A.R. Showler

An analysis of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

If you’re a Millennial, then you’ve likely heard of or read the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. If not read the books, then you’ve seen the movies or the countless comedy clips online. Most of my friends (Millennials and older Gen Zs) see the franchise as kitsch — something we can all look back on and laugh about. We discuss what “team” we were on — Team Jacob or Team Edward — and how bad the dialogue was. 

Unfortunately, what the Twilight series represents is more harmful and insidious than the ugly, bleach bypass filter washing out the scenes of the films. Twilight is a reflection of the systemic racism and sexism we see every day in various forms of media or on the news. It is conservative, religious propaganda masquerading as a young adult novel. 

Don’t misunderstand me, Stephanie Meyer likely wrote aspects of her own life as a hetero-, cis-gendered, white woman. She didn’t write the book to brainwash teenagers, but this fact does not minimize the beliefs she baked into the novel, nor the impact the story had on young kids. After the publication of her novel and the subsequent movie franchise, Stephanie Meyer epitomized unchecked white privilege, whilst the Quileute Nation had to suffer the consequences of her actions.

For those of you who haven’t seen or read Twilight, here’s the short of it: Bella, a high school student, meets Edward, a vampire, at Forks High School. Edward starts stalking Bella (seems to be a trend with vamps), and then Bella and Edward fall in love. A competing vampire, Laurent, threatens Bella’s life. Bella is tricked into sacrificing herself to Laurent, and Edward and his family swoop in to save the day. Bella wakes up in the hospital, has a major panic attack and abandonment issues, then decides she wants to be a vampire too. 

The Analysis

Twilight barely passed the Bechdel-Wallace test, a low standard for women’s representation in media. There are many women characters, each with a name; however, the subject matter of their conversations leaves the quality of their interactions devoid of…well, friendship. For this reason, I need to specify that I only counted conversations containing actual dialogue. I did not count conversations summations (like the one below) as a conversation between two characters:

“I couldn’t remember her name, so I smiled and nodded as she prattled about teachers and classes. I didn’t try to keep up.”

Page 19, Twilight

Much of Bella’s conversations either start with the Cullens, specifically Edward, or end with the Cullens. By page 20, Jessica tells Bella about the Cullen family, one of their first dialogue pieces. On page 368, Bella is conversing with Esme, which leads, again, to Edward: “How good Bella is for Edward. How she’s so glad he’s found someone after all this time”. You know what is lacking here? Bella’s opinion. Bella lacks agency throughout the entire novel, if not the entire series as she makes decisions around Edward or based on Edward’s comfort.

The only saving grace for Twilight when measured with the Bechdel-Wallace test is a single conversation at the end of the book. Although the conversation’s subject matter isn’t Edward, Edward is mentioned. Bella asks Alice how to become a vampire to which Alice responds — “He’ll [Edward] be extremely angry” — then goes on to tell her story.  

Pages	Dialogue with a woman character	Dialogue with a woman character about a man
1-99	5	4
100-199	2	2
200-299	1	1
300-399	4	2
400-498	11	2

Pages	# of Convos about a boy	# of Convos NOT about a boy	# of Convos w. Edward	Times Death is Mentioned
1-99	10	12	8	2
100-199	8	11	2	3
200-299	6	2	8	1
300-399	6	7	6	0
400-498	5	6	7	4

If the lifeless relationships between the teenage girls who compose most of the main characters were not bad enough, Bella, the stereotypical “cool girl”, judges her peers based on societal beauty standards. For instance, her description of Rosalie:

“The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. The kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back.”

Page 18, Twilight

Her description, which continued to describe the Cullens’ flawless pale skin, emphasizes whiteness and thinness. Bella is telling young girls that Rosalie, with an hourglass figure and long golden hair, is the epitome of beauty. Rosalie is what girls should strive for if they want any boy’s affection. Likewise, models of handsomeness are portrayed by Jasper, Edward, and Emmett: white, Greco-faced men who have cars and money, and do not keep friends. They protect “their” women at all costs and never go to therapy despite the trauma they’ve faced and the anger they show.

These stereotypical concepts of hypermasculinity and femininity reinforce unrealistic beauty standards and intense gender norms.

