokes aside, as I rewatched the series I realised that Charlie was the only sane one in the series. His only concern is making sure that his daughter is safe and happy, voicing his opinion on the somewhat unhealthy relationship she has formed with Edward, especially during New Moon.
I’m sure many would kill to have a supportive dad like this one, especially since Bella puts him through hell. She literally runs away twice, marries her high school sweetheart a year after meeting him, and then disappears for a few months without indicating whether she’s okay because she’s busy having a vampire baby.
In my opinion, Charlie is the hero of this series.
The Conclusion
While I no longer care about Team Edward or Team Jacob, I am happy that this little slice of nostalgia exists. One thing that I think will never get old though… the music is absolutely amazing!
“Ahahhhaaahahahahahaaaaaaaaa”
Also read:
Spoiler alert! A review of Matt Reeves’ latest film, The Batman
Picture: Summit Entertainment