The Twilight Saga has entered a campy pop culture space where it exists both as a beloved series and a punch line. For the most part, fans at the midnight premiere of “Breaking Dawn Part 2” embraced the absurdity of the final installment in the series, laughing at the overacting and screaming during their favorite moments. Any midnight premiere of a film becomes an audience participation affair, and Twilight was no exception. The hardcore fans arrived early for the theater’s daylong marathon of all four movies. Everyone else started packing into the theater around 11 p.m., some of them wearing Twilight t-shirts and many carrying the Twilight-inspired snap-bracelets and cups the theater was giving away.
Above: Friends Lauren Slesur and Nick Sullivan show off their homemade Twilight shirts. (Photo by Shannon Lane)
The fans in the theater included Mary Best Krasno, a student at Loyola University Chicago, who has read all the books several times, and even had one of her copies signed by Stephanie Meyer. Krasno acknowledged the insanity of the series, but said she loves it and thought the last movie was the best. “I think the way they made it…they made it more funny, because they realized it’s kind of a ridiculous series.” She plans to watch all the movies with her sister—who also went with her to the book signing—over Thanksgiving.
Above: College student Marivic Deleon rocks a sharpie tattoo identical to Jacob Black’s. (Photo by Shannon Lane)
The fans in the theater included Mary Best Krasno, a student at Loyola University Chicago, who has read all the books several times, and even had one of her copies signed by Stephanie Meyer. Krasno acknowledged the insanity of the series, but said she loves it and thought the last movie was the best. “I think the way they made it…they made it more funny, because they realized it’s kind of a ridiculous series.” She plans to watch all the movies with her sister—who also went with her to the book signing—over Thanksgiving.
High school senior Rosie Kirschenbaum’s friend dragged her to the midnight premiere of the first Twilight film and from then on she was hooked. “I went to the midnight premiere five hours early for ‘New Moon,’” said Kirschenbaum, “and I was first, and I was first for ‘Eclipse.’ I was first for ‘Breaking Dawn Part 1.’ We weren’t first this year, and I was really upset because I’m a senior and it’s the last Twilight movie, so it’s emotional a little bit. I’m pretty attached.”
Above: Kirschenbaum (far right) and friends eagerly wait for the movie to start. (Photo by Shannon Lane)
Recent college graduate Claudia Morhea had similar sentiments. Walking into the theater with a friend, she said that the arrival of the last movie was “bittersweet,” and added, “It’s exciting. I like coming every time. It’s kind of a tradition now that we have. I came to the first one at midnight, and even though I really didn’t want to be out tonight and would rather have gone tomorrow morning, it’s just like: I’ve got to do it. It’s the last one.”
The final movie has more action than the previous four combined, and plenty of romantic moments between Edward and Bella. Audiences have come to expect a mixture of bad acting and melodramatic plot. For those of you who aren’t fans of the series, it’s a must-see simply for the weirdness factor. It’s the best film in the series, although that might not be saying a lot. The movie is really for the fans, some of whom have been with the series since the first book came out in 2005. As I left the theater, I spotted Rosie Kirschenbaum, who tearfully told me that she thought the movie was great. As long as this last installment makes the real fans happy, “Breaking Dawn Part 2” will maintain The Twilight Saga’s spot in pop culture. For the women who have bonded with their friends or family members over the series, the arrival of the final film is a last chance for the shrieks and tears of a midnight premiere.