Bella faces consistent competition and bitterness from Jessica and Lauren. Are real friends, real women, like this? No. Then, what is the purpose of emphasizing cliques? Compared to highly aggressive characters, Bella appears more relatable, allowing readers to overlook Bella’s lack of agency. By playing up Jessica’s and Lauren’s internalized misogyny, the reader doesn’t notice that Bella is also a stereotypical “cool girl”.

Aside from the rampant benevolent sexism, gender roles, and competing forms of masculinity, this novel supports colonialist (therefore racist) ideas about Indigenous Peoples.

	Pass?
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer	Yes?	No
Bechdel-Wallace Test	X
The Native Test		X
The POC!Bechdel Test		X
DuVernay Test		X
Mako Mori Test		X
Raleigh Becket Test		X

The Native Test

Yes, Stephenie Meyer wrote about the Quileute Nation in her book. Did she misrepresent them and completely botch their folklore? Yes. Did she reinforce on Indigenous stereotypes by writing, “So do you think we’re a bunch of superstitious natives or what?” (Jacob, page 126). Yes. Did she include an Indigenous character only to push her terrible storyline along? Yes.

Did the Quileute Nation receive compensation from the book and/or movie series? No. Does the Quileute Nation have to deal with the repercussions of Twilight fans congregating en masse on their land? Yes. Does all of this make Stephenie Meyer a stereotypical Karen? Abso-fuckin’-lutely, but we’ll get to that later. 

Does Twilight pass the Native test? Unsurprisingly, no. Although Jacob Black, Bella’s friend, does play a large role further in the series, he hardly speaks with another Indigenous character. Think of the last criteria of the Native Test: 

• Two Indigenous characters must speak with each other 
• They must talk to each other about something other than a white person. 

Within Twilight, the reader sees only Sam Clearwater and Jacob Black (pages 121-127). Although the reader assumes they speak to each other, there is no actual dialogue between Jacob and Sam. The most Jacob says is about the Cullens (white people) and Bella (white). Thus, Twilight does not pass the Native Test. 

Secondly, there is something to be said about the whitewashing of the relationship between the Quileute Nation and the Cullens in the book. The Cullens are said to be a family that returned to Forks after a prolonged time away. The assumption portrayed in the movie was that the Cullens originally inhabited Forks in the 1800s (although, Edward shouldn’t have been there if he died of Spanish Influenza in 1900s). If the Cullens are such “good” vampires, why colonize the Americas? In fact, why remain in the United States? Consciously or not, I think Stephenie Meyer was saying something about the insulating power of wealth in the US and revealing white privilege at its peak.

The POC! Bechdel Test

I’ll just cut to the chase: apart from the Indigenous characters, there are no People of Color. Tyler Crowley, played by Gregory Tyree Boyce in the movie, was never described in the book. He first appears as a fellow student and driver who almost hits Bella (page 57), and he has little to no physical description until the hospital scene (page 61). However, in the movie, Tyler Crowley is a POC who is threatened by Chief Swan when he attempts to apologize to Bella. Given the history of police brutality against People of Color in the United States, the movie directly exemplifies the systemic racism POC face.

The DuVernay Test

There are no POC in the book except characters from the Quileute Nation. Twilight fails again. 

The Mako Mori Test

Separate from the Bechdel test, the Mako Mori test focuses on the quality of women’s characters. How do they interact with each other? Do the women characters develop separate from their male counterparts? Twilight does not pass.

The first criteria (does the book have at least one woman character?) Twilight passes. Twilight has a multitude of women characters who fall flat and one-dimensional. A common example is the character Lauren who embodies the “mean girl” stereotype. She is jealous of Tyler’s intentions toward Bella. Through Bella’s judgmental and cold description of Lauren, the reader dislikes Lauren as well.

“How nice.” She didn’t sound like she thought it was nice, and her pale, fishy eyes narrowed. “Bella,” she called again, watching my face carefully, “I was just saying to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullen could come out today. Didn’t anyone think to invite them?” Her expression of concern was unconvincing.

Page 121, Twilight

“Tyler told everyone he’s taking you to prom,” Jessica informed me with suspicious eye… “That’s why Lauren doesn’t like you,”Jessica giggled while we pawed through the clothes.

