Twilight Returns to Theatres

There’s a chill in the air, the rain is starting to pour, and the wind has picked up. It’s officially the season of the HOA*HOA*HOA*, and if you haven’t heard, all five movies of the Twilight saga will be returning to theatres this week. 

The Twilight films are ones which society has a love-hate relationship with… in that we love to hate them. From the terrible dialogue, to the bad acting, and even to weird vampire baby puppets, we can’t help but love to hate them. So “you better hold on tight, spider monkey,” and prepare yourself for this in-depth analysis on my and U of T’s relationship with Twilight before its return to theatres this fall. 

I first saw Twilight at the ripe age of 10, walking into my older sister’s room to find her watching it on her laptop, the aggressive blue tint grabbing my attention. To quote Edward Cullen himself, “everything about me invites you in,” and this is seemingly true because every year when the weather starts to get colder and cloudy, I find myself going back to rewatch the entire saga. “As if you could out run me… as if you could fight me off,” is exactly what the Twilight saga would say to me every fall. It’s like Twilight is “my own personal brand of heroin.” I hate it but I cannot seem to stop myself from coming back to it. 

My personal favourite film from the saga is New Moon for two main reasons. The first is that the soundtrack includes the likes of some of my favourite artists: Bon Iver, St. Vincent, and even Death Cab for Cutie. It’s an indie-folk lover’s dream come true, and fully immerses viewers into the wildlife of Forks, Washington. The second reason is that I am (controversially) team Jacob. Taylor Lautner, of Shark Boy and Lava Girl fame, portrays Jacob Black, Bella’s childhood best friend, and is the third member of the complicated love triangle that is Bella, Edward and Jacob. “Bella, where the hell have you been, loca?” Well, unfortunately not marrying Jacob, but New Moon gives us a great glimpse into their friendship, and even teases us with some romantic chemistry. Now, nothing will compare to the chemistry Bella surprisingly has with Carlisle in this film, however, I believe that the relationship Bella has with Jacob feels much more organic than that of her and Edward’s. 

This is all how I feel about the Twilight saga, but I wanted to get an idea as to how the rest of U of T feels about it. Using an anonymous survey I sent out to a number of U of T students, I gathered a fair amount of data about how the U of T community feels about the Twilight Saga and its return to theatres. Here is the information that I collected, alongside the questions which were asked:

What are your thoughts on the Twilight saga?

29.4% of students love the Twilight saga 

29.4% of students have not seen the Twilight saga

5.9% of students hate the Twilight saga

35.3% of students wrote other 

What is your favourite film from the Twilight saga?

35.3% of students answered that they had not seen any of the Twilight saga films

For the fan favourite film, we had a three way tie, as…

17.6% of students answered Twilight

17.6% of students answered New Moon

17.6% of students answered Breaking Dawn Part 1

while…

5.9% of students answered Eclipse 

5.9% of students answered Breaking Dawn Part 2

Will you be seeing the Twilight saga (any of the five films) in theatres this fall?

41.2% of students said no 

29.4% of students said yes 

29.4% of students said maybe

In one section of the survey, I gave participants the option to expand on their thoughts of the Twilight saga. These are a few comments which stood out to me…

“I don’t really know what it’s about except there’s a girl who has like a hoard of vampire lovers? And that Kristen Stewart is in it. The vampires also sparkle.”

“I loved Edward in the first movie but after watching New Moon I LOVEDDD jacob. had to rethink my life a little”

“I’ve always wanted to see it, and when I did, I wish I never did – worth it”

“I have yet to watch any of the movies, but I was gifted all of the Twilight DVDs by my (now ex-) best friend’s (now ex-) boyfriend despite our mutual dislike of each other, which I feel captures this franchise’s power to bring together even the worst of enemies. I’d also like to note that their breakup and our friendship fallout occurred shortly after the gifting of the DVDs so whether or not Twilight was also the cause of those is up for you to decide.”

With this data, I was pleasantly surprised to learn how many U of T students have in fact seen and taken interest in the Twilight saga, and how many might be seeing it in theatres again this fall. I personally will definitely be seeing New Moon in theatres, and if I have the time, may even see the entire saga. Hopefully I will see you all there as well!