There's a trend on TikTok in which fans of the “Twilight Saga” film franchise put together montages of Kristen Stewart's Bella Swan and affectionately profess “my gay awakening” in the caption.
Now, the Oscar-nominated actor, who came out as gay on “Saturday Night Live” in 2017, has seemingly confirmed what many fans of the big-screen adaptations knew all along: that the movies and their furry, furry characters pale are homosexuals. encoded.
“I can only see it now,” Stewart told Variety in a recent interview, reflecting on his time with the five-film franchise, which released its first film in 2008. “I don't think it necessarily started that way, but I also think the The fact that I was there was seeping in. It's such a gay movie. I mean, Jesus Christ, [co-stars] taylor [Lautner] and Rob [Pattinson] and me, and it's so hidden and it's not right.
“I mean, a Mormon woman wrote this book,” he continued, referring to Stephenie Meyer, author of the series of five novels on which the films are based. “It's about oppression, wanting what is going to destroy you. That's a very gothic and gay leaning that I love.”
Meyer has yet to weigh in publicly on interpretations of his work and did not immediately respond Friday to The Times' request for comment.
Stewart's opinion has been met with enthusiasm, mainly because it is an important moment for fans who have existed in the online queer spaces of the “Twilight” subculture for years.
“The fact that our queen, our icon has influenced what we all know and love to be true,” exclaimed Sarah Gallagher, whose viral TikToks discuss the film series. “There is nothing in this movie that is not gay and I would like [hear] from the rest of the cast.”
Back in 2021, movie TikToker cinemegan even made a three-part deadpan video series titled “Why I Think Twilight is a Gay Movie.” In it, he put together an entire PowerPoint presentation, organized by a 10-part index, and dissected Bella's wardrobe, rating each of her costumes “based on how gay they are.”
For some fans, celebrating “Twilight” for its queerness was a more gradual journey. TikToker Multirose96 admitted that she initially vilified Stewart's Bella for her socially awkward tendencies, but after processing her “internalized misogyny” she admired the outspoken star and posted a bunch of Stewart's thirst traps to prove it.
Also embracing the franchise's queerness as an adult was TikToker g.aill, who threw her friend a “Twilight”-themed party for her 22nd birthday, decorated with a collage of Stewart's moody photos of Bella, Lautner's Jacob Black, Pattinson's Edward Cullen and their on-screen cousin, Alice Cullen, played by Ashley Greene.
“Kristen Stewart was my gay awakening,” she captioned the video, which shows her posing in a party hat with her friend in front of her collage.
Stewart, 33, has been in the public eye since starring alongside Jodie Foster in the 2002 thriller “Panic Room.” Before her appearance on “SNL,” she rejected rampant speculation and rumors about her sexuality, but she has since embraced being a queer role model, she told Variety. And his other on-screen roles, aside from “Twilight,” have been praised for his contributions to queer cinema.
Her 2020 film, “Happiest Season,” was billed as the first lesbian Christmas romantic comedy released by a major studio. Stewart was joined in the production by other well-known LGBTQ+ actors in supporting roles and the film was directed by Clea DuVall, a filmmaker.
The Times called the Hulu film, which was not released in theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “revolutionary for putting a queer couple at the center of a mainstream genre that is synonymous with heteronormativity.”
Meanwhile, Stewart's upcoming queer romantic thriller, “Love Lies Bleeding,” will premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival later this month. She will also play queer feminist icon and writer Susan Sontag in an upcoming biopic directed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Kirsten Johnson.