Why are these excerpts problematic? They portray young women as vapid, boy-obsessed teenagers who need to compete with each other for the attention of men. Bella is the stereotypical “cool girl”; the girl who does not seek attention from men; the girl who is above competition yet is just as bland as other characters. Bella is shrunk into an object to be coveted, wanted, fought over, and won. She is largely apolitical and unopinionated except for her judgmental views towards her peers. She is both the epitome of white privilege and a “proper” young lady.

From the beginning to the end of the novel, Bella’s ambition is to be with Edward and to protect Edward in her human way. Bella finds her agency in the epilogue, deciding on a new goal: becoming a vampire. But she does not want immortality for the speed, youthfulness, or super strength, she wants to be a vampire so that she can be with Edward. I could take a step further and say that Bella wants to change into a vampire so that Edward cannot leave her.

Adult women characters in Twilight have similar modus operandi. For instance, the entire setting of the story is due to Renee’s, Bella’s mom, desire to travel with her husband, Phil. Bella, sensing her mom’s distress, chooses to stay with her father, Charlie.

What does this portray other than a bad parent-child relationship? It shows that women should sacrifice not for their child but for their relationship, even if at the expense of the child. Throughout the text, Bella is parentified by both Charlie and Renee. Bella, accustomed to this treatment, does not complain. The parent-child relationship in the text tells readers that children are extra baggage in their parent’s relationships. It centers romantic relationships as the epitome of love that young girls should strive for. 

As a foil to Renee, there is Esme, Edward’s adopted mom. While Renee is portrayed a bit scatter-brained, Esme is the “perfect” mother. In fact, her entire identity is motherhood. Her defining story, pre-vampirism, is her suicide attempt after the death of her infant. Apart from worrying about her new vampires kids and protecting Bella, she has no defining features.

“I could never get over my maternal instincts.”

“That’s why I’m so happy that he’s found you, dear.” The endearment sounded very natural on her lips. “He’s been the odd man out for far too long; it’s hurt me to see him alone.”

Page 368, Twilight

Similarly, Edward’s sisters, Alice and Rosalie, are solely defined by their femininity and their ability to help Edward. Alice mainly works to keeps Bella safe. Her backstory is filled with abuse, but is only brought to light at the end of the novel. Rosalie, who Bella claims is the epitome of beauty, acts as another “mean girl” character. Rosalie hates Bella, but works with Edward to keep her safe. Again, the same behavior is repeated within women characters: the coveted and the coveter. The book depicts women’s friendships as shallow, vapid puddles that center around romance or a man.

The last criterion of the Mako Mori test is: Does Bella’s story develop independently from Edward’s? Answer: No. Of course, one can argue: It’s a romance novel. What romance novels have independent character development? Quite a few, actually, but that’s not the topic at hand. Twilight does not pass because Bella’s character development is in response to Edward. Bella’s ambitions revolve around Edward. The defining characteristic of Bella in Twilight is her attraction to Edward. 

“About three things, I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was part of him— and I didn’t know how potent that part might be —that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.”

Page 195, Twilight

The Raleigh Becket Test & Masculinities

The Raleigh Becket test is the counterpart to the Mako Mori test. It is a measure of how men are depicted through media. Although, historically there are plenty of well developed men-characters in media, Twilight does not satisfy the criteria of the test. Each young man in the book is defined mostly by their attraction to Bella: Edward, Mike, Eric, and Jacob. Beyond their attraction to her, they are relatively undeveloped characters, though they have more hobbies than Bella (who tries to read, but obsesses about Edward). Jacob works on old cars and hangs out with his friends. Mike plays sports. Edward plays the piano.

Each of these hobbies are considered masculine hobbies. One could argue that Edward’s hobby is feminine until you look at orchestral data for principal positions. Masculinity performance is also shown in the older characters as well. Charlie watches sports and goes fishing. He is largely uninvolved in Bella’s life except for surface-level questions. He shows paternal masculinity. Charlisle (Edward’s father) is a doctor and is involved in his kids’ lives at a distance. Mike Newton is stereotyped as an athlete. He pursues Bella relentlessly and gives her his unsolicited opinions on her life. Eric is stereotyped as a nerd. Bella, true to form, is very judgmental about his appearance.

