A Real Forks
Fans of the books and casual movie goers can point out that for this small community, the nearest large city is Seattle, which would explain why someone might casually suggest going there, since apparently a feasible three hour drive to Seattle is already on the table. But a quick glance on Google Maps will show that by car, Forks is an additionally three or even five hours away, if you are confined to the routes and schedules of public transport (for those of you who still measure road trips in distance instead of boredom hours, that’s to traverse 223 km). Clearly not an ideal scenario for a casual visit.
Besides, this was the beginning of 2022. COVID restrictions were easing but still very much in place after the latest Omicron wave. In Canada the government required a negative PCR test upon entry, regardless of citizenship, vaccination status or length of trip. Although up until then I had successfully avoided getting my throat and nose ravaged by a mutant Q-tip, not even my lack of symptoms and vaccine booster were enough to deter airlines and federal authorities from taking my deep-throat virginity. It was an emotional rite of passage. I may have cried a bit; I definitely almost threw up.
So, all in all, international travel remained a venture not suitable for the faint of throat or budget conscious individuals (if I need to pay up more than $100 USD for a laboratory permission slip to get in the country, I might need to start hosting viruses on purpose and charge them rent to afford it). Thus, I spent a couple of months getting to know the Metro Vancouver area, squeezing the most out my Compass public transport card.
But then, a suffocating tourism industry and truck convoy ensured the debate around easing COVID restrictions remained on the table, until by April 1st, just in time for Easter break, the Canadian government lifted the mandatory negative PCR test result upon entry. After that and an express reconnaissance Spring Break excursion to Victoria, new possibilities dawned in the horizon. What if instead of going by land I took a short ferry trip to Port Angeles? From there, Forks was merely a bus ride away…
This is the privileged fast-lane route of car owners, but you get the idea.
Bus and ferry schedules soon revealed this had to be an overnight enterprise, and I’d love to say that in a burst of devil-may-care inspiration I booked a night in Port Angeles right then and there, but the truth is the devil cared a little and instead booked a cancellable reservation while anxiously praying for that weekend to fall into the Goldilocks zone of livable conditions between the surge of COVID variants.
At last, we reached the point of no return. Was I ever going to find myself again in the geographical vicinity of the Olympic Peninsula with enough time and money to spare? Not likely. I readied an overnight bag, packed a library copy of Midnight Sun (Twilight from Edward’s perspective) and downloaded a selection of the pop-culture cultural masterpiece that is the Twilight Saga soundtrack.
The journey began a wet Monday morning, walking at 4 °C to catch the first bus out of Maple Ridge at 5 a.m. Although technically it was a holiday, the whole thing felt a bit like skipping class, except instead of jumping over the school wall, I was sneaking through an international border.
The first leg of the journey was a well-traversed route for me, heading to Coquitlam Central Station to hop on the SkyTrain. From there I changed lines three times until I boarded a bus to the Tsawwassen ferry port terminal.
Yes, there are more direct routes, but keep in mind I had no car or patience for unnecessary transfers. Why would I go through the hassle of leaving the train, getting lost looking for a bus stop and waiting in the cold, when I can just nap away those extra minutes in a warm wagon until someone kicks me out at the terminus station?
Three hours later, I was on board a ferry to Victoria, chuckling at toddler antiques (“Mommy, is that the ocean?”) and resenting in silence the kid next to me who proudly boasted to having seen an orca during the voyage (why weren’t you screaming about it AT THE MOMENT so we could all look over?).
Upon disembarking I had a couple of hours to idle away by hopping on the wrong bus and then correcting course to visit Hatley Castle, a.k.a. Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters (or Arrow’s mansion for any GenZs out there). Nice place, I specially loved the feeling of leaning into the balustrade wistfully thinking: “Wow, James McAvoy leaned here as well”.
Hi, there!
