The Binge Watcher’s Guide to the Twilight Saga

By Rachel Zimny

In 2008, the first Twilight movie was released in the United States. The book series it was based on had already gained best-seller status and a devoted fanbase, but the five movies known as The Twilight Saga propelled this supernatural romance to unbelievable heights. Everyone had something to love, hate, or comment about regarding the forbidden love story between paranormal creatures and humans.

More than a decade since the last of the films was released, theTwilight Saga remains a pop culture sensation. Much of the conversation around it has changed over the years as its primary fanbase has grown into adulthood. Many have called into question the details that kept the public swooning. The implications of so much that makes the series what it is looks much different in public opinion than they did while it was in the height of its popularity.

The Binge Watcher’s Guide to the Twilight Saga aims to explore this work with a critical and respectful eye as you watch. Consider it your slightly judgmental best friend. This guide also includes movie trivia, soundtrack lists, and the series’ Lore. It’s a one stop shop to all you need to know about the films. Whether you’re a first time watcher or a long time fan, the book will accompany you on the journey that is the Twilight movies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Riverdale Avenue Books
• Release date: Mar 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781626016200

Book preview

For my family, both those who are here now

and those who came before.

And for myself: I’ve come a long way to get here.



Picture 7

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Zeitgeist

Before You Watch

Character Guide

Movie Guide

Twilight

New Moon

Eclipse

Breaking Dawn Part 1

Breaking Dawn Part II

After You Watch

If You Only Watch One

Lore

Appendix

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Introduction

My parents always read to me as a kid. It was part of our nighttime ritual and I didn’t take a whole lot of initiative myself after they stopped. There were a lot of middle grade fiction series out there that were great, but I could not get into them—I just didn’t feel the same pull. For me, reading became something to do for school, rather than personal enjoyment.

I was in seventh grade in 2008 when Twilight first blew up. The first book had been around for a few years at that point, but with a movie coming out it received an insane amount of attention. Every girl I knew was obsessed, and both the school and local libraries ran out of copies to lend. Everyone had something to say about those vampires and their intense love story.

I was immediately repulsed.

At the time I was, what I like to call, a little asshole. If something was popular I had to hate it. I parroted the opinions shared by the boys around me: " Twilight sucks. Vampires are lame." But it wasn’t just middle school boys who looked down on the series—many adult men took the opportunity to trash it. From YouTube satirists to late night talk show hosts, everyone seemed to have a negative opinion of this book except for its target demographic.

Now, shitting on things teenage girls like is a tried and true phenomena that predates the actual designation of teenager. It’s a needless judgment on things that girls like simply because girls like them. This special kind of misogyny is, unfortunately, a tradition that I fell into through my own need to prove myself to others.

Yet, despite my staunch refusal to like the series, I still picked up the book and started reading it. I don’t know exactly what changed. Maybe it was that I had to know what the big deal was; maybe it was that it was the only thing that looked appealing at the bookstore. I really couldn’t tell you. But no matter the reason, I fell in love. Bella was mutable enough that I could see myself as her in the story. The vampires were dangerous, weird, and exciting. The wolves were brave and interesting. But mostly, when the assorted men fell for Bella, it felt like they were falling for me.

I was the kid who boys asked out as a joke. The all-encompassing, all-consuming love of Bella and Edward’s romance felt so foreign to me. No one had ever made me feel that way. I had no idea that it was even a possibility. As I read through the series, I found myself chasing the rush of loving and being loved. And it was addicting. I read through the first novel in less than a week. Then I got my hands on the next one, then the one after that.

I hadn’t realized that reading could make me feel so deeply.

The Twilight series single-handedly kick-started my love for young adult literature and renewed my passion for reading. Stephenie Meyer is the reason I’m here writing this right now, which I think is a kind of hysterical butterfly effect. We’re all here with this book because of a random, passing dream that Meyer had about a pale vampire in a field.

When the movies were being released in theaters, I made the choice to skip them. My experience with the series was so personal that I had a hard time reconciling these characters that I had grown so attached to with their portrayals on screen. I wanted them to look like how I already saw them, to sound like how I already heard them. I had no interest in seeing someone else’s vision.

It literally took me a decade to get the hell over myself. One of my favorite things to do is watch nostalgic TV and movies: the hammier the acting, and hokier the writing, the better. Then one of my friends asked if I had ever seen the Twilight series, which I hadn’t, so we watched. We stayed up for 28 hours binge-watching all five movies in one sitting, and it turned out to be the highlight of my year.

I will say upfront that I don’t think the movies are very good. If you’re looking for complex, serious films, then the Twilight saga is not for you. These movies are campy, glittery, and over the top. The soundtracks are filled with late 2000’s emo and indie hits, but the saga is a lot of fun to watch.

Watching them through triggered my Twilight obsession all over again. It was genuinely healing to my inner teenager to allow myself the space to love something that was so harshly judged for its ties to adolescent femininity.