“boy with skin problems and hair black as an oil slick” page 16

Jacob, fetishized in the movies, is a nice guy, but essentially a kid. Edward is the older, “mature” man with money, a car, and a mysterious background. Young girls admire about him from afar. Although all these characters represent hegemonic or secondary masculinities, Edward embodies hegemonic masculinity the most. He is “protective” over Bella to the point of stalking her. His family deals with his temper and his insecurities and aids him in protecting Bella. He hardly pays attention in class because he “knows” everything and can read minds. This is particularly damaging to young men as they interpret “coolness” as not paying attention in class.

The judgments and stereotypes blatantly written in Twilight harm men just as much as the stereotypes about women. They are untrue and lead to fragile ideas of masculinity and what it means to be masculine. 

Throughout the book, the characters approach Bella with courtship in mind. Edward’s character only develops in relation to Bella. Bella makes him “a better man”, whereas Edward finally falls in love. Overall, none of the young men-characters have ambition beyond attaining Bella Swan. They lack drive except to show-off when Bella is in the vicinity. They speak to Bella with privilege and disdain. In other words, they are Ken before and during patriarchy. 

The Vito Russo Test

Not listed in the previous charts, the Vito Russo test is the portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters in media. No surprise that Twilight fails miserably.

Piling on: Toxicity, Racism and Sexism

Racism:

1. Playing into a stereotype Indigenous peoples and other peoples of color are trying to dispel: 

“So do you think we’re a bunch of superstitious natives or what?” He asked in a playful tone, but with a hint of worry.

Page 126, Twilight

2. Bella and Rosalie both seen as the epitome beauty in different ways. Both are thin, white women. 
3. Emphasis on the White Canon, a group of literary texts considered “classics.” Bella is considered smart and mature for her age. She consistently reads or refers to Jane Austen books, or others “classical” authors. However, white authors’ works are dubbed “classics.” Their writing fits the “standard” dictated by those in power. The term ignores writers of color who are equally, if not more, prolific writers and better storytellers. 
4. Using Quileute origins but twisting them to something unrecognizable and disrespectful. 
5. Fetishizing Jacob and Indigenous peoples— this is most common in Book 2: New Moon, but here’s a glimpse: 

He…had long, glossy black hair pulled back with a rubber band at the nape of his neck. His skin was beautiful, silky and russet-colored; his eyes were dark, set deep above the high planes of his cheekbones..)

Page 119, Twilight

Toxicity:

1. After 10 conversations with Edward, Bella thinks she’s in love with him (page 195, Twilight)
2. After 18 conversations with Edward, Bella is asking about marriage (page 309, Twilight). 
3. Edward consistently gaslighting Bella. 

4. Bella’s mood and anxiety levels dependent on Edward’s presence in her life. 

‘“I didn’t like it. Not seeing you. It makes me anxious, too.” I blushed to be saying this out loud.

Page 190, Twilight

“Let me deal with this,” I suggested. Edward’s black glare made me anxious.

Page 349, Twilight

5. Edward is completely fine with taking advantage of Bella’s physical weakness, and asking his siblings to do it for him. 

Sexism:

• Charlie perfectly content not cooking his dinner

“He seemed to feel awkward stand in in the kitchen doing nothing; he lumbered into the living room to watch TV while I worked. We were both more comfortable that way. I made salad while the steaks looked, and set the table.

page 35, Twilight

• Charlie assuming nurses are women and/or automatically attracted to Dr. Cullen

“You should see the doctor,” Charlie said, laughing. “It’s a good thing he’s happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around.”

page 37, Twilight

• Jessica equating womanhood to having children

“I guess so,” Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I got the impression that she didn’t like the doctor and his wife for some reason… “I think that Mrs. Cullen can’t have any kids though,” she added, as if that lessened their kindness.

Page 21, Twilight

• I guess Bella has never been hangry before, but women can be just as cranky

“Your eyes. I told you I had a theory. I’ve noticed that people — men in particular — are crabbier when they’re hungry.”

Page 188, Twilight

• Promoting the boys will be boys narrative – Edward never thought to ask his sisters if they found an appealing scent?

“I spoke to my brothers about it”…”Emmett has been on nthe wagon longer, so to speak, and he understood what I mean. He says twice, for him, once stronger than the other.”

Page 286, Twilight