Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
The "Twilight" series by Stephenie Meyer is a best-selling collection of novels that gained immense popularity in the 2000s, coinciding with the rise of social media platforms. The series includes four novels: "Twilight" (2005), "New Moon" (2006), "Eclipse" (2007), and "Breaking Dawn" (2008). Set in the fictional town of Forks, Washington, the story follows Bella Swan, a teenage girl who becomes romantically involved with Edward Cullen, a telepathic vampire. The narrative explores their complicated relationship, including the challenges posed by societal norms and a love triangle involving Bella's best friend, Jacob Black, who is a werewolf.
Meyer’s works incorporate elements of vampire and werewolf mythology while promoting themes of love and abstinence, appealing particularly to younger audiences. The series sold over one hundred million copies worldwide and was adapted into a successful film franchise, grossing over two billion dollars at the box office. The "Twilight" phenomenon not only launched Meyer's career but also influenced popular culture, leading to a diverse range of merchandise and a devoted fan base that engaged through various online platforms. This blend of romance, fantasy, and innovative marketing strategies helped establish "Twilight" as a significant cultural milestone, especially among preteen and teenage girls.
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Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
Young-adult vampire novels by American author Stephenie Meyer, set primarily in the real-life town of Forks, Washington, which have been made into a series of motion pictures
During the 2000s, when social networking websites like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter exploded across the Internet, Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series was among the first best-selling book series to propel sales and draw legions of fans primarily using social media. The series became a multimedia juggernaut and spawned an eponymous film franchise that became a worldwide phenomenon.
Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, consisting of the novels Twilight (2005), New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008), combined fantastical elements of vampire and werewolf mythology with classic old-fashioned romance. The series centers on Bella Swan, an insecure, awkward, and relatively average teenage girl who moves from Phoenix, Arizona, to Forks, Washington, to live with her divorced single father. Shortly after arriving in Forks, she becomes enamored with a mysterious and handsome boy named Edward Cullen. She eventually learns that Edward, despite his youthful appearance, is actually a one-hundred-plus-year-old telepathic vampire and a member of an equally mysterious coven of vampires who drink animal blood rather than human blood. Despite the obvious complications of a human-vampire relationship, Bella and Edward fall in love. The series focuses on the many consequences Bella and Edward face as a result of their forbidden union, as well as on a love triangle that ensues between Bella, Edward, and Bella’s best friend, Jacob Black, a werewolf of the Quileute Indian tribe and rival of the Cullen clan.
Bolstered by savvy social media and online marketing strategies that included the launch of numerous fan appreciation sites, blogs, and discussion groups, the Twilight novels became runaway best sellers, selling over one hundred million copies worldwide in more than thirty-five languages and creating a global frenzy. Meanwhile, Meyer, a first-time writer when Twilight was published, enjoyed a meteoric rise to literary superstardom.
The phenomenal success of the Twilight novels made it inevitable that Hollywood would come calling, leading to the creation of The Twilight Saga film series. The series comprises five films—Twilight (2008), New Moon (2009), Eclipse (2010), Breaking Dawn: Part 1 (2011), and Breaking Dawn: Part 2 (2012)—that were based on the four novels. Unsurprisingly, the films enjoyed staggering commercial success, grossing over two billion dollars in worldwide box office receipts. Its two main stars, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, were catapulted to unprecedented fame, as they embarked on a highly publicized romance of their own.
Impact
Vampires have generally been portrayed in American popular culture as sexually charged creatures with a penchant for blood, violence, and other debauched activities. The Twilight series built on but also transcended the traditional vampire archetypes, eschewing overt representations of sex in favor of messages of abstinence. These elements broadened the appeal and accessibility of vampires to wider audiences, especially preteen and teenage girls. Greater appeal combined with technological advances in social media networks ultimately transformed the Twilight series into a multibillion-dollar global brand that included not only books and films, but also clothing, cosmetics, doll and toy lines, and myriad other branded merchandise.
Bibliography
Ashcraft, Donna Musialowski. Deconstructing Twilight: Psychological and Feminist Perspectives on the Series. Peter Lang, 2013.
Green, Heather. “The Online Fan World of the Twilight Vampire Books.” Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg, 30 July 2008. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.
Grossman, Lev. “It’s Twilight in America: The Vampire Saga.” Time 23 Nov. 2009: 52–55. Print.
Miller, Laura. “Touched by a Vampire.” Salon. Salon Media Group, 30 July 2008. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.
Morey, Anne. Genre, Reception, and Adaptation in the Twilight Series. Ashgate, 2012.