In current pop culture context, Twilight has transitioned into nostalgia bait. Pop media loves recycling old content, rather than shelling out new stories. Online, this renewed interest has been dubbed the Twilight Renaissance, with many of its original fans re-watching and rereading through the lens of adulthood, now uninhibited by the toxic masculine ridicule that used to echo in my head. It seems as if enough time has passed that people can finally admit to liking these movies. Now there’s enough room to begin critiquing aspects of the series that deserve to be examined.

There is a comfort in returning to pivotal pieces of media, aside from nostalgia. Although what’s a big deal to someone in their 30’s is a whole lot different than what enthralls a 14 year-old, Twilight serves as a reminder of a time when reading the next book, or waiting for the next movie, was a big deal. It brings people back to a younger, simpler time in their lives.

The movies were available on Netflix to stream up until January of 2022, but have since moved over to Peacock premium. They are also available to rent on Amazon Prime. Happy reminiscing!

Rachel Zimny

April 2022

The Zeitgeist

What was the big deal about Twilight in the first place? Forbidden love will forever be popular, and a supernatural love affair is a timeless trope. Vampires especially are the topic of numerous love stories that date back hundreds of years, cross-culturally. Anyone and everything can, and will, be horny for a vampire. That said, the timing of the Twilight series’ movies were perfect for it to blow up.

The cultural zeitgeist of the late 2000’s was filled with edginess, sarcasm, and randomness. The decade started off with 9/11, which influenced everything in American pop culture for the era. Huge, popular bands like My Chemical Romance could trace their inspiration straight back to the attacks. There was an ongoing war overseas and an unpopular president overseeing it all.

In the country, the housing bubble collapsed, leading to an economic recession and causing many people to lose their jobs. The continued strife of the decade was carried on the backs of baby boomers and Gen Xers, but the general feeling of insecurity and lack of safety radiated downwards to the youth of the time—millennials. As a group just coming of age, millennials were not responsible for the world around them, but had to deal with the consequences. Young adults, teenagers, and even children were denied the luxury of being as carefree as those who had come before them.

Enter the rising popularity of the Internet. It was becoming more and more commonplace for people to have personal computers in the home, with faster and more reliable Internet than ever. Social media was still in its infancy and there were many random websites free floating in the ether of a largely unmonitored and unrealized cyberspace. Things that happened online were their own world. Like a one-way mirror, events that took place online were almost never talked about in real life, yet real life was consistently talked about on the Internet.

There were websites for children like Poptropica, Neopets, and Gaiaonline. There were websites for sharing cringey and intense pictures and videos, websites for playing interactive games and flash animations. There were fledgling social media websites like MySpace and there were websites for porn. And of course, there were instant messengers like AIM and MSN to share it all. One wrong click could give someone a nasty virus or show them a video of someone across the world being beheaded. It was completely lawless. Unless you knew what you were doing, it was possible to end up anywhere.

I know readers of this book most likely remember how things were, but I want to take a moment to really think about the chaos and uncertainty that was allowed in our lives, simply by virtue of logging onto the Internet. Personally, I first discovered porn in my single digits, saw snuff films by 10, and gained access to the dark web at 11. I was completely unmonitored because this was an entirely brand new space. I won’t talk about what that’s done to my psyche.

Of course, there were more tame spaces. It wasn’t all debauchery and psychological damage. Early social networks where people could comment on music, pop culture, and the larger world around them were also culturally significant. There were real platforms for people to give their opinions in real ways. People found communities outside of real life interactions—groups based on musical taste, humor, style, and popular media.

All of this context links back to Twilight ’s popularity. With everything happening in regard to the media, younger generations welcomed the randomness. Truly, any randomness. A vampire who’s in love with a teenager and he sparkles? I love it. Tropes in Twilight that may have been more intensely questioned further down the line were simply embraced at face value.

The music of the series also captivated its target demographic. The movies had an excellent soundtrack. The Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse soundtracks are incredible time capsules of early to mid emo and indie music (I leave out Breaking Dawn I and II because much of the first few soundtracks were either reprised or created just for those in particular). The music of the Twilight series is honestly still good.

The movies also mirrored that white and damaged aesthetic of the time. Darker color clothes, long shirts with low-rise jeans, and straightened, fried hair obscured everyone’s faces. The first movie in the series has a pale blue tint over every scene, except the one where Edward Cullen reveals himself in a rare moment of sunshine. It’s an odd moment from a movie cloaked in darkness and edginess. Perhaps the feeling of beauty and hope in that singular scene was so impactful because it didn’t fit the general air of the era. I think the way the trope of the body glitter vampire has been constantly mentioned in years since speaks to the fact that it was a ridiculous moment of relief from the drabness of everything else.

All of these details were excellent for the marketability of the series, and Hot Topic and Spencer’s seemed to have a chokehold on the merchandise. But even major retailers like Target and Walmart got in on the fanaticism. I don’t even need to comment on how hard bookstores went for the Twilight series, as it dominated the pop culture scene.

All factors considered, though, I don’t think the series would have done nearly as well if it had been released at a different point in time. The era was calling for Gothic literature. If it was released now, I don’t think the series would have been nearly as successful. As the world continues to get more interconnected through the Internet and front facing social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, a healthy amount of generalized skepticism comes along with it. Campy dramas like Twilight could no longer hold such a grip on pop culture, because audiences simply wouldn’t suspend disbelief the same way.

