Whatever slander you may have heard about “Twilight” needs to be left in the 2010s. The book and movie series have become cool again.
For a time, the “Twilight” series was mocked, especially when the movie adaptations were coming out. If you were a fan, it had to be a closely guarded secret to keep from being made fun of. But over the last couple of years, “Twilight” has been experiencing a renaissance phase. It’s no longer something to be ashamed of, and people hold it near and dear as an iconic piece of nostalgia.
The series continues to have a huge community online, consisting of fans young and old. To this day, people still argue about why they’re Team Edward, Team Jacob or even Team Alice.
The “Twilight” saga consists of four books: “Twilight,” “New Moon,” “Eclipse” and “Breaking Dawn.” Although there are three other spin-off novels, there are only movie adaptations for the first four books, which brought more popularity and attention to the series.
When I first got into the series, I watched the movies first and didn’t understand what all the hype was about. I didn’t think it was anything special, and just like everyone else, I found it to be pretty silly. But I gave it another chance; there was something about the story that kept drawing me in. As crazy as the events were, I was curious to see how the books would hold up, which led me to buy the entire series.
I was instantly hooked by the first book. It only took me about two days to read, and I instantly jumped into the rest of the series, finishing in less than a month. I find that the books bring way more life to the story than the movies do. Like any book-to-movie adaptation, there are certain things that they leave out plot-wise that could’ve helped the movie a lot.
For one, Bella actually has more of a personality. Yes, she’s still gloomy and laughably clumsy, but she has a lot of positive qualities that the movies overlook. Bella likes to hang out with her friends. She studies, goes shopping and hangs out at the beach with them. In the movies, she’s less than eager to be around them, which is not how she is in the books. She’s smart, loyal, empathetic, sarcastic, funny and extremely independent. The movies tend to focus on her being more shy, anxious and awkward.
Edward is also not as emotionally disconnected. There is a part early on in Bella and Edward’s relationship where he carries her to the nurse’s office after she faints in biology class. This was only something that happened in the book. In the movies, he is always cold and distant to her.
Some moments in the book are so bad, it’s good. For example, in “Breaking Dawn,” Edward insists on Bella not having their child. When he talks to Jacob in private, he tells him that when all of this is over, he will let Bella have Jacob’s baby if she wants one. That is the most insane thing I have ever read a married man say to someone that he hated. As much as Jacob liked Bella, he also thought Edward was crazy for saying that. As bad as it is, that is one of my favorite moments in the book that never made it to the movie.
Iconic lines like “You named my daughter after the Loch Ness Monster?” and “This is the skin of a killer, Bella” were original quotes from the book and just as hilarious. “Hold on tight, spider monkey,” and “Bella, where have you been loca?” were unfortunately not originally from the book. Still, the movies remain iconic and even more hilarious for adding those lines in with 100% seriousness.
I think the movies are well-adapted, giving a visual of the story, without changing much of the characters’ appearances or events in the book. However, the characters do feel one-dimensional and boring, which makes the movies feel more lifeless than the books.
Even outside of “Twilight,” books are always bound to be better than the movie. I’ve felt this way with other adaptations such as “Harry Potter” and “The Shining.” There is so much left out in movie versions that it feels like a completely different story. Another plus for books is that you can imagine it yourself. When you watch a movie adaptation, you watch a director’s interpretation. Books allow you to have your own interpretation, visuals and enjoyment.
I have a shameless love for “Twilight,” whether it’s the books or the movies. I found myself enjoying it a lot more once I read the books. The series, whether it is the movie or book, will always be funny, ridiculous and iconic in its own way.