It will never cease to amaze me how easy it is to board a ferry. Pardon my desert upbringing but large bodies of water continue to mesmerize me, along with everything that goes along with them, like the smell of fish and a sailor’s ease to maneuver an untethered vehicle with the help of wind and ropes. Besides, airports have forever tainted my expectations of how ahead time I have to arrive before boarding anything, and how many belongings I can bring along (a whole car?? seems fake).
The Black Bell ferry to Port Angeles was a breeze to board, although the actual journey was grayer and more spiked than I would’ve liked. Even US customs was a pretty relaxed affair. Used to the interminable hours in one of the dozens of car lanes at the Texas border, the smiling(!) officer who promptly recalled with me his happy days under the El Paso sun, came as a surprise.
“What are you doing all the way up here?”, he asked.
“Oh, you know, traveling for a couple of days”, I answered like any sane person would, skirting around an honest reply that would surely get me black-listed, like “Oh, you know, spending valuable time and resources to visit a god-forsaken town at the edge of the map just to take a couple of pictures for bragging rights”.
Port Angeles was another pleasant surprise, starting by the fact that it’s An-ge-les, not An-gels (shame on me for years of mispronouncing a name in Spanish just because my brain gets lazy when reading in English).
The main blocks next to the port showcased quaint storefronts and bits of street art. What I neglected to read in Google Maps was that although my hotel was within easy walking distance from the port, said distance included a steep climb. My only comfort halfway through the hundred steps that took me up was that at least I would be on high ground in case of a tsunami, a nagging concern of mine ever since I read the Pulitzer winning article The Really Big One, relating the very real possibility that within a day or 100 years an earthquake of biblical proportions will strike the whole Pacific Northwest.
By now, the savvier Twilight fans are probably dying to reply that “Actually, Port Angeles is also an important setting in the books. In Twilight, that’s where Bella’s almost raped until Edward shows up in his Volvo, dashingly rescues her, and then proceeds to take her to dinner”.
Yes, my fellow connoisseurs, you are entirely right. In fact, that restaurant has a name: Bella Italia. The movie scene of what could arguably be considered Bella and Edward’s first date, was filmed there. I was surprised to find out the place is even mentioned by name in the books. So, after dropping things at the hotel I headed down there.
Run
“Hey! How’s it going? As you can see, we are quite busy getting ready to host a Ukrainian benefit silent auction tomorrow”, he greeted me warmly.
“How nice”, I answered in a hurry to complete my not-so discrete retreat.
“So where are you from?”
Damn, I’ve been found out. Am I willing to admit the true lengths I’ve traveled so far? Not quite.
“I can see you already have the perfect jacket for this weather!” he complimented while pointing out the purple ski jacket that my mother originally purchased at a discount before a trip to the Scottish Highlands and Denmark (where she proceeded to not use it, favoring instead grandma’s long neglected fur coats).
After that encounter, I finally made it to Kokopelli Grill, a nice local restaurant with a small but interesting selection of local seafood dishes and friendly staff who greeted me at the door.
“You are 21 or older, right?”
Oh lady, you better check out my ID now! Bask in the glorious contradiction between my date of birth and pale skin smoothened by the resurface of teenage obsessions.
“Interesting accent. Where are you from?”
What’s this? I used to get compliments on my English pronunciation by way of unintentionally racist comments like “Wow, you don’t sound Mexican!” Has my accent truly deteriorated that much but Canadians are just too polite to point it out? Wait, this might be something else. Do I have a Texas accent??
“Um, I’m originally from Mexico” There, let them think whatever.
After that I went back to the hotel and it’s shallow ‘please don’t drown in here’ bathtub. Before collapsing on the bed, I was able to clear space in my phone by uploading pictures and videos into Google Drive while watching the final act of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. Yes Leo, defy your stars! Let us all get into a star-crossed lovers’ mood with this and further reading of Edward’s mostly self-inflicted suffering in Midnight Sun. Homeboy is thoroughly agonizing over not being able to read a girl’s mind. Is this how my exes felt?
