Racism In Twilight

by Lorene Tingler

October 1, 2021

Taylor Lautner (Jacob), Robert Pattinson (Edward), Kristen Stewart (Bella), Mackenzie Foy (Renesme), and Stephenie Meyer at Comic Con (Photo: Flixr).

Twilight is one of the top selling love stories of all time. Edward Cullen is a dreamboat for many teenage girls across the country. However, Stephanie Meyer made some interesting comments about her franchise, which includes strictly pale, white vampires. On top of that, her portrayal of the Quileute tribe is nothing short of disappointing.

In Twilight, there are two main groups: vampires, and werewolves. The vampires are pale, beautiful, and their skin sparkles in the sun. Bella, the main character, talks about how Edward is so beautiful that it’s all she can focus on. On the contrary, werewolves are described as dirty, angry, and “smell like dogs”. In the books, every vampire is pale white, while werewolves are Native Americans from the Quileute Tribe. Masha Efanova, a student at Grandview, states, “It’s weird because the stereotypical vampire has pale white skin. For vampires to only have that skin does seem odd to me, especially when they’re also paired with traits like alluring and enchanting.”

Jacob is part of a Native American tribe called the Quileutes. The Quiletues are described as dirty, smelly, and “filled with rage”. The characters are hot headed and act on impulse. In Native American culture, their hair is very important and has a lot of meaning to them. Stephenie Meyer completely disregards this, and makes it so the werewolves have to keep their hair short. While the vampires become beautiful and pale when they’re turned into vampires, the werewolves become dogs, often described as smelly. Stephenie Meyer appropriated the Quileute’s culture, and did little research on them. She profited off of their legends, and used them for her own gain and money.

In the Twilight films, director Catherine Hardwick had to fight for diversity. Laurent, a black vampire, had to be fought for. Meyer claimed that vampires in the film had to be white, because they are described in the books as having “pale glistening skin”, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to be people of color. “I wanted a lot more of the cast to be diverse. [...] Alice- I wanted her to be Japanese, I had all these ideas. And she just could not accept the Cullens to be more diverse. The only reason that came through was (Laurent) was described as having olive skin, and I said ‘There are black olives out there!’”

Stephenine Meyer is a practicing Mormon. When asked if her religious beliefs and biases influenced her writing, she responded, “Unconsciously, I put a lot of my basic beliefs into the story.” The themes of abstinence, marriage, and motherhood certainly bleed over from Meyer’s personal views. Masha Efanova claims, “The way she depicts toxic relationships in a romanticised light shows that she condones these kinds of abusive, manipulative actions.” Twilight appears to be Stephenie Meyer’s idea of a desirable relationship, and has admitted Bella is based on herself.

Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight books are bestsellers and this is concerning because millions of teenage girls look up to these books. Teenage minds are easily influenced, and Meyer’s racism and abusive relationships condition the audience into believing these toxic and oppressive ideas.

Taylor Lautner, Stephenie Meyer, and Robert Pattinson (Photo: Global News) .