I don’t think a series like Twilight could have hit its stride releasing during a post-Obama presidency. How do you reconcile the absolute magic and ridiculousness of sparkling, sophisticated vampires, when everything you hear day in and day out on the news is world ending, absurd, and horrible? Or perhaps they’re more necessary than ever?

Before You Watch

There’s a lot to keep on top of throughout the Twilight series, which makes it hard to follow the plot. While I hope my summaries are a helpful guide to navigate the details, there are some specific viewpoints I think are important to pay special attention to as you watch.

Take notice of how Bella relates to others and the world around her. This goes for both before she falls for Edward, and after. A lot about her character becomes clearer when the connections she has with her parents, friends, and self are taken into account.

Also pay special attention to her interactions with both of her parents individually. Renee and Charlie hardly ever interact on screen—the only scene I can think of where the two of them are in the same room is in Breaking Dawn I , right before her wedding. How would the actions and behaviors of these two affect their child, and what would that look like?

Following this, watch for the differences between her relationship with Edward and her relationship with Jacob. While the two men spend a lot of time fighting for her affection, the bond shared between her and each of them is different. Notice how Bella acts with one versus the other and watch how her personality changes between the Cullens and Quileute tribe.

Bella is widely perceived to have no personality, which is fair, considering her entire storyline is spent obsessing over others. However, I do think that we, as viewers, can see some traces of who she is outside of her interactions with the looming figures in her life. Watch how she reacts to danger and the unknown.

Meyer’s Plot Structure

The series follows a pretty regular progression, as far as romance stories are concerned. Lead girl falls for dream boy, but their love is forbidden. They get together despite that and are forced to deal with the consequences. Another love interest enters, forming a love triangle. Two of the three in said triangle get together—or stay together—and they live happily ever after. Twilight has the added mix of the supernatural and teen pregnancy, but is ultimately pretty standard. The movies aim to be as close to the books as possible, so they follow this structure as well.

Characters

Here is a basic description of all the relevant plot information you may be curious about. There is a list of all the characters throughout the Twilight series. Some appear in every film, and some only appear in one. Please be advised that there are spoilers ahead, if this is your first watch through!

You can read more on the Twilight universe’s supernatural lore in the After You Watch section.

Swan Family

Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart)

Bella is the main character and narrator of the films. Everyone who meets her is instantly obsessed, despite her seeming to have almost no independent identity outside of the supernatural boys dominating her life. She is 17 at the beginning of the first movie, and 19 by the time that she becomes a vampire. She used to live with her mother, Renee, in Phoenix, prior to moving to Forks in the first movie. She has a strained relationship to both her parents, but grows closer to her father, Charlie, along the course of the films.

Supernatural beings are unable to read Bella. Psychic attacks and abilities simply don’t work on her. As a vampire, she can extend this power to work as a shield for herself and others. She also has a very distinctive blood odor which almost every vampire in the series comments on.

Charlie Swan (Billy Burke)

Charlie is Bella’s father and the police chief of Forks. He and Renee have been divorced since Bella was young, and he has spent minimal time with her since the divorce. He is serious, reserved, and a little awkward, but you can tell he really loves his daughter. He is close friends with Billy Black, Jacob’s father, and Harry Clearwater, Leah’s father. He eventually ends up romantically involved with Sue Clearwater, his best friend’s widow. After Renesmee is born, he is seen to be a doting and affectionate grandfather.

Renee Dwyer (Sarah Clarke)

Renee is Bella’s mother. She is outgoing, impulsive, and emotionally intense—the polar opposite to her ex-husband. Bella decided to live with her father after Renee got remarried and moved to Florida at the beginning of Twilight . There’s not much known about Renee, outside of Bella’s few interactions with her. I personally think that Renee is responsible for Bella’s willingness to put Edward above herself.

Phil (Matt Bushell)

Phil is Renee’s new husband. He is, notably, younger than her, and plays baseball in the minor leagues. Not much else is known about him.

Friends and Allies

Angela (Christian Serratos)

Angela is one of Bella’s friends. She is quiet, shy, and originally works for the school newspaper. In the original book Bella genuinely likes Angela and considers her a close friend, but this is not reflected at all in the films.

Eric (Justin Chon)

Eric is the first classmate to welcome Bella to Forks high school. He’s nerdy and high energy, but seems kind of popular amongst his peers. He has an immediate crush on Bella from the first time they meet, and is often seen bickering with Mike over their crushes on her. He does, ultimately, get over her around the time that he takes Angela to prom.

Jessica (Anna Kendrick)

Jessica is supposed to be Bella’s frenemy. She’s constantly portrayed in competition with Bella, and is shown to be jealous of the attention that she gets from the boys. I do have a soft spot for her, though, as I feel that she’s the only one in Bella’s friend group who reality-checks her. She crushes on Mike for the whole first movie and ends up going to prom with him. They fall out, but end up back together in Breaking Dawn. In New Moon , while she is going