The next day began with a brisk walk through dark rainy streets to the Gateway Transit Center. Halfway down the stairs to shore-level I was tempted to stop and gaze at the dark sleeping port, with its boat lights twinkling in the distance and a huge red lettered Port Angeles Wharf sign pointing me into the right direction, however the hunched half-hidden figure of a hooded man leaning on the same stairs –clearly not on his way to work– made me reconsider. I doubt any Volvo-driving beings were waiting in the shadows to come rescue me if anything happened.
The Route 14 bus headed to Forks arrived on time, a little before 6 a.m. No more than ten people boarded at different stops along the roughly one-hour drive to our final destination.
Despite the early hour I was wide awake, comfortably listening to my Twilight soundtrack highlights while gazing at the wide expanse of water stretching on the right side of the road. I get it now, ferry toddler; used as I am to calling ‘river’ any basin of rocks that occasionally trickles a thin wisp of water, when confronted with the huge crystal-clear expanse that is Lake Crescent, I was also tempted to ask if this was in fact the ocean.
Some people mock the perennial blue tint of the Twilight movie, but let me tell you, driving through the closed knit web of trees while the sun rays were barely gathering behind thick grey clouds, everything was shrouded in a very real blue natural tint. Despite being late April, the tree-topped mountains were evenly covered with a smooth white blanket of snow at the top, which at times even reached the sides of the road.
#NoFilter
I’m aware that by now Forks inhabitants must be used to this brand of tourism, but those girls who cheerfully flaunt their love for this franchise in public are braver than the marines. Me? I practically kneeled in gratitude when I accidentally unplugged my earphones in the bus and the iPad did not immediately outed me by blasting Decode at full volume.
My leisure stroll through the neat residential area of Forks became a brief meditation exercise. The sun was trying to shine behind the clouds, and after some tea and movement warmed me up, the crisp cool air became a pleasant sensation on my face. There were no cars roaming the streets and all I could hear was a myriad of birds happily chirping around. The world was awake but standing still for a while, not in eerie pandemic desolation, but in a peaceful and content respite. I understand why morning people chose to thrive on this version of the world. I salute you from the depths of the 3 a.m. dark void from where most of my creative impulses crawl out.
The actual building used as Bella’s abode on film is in Oregon, but this white two-story house located at 775 K Street was designated by the town as the official Swan Residence for being the one that most closely resembled the book’s description. They even put up a sign saying that Esme and Alice Cullen redesigned it at some point after its construction in 1905, which is another nice although completely made-up nod to the beloved local fictional inhabitants. In real life the house is still private property, and even though it can be rented as an Airbnb and pictures are encouraged, snooping through the windows is not.
Once again, I was cheerfully smiling at my phone when I saw a shadow in front of the first-floor curtains. I almost fled the scene, until I noticed the man was actually a life-size cardboard cutout of Edward. I got to experience the authentic thrill of being spied on by Edward Cullen! My heart was appropriately rattled by the unwelcome adrenaline rush of being seen in more ways than one. Sincere congratulations to whoever came up with that solution to deter obnoxious tourists and scaring (or encouraging?) them in the process.
Look closely, there are two of them!
From that landmark, I kept walking along the almost deserted streets until I reached the Forks Chamber of Commerce. I knew it was too early for the visitor center facilities to be open, but the main attractions were outside, freely available 24/7.
There, standing gloriously next to the highway, was the iconic “The city of Forks welcomes you” sign. True, the one featured in the movie is on the other side of town, but this one is standing in a safe spot, ready for its close up.
Cue Paramore: "How did we get here?"
FYI the license plate says "Bella"
I took my sweet time on the spot, savoring the comforts of being the only tourist at a popular destination, and later on retracing my steps all over the place looking for the glove I dropped when trying a wide array of selfie techniques.
I headed back into town, mesmerized by the huge the logs hauled by several trailers that crossed the road in that short time. Eventually I passed through Forks High School, and again, the actual building is not the same one used in the movies, but we’re not there for accuracy. This is more of a *vibes* kind of experience, like Edward wearing sunglasses during a cloudy day just to look cool while draping his arm around Bella in the parking lot.
