The Twilight Renaissance is Here

We’ve all heard of Twilight. Maybe you watched it and loved it a little too much, or you watched it and pretended to hate it. Either way, since its release in 2011, it’s created quite the fan base that seems to have been in hiding ever since the release of the last movie that ended the beloved saga. However, seemingly out of the blue, the Twilight fandom has been revived stronger than before. From tweets to Tik Toks, Twilight fans have been using internet platforms to exchange memes and relive the joy that the saga first brought them years ago, proving that even though we’re all grown up, Edward Cullen is still the only man we’ll ever love.

So what is this “Twilight Renaissance,” and what caused it? It seems to me that it was the perfect combination of timing and circumstance that brought my favorite fandom back to life. For me and countless other twi-hards, the saga is my therapy. From the iconic blue sheen of the first movie to the New Moon soundtrack, I will not hesitate to turn to Twilight for comfort when things get tough. And let’s face it, things can’t get much tougher than 2020. So combine the anxiety of a global pandemic with six months indoors AND a new Twilight book, and you’ve got a surefire concoction for Twilight Fever. Take all of that and add Tik Tok, and you’re in deep trouble. 

As a proud member of Twilight Tik Tok, I have to admit that nothing has made me happier this year. All I can say is that Stephanie Meyer did not know when she released Twilight that she would be raising a very specific generation of girls. I’m talking about the girls who cried themselves to sleep to “Flightless Bird” at twelve years old and dreamt about walking down the aisle to Sleeping at Last’s “Turning Page.” We see each other. We get each other. And on Tik Tok, we can laugh at the fact that we’re all practically in our twenties and still harboring a secret crush on Edward Cullen. Though truly, I still have to keep reminding myself that he’s not a real person as I’m reading the books. It hurts. *Cue “Possibility” by Lykke Li* 

I only hope that Mrs. Meyer is proud of herself for what she’s done. Thanks to her, nineteen-year-old women are once again hanging up posters of Robert Pattinson on their dorm walls and forcing their friends to play Twilight board games with them. It’s me. I’m nineteen-year-old women. 

So yes, quarantine did bring back my fourteen-year-old self. I may have spent my entire summer listening to Ed Sheeran and searching for collectible Twilight merch on eBay, but you know what? It’s exactly what I needed to get through this year. I am just glad that I wasn’t the only one, and let’s face it, the only thing that’s getting me through the rest of this year is Robert as Batman. But I think that’s OK too.

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