Twilightis coming back to life with an animated TV show, which has the potential to be better than the movie thanks to its source novel, but it’s doomed to repeat the worst Edward and Bella mistake. The 2000s saw a rise in the popularity of teen fantasy romance novels, and one that became a worldwide phenomenon wasTwilight. Stephenie Meyer’s novel of vampires, werewolves, and humans coexisting made way for a saga with four main novels, a novella, a reimagining novel, and a retelling ofTwilight.
The success ofTwilightled to a movie series that, although it expanded the books’ fanbase, highlighted the flaws of the characters and stories. Now, over a decade after the release ofThe Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2,Twilightis returning with an animated TV showthat will tell the events of the first book but with a twist. Instead of adaptingTwilight, the show will adaptMidnight Sun, the retelling of the first book from Edward’s perspective, which can improve the story, but it’s still doomed to repeat a key mistake.
Twilight’s TV Remake’s Biggest Strength Is Midnight Sun
Midnight Sun Expands On Twilight
TheTwilightanimated TV showwill be released on Netflix, but it doesn’t have a projected release date yet. As the project continues to be in development, one key element about it has been confirmed, and that’s the adaptation ofMidnight Sun. Cataloged as a “companion novel” toTwilight,Midnight Suncovers the events of the first novel from Edward’s perspective, thus filling many blanks left inTwilight.Midnight Sunwent through some obstacles in the late 2000s when 12 chapters of the unfinished manuscript were leaked. This led Meyer to halt the writing of it and picked it up again in 2015.
Midnight Sunis a great companion toTwilightas it answers some questions left by the first novel and fills in some blanks.
Midnight Sunwas finally published in August 2020, and though it wasn’t well received by critics, it reignited interest and discussion about the world ofTwilight. Setting its literary flaws aside,Midnight Sunis a great companion toTwilightas it answers some questions left by the first novel and fills in some blanks.Midnight Sun also makes some shocking and other ridiculous reveals, such as Edward thinking of killing Bella and their classmates andwhat Edward did while Bella slept.
Netflix’s Twilight Animated Show Can Be A Lot Darker Than The Movie Thanks To 1 Book Reveal
The upcoming Netflix Twilight animated show can be so much darker (and better) than the movie thanks to an Edward reveal in Midnight Sun.
Midnight Sunis darker thanTwilightand at times feels more mature thanks to Edward’s perspective, which can greatly improve theTwilightTV remake. The show being animated also makes it easier to cover certain fantasy elements and moments in the novel, which is also a huge advantage over theTwilightmovie adaptation. However, despite its potential to improve and expand the well-known story of Edward and Bella, theTwilightTV show is doomed to repeat the mistake of romanticizing Edward.
Twilight’s TV Remake Will Continue To Romanticize Edward Cullen
The Biggest Problem With Twilight Is How It Romanticizes Edward
TheTwilightbooks and movies have some major flaws, but the one thing that has been endlessly discussed, criticized, and pointed out is how toxic Edward was. This has led toaccusations of Meyer romanticizing psychological and emotional abuse, gaslighting, and toxic relationships, though she has insisted that Bella is a feminist. Edward is controlling, uses fear to keep Bella close, follows her around under the excuse of protecting her, and isolates Bella from her new friends (though it can be argued that that was Bella’s decision).
Some have argued thatTwilightpromotes the idea that women have to be dull and submissive and are better like that.
The red flags only grow asBella and Edward’s relationshipevolves in the books that followTwilight. Most notably, when Bella finally becomes a vampire inBreaking Dawn, she’s also isolated from her father, Charlie, as he doesn’t know about the Cullens’ vampirism and now Bella’s. All this has led to specialists callingTwilighta terrible example for teens, with some arguing thatTwilightpromotes the idea that women have to be dull and submissive and are better like that (viaInStyle).
WithMidnight Sunfocusing on Edward’s perspective, theTwilightTV remake is doomed to continue romanticizing him. Showing Edward’s darkest side and thoughts is key to better understandingTwilight, but ultimately,despite all that and many other red flags, Edward and Bella will still get togetheron the TV show.
Bella Will Be Key To Fixing Twilight’s Biggest Mistake In The TV Remake
Surprisingly, Bella Can Save The Show From Repeating A Mistake
TheTwilightTV show can fixthe saga’s Edward mistake through Bella. Going back to the above point about Meyer defending her novel and characters by saying Bella is a feminist, this can be the way to improve the story.It’s true that Bella ultimately consciously chooses to be with Edwardand stay with him after James’ attack and more – the problem is that this goes unnoticed due to the focus on Edward and his toxic traits disguised as “romance.”
TheTwilightTV show can give Bella the agency she deservesand show that it’s truly her conscious choice to be with Edward, and she’s not driven by fear or loneliness. TheTwilightTV remake has to show that Bella is genuinely interested in Edward and not just because he’s different and exciting for being a vampire, nor because he has manipulated her into liking him or even “needing” him. TheTwilightTV show has a lot of potential to be better than the movie, but it also needs to learn from the books and movies’ mistakes.
Source:InStyle.
Twilight
Twilight is a TV show reboot of the popular vampire film series that was based on Stephenie Meyer’s young-adult novels.