Thus, I’m not concerned about dressing up in official merchandise or touching movie props, but I am wearing a casual blue shirt because canonically that is Bella’s go-to clothing color. I’m standing here at a parking lot, not trying to replay a movie sequence in front of my eyes, but marveling at the fact that despite the rainy forecast I can see bits of clear sky. Who cares about potentially judgmental high schoolers behind the windows? The sun is out and sure, this means there are definitely no vampires in town, but on the other hand now I have a proper excuse to wear sunglasses and step up to fill in the cool quota. Like a wise 104-year-old vampire before me: “I decided as long as I'm going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly”.
So maybe I did recreate half of a scene, sue me.
Finally, I made my way to The In Place for Homestyle Cooking, a nice restaurant open for breakfast that served as an overall pit stop to eat, charge my phone, and upload photos to a Google Drive, because heaven forbid the proverbial rain might come after all and wash away precious evidence of this pilgrimage.
For those in the know, Forks does host a Twilight Festival every September, around Bella Swan’s birthday on the 13th. However, the town’s Rainforest Arts Center houses the Forever Twilight collection year-round. Entrance is free but only available at certain dates and hours. I emailed them beforehand and was lucky to be told I could join a special morning tour that day.
Shortly before 10 a.m. I steered the confirmed party consisting of me, myself, and I, to the designated meeting point “beneath the roofed area besides Aro and Jane”. It took me a couple of seconds to understand those were not the names of friendly tour guides, but directions to a window display covered by a giant poster of the most memorable Volturi.
Once there, I saw the other couple of women who had also booked a visit. The actual tour guide, an enthusiastic 50-something year-old woman, opened a side door and greeted us.
“So, are you Twilight fans?”, she asked cheerfully.
Our crowd of three exchanged discrete glances. Clearly none of us came from the loud and proud strain of franchise devotees.
Am I a Twilight fan? I’ve certainly read all the books, first in an effort to fend off my 2007 end of Harry Potter depression, and then for fun as soon as they became available.
Before the first movie opened in theaters, I’d already committed to memory the music video for Decode, encouraged by an emo best friend who became my default companion to go watch every movie on opening day. We used to sit in the worst seats available because all the good places had been reserved by high school sweethearts on movie dates. I remember the screams that erupted in the cinema when Edward first appeared on screen, and yet again when in our screening the movie accidentally stopped in the middle of Bella’s vampire detective montage.
Accurate representation of said hormonal devotion
I laughed at those hysterical girls in the movie theatre, while secretly lamenting that Robert Pattinson had to wear so much lipstick when he had looked perfectly handsome without it in Goblet of Fire.
Oh yeah, remember how back then pop-culture was immersed in a fierce Twilight vs. Harry Potter war? Lindsay Ellis has talked about that vicious time on her video Dear Stephenie Meyer and I agree with her assessment on how: “I am not saying that Twilight deserves to be reevaluated because it was secretly good the whole time, but rather that the level of virulent bile that came to define it and Meyer herself, was actually not in proportion to Twilight’s badness or anything Stephenie Meyer herself did”.
Of course, at the time I’d never openly admit to preferring anything over the British book series that became ingrained into my tastes and personality. I constantly monitored the FanFiction.Net work count in both fandoms to assure myself that the wizarding world remained on the top spot, but at the same time I kept obsessing over Taylor Lautner’s pre-New Moon ‘Wow! That’s an 8-pack!’ interview and learned the chords to Muse’s Neutron Star Collision, all while printing out fanart of both wizards and vampires to decorate my math notebook.
Seventeen-year-old me would be dumbfounded, not by the enduring popularity of both franchises, but by the amount of time, money, and effort I’ve just poured into a half-day visit to Forks, while at the same time being unwilling to walk a couple of blocks and buy a single movie ticket for the most recent Harry Potter movie. Funny how that turned out.
So, screw it! After taking four buses, traversing three metro lines, boarding two ferries, and crossing an international border, I guess that for better or worse, I am some sort of Twilight fanatic.
“Well,” said our tour guide with a twinkle in her eye, “I certainly am a Twilight fan”.
Relieved about the fact that we would not be judged for liking stuff, we all stepped inside the single room that houses a thousand-dollar assortment of movie props and memorabilia.
We were free to roam the collection at our pace, capturing as much as we wanted on camera. Most of the objects and costumes came from a huge Twilight Saga prop auction held at LA’s Chinese Theatre back in 2016. A closer look into the labels reveals that a large part of the collection was in fact donated by a certain Jack Morrissey. If you look him up, IMBD will let you know he is a successful Hollywood producer. He is also life partner of several years to Bill Condon, the director responsible for bringing to life Breaking Dawn on screen.
In a 2016 speech during the second Forever Twilight Festival, Jack talked about his experience with the franchise and how it helped him realize he was truly a romantic, after all. Thus, according to our guide, this man spent a considerable amount of money to purchase several iconic items, such as Bella and Edward’s main costumes from the first movie, only to donate them to Forks, convinced that those tangible pieces of the story were rightfully theirs.
Apparently, Jack also left a couple of instructions for the proper display of certain items, specifically Bella’s outfit from the infamous “I know what you are" scene. He did not want that costume displayed on a so-called Macy’s mannequin, because the proportions would be completely wrong for a seventeen-year-old girl. Instead, they commissioned an expensive custom-made mannequin with Kristen Stewart’s exact measurements at the time.
The rest of the mannequins are regular ones, white for human characters and grey for supernatural ones. Yes, it’s easy to track the budget increase from a simple Target purple bed spread all the way to the intricate Volturi capes, but money does not automatically grant status. Few items can aspire to reach the renown of say, Bella’s green bowling t-shirt worn during her first day of school, an item rendered more iconic by the fact that it had absolutely no reason to be chosen for this in the first place. Why would Bella choose to wear that shirt? Why would she even own it? Even a baseball jersey would’ve made more sense, considering her stepdad’s career and future in-laws pastime.
“Have you read The Second Life of Bree Tanner?”, the guide asked us, referring to Stephenie Meyers’ novella which adds to the plot of Eclipse from the perspective of a minor character. Between that, Midnight Sun, and Life & Death a.k.a. gender-bent Twilight, props to Meyer for writing not only a whole saga, but also her own fanfiction. Queen.
“Yeah”, we admitted in hushed tones.
“Oh good! Not many people have, and they miss so much”.
I agree, because if she hadn’t mentioned it, I would’ve been racking my brains trying to remember the significance of a Riley missing poster. Not at all like gazing upon the immediately recognizable engagement ring. Apparently this is not the original one from the movies, but someone went to the same jeweler and asked them to make a second ring with the exact same specifications, so have fun unravelling that inverse Theseus ship conundrum.
Next to the wedding reenactment pictures, there is a clear display with several editions of the books in various languages and presentations. There’s a striking collection with the page edges painted red, and right at the bottom, the German versions stand out if only because they look so different. Those subdued colors and butterfly wings could fool me into thinking they were a completely different book.
“Ah, yes”, the guide smiles when I point them out. “A while back we had a peculiar visitor. He came to town without knowing this collection existed, but once he got here, he hunched over until he was practically lying down staring at those books. And then he started crying. After a while we managed to calm him down and in a very thick German accent, he finally explained that he had designed those covers.”
Touched by the story, I marvel at the sheer amount of people who in one way or another, have been involved in the whole Twilight phenomenon. I stare at the original novels, which have obviously been signed by the author. I’m thinking they’re just missing a signed copy of Midnight Sun when I spot it, buried underneath Edward Cullen’s ACTUAL RAY BANS. I said I didn’t care, but if I touched them, do you think maybe I too could dazzle everyone in the vicinity?
There’s only one way to find out…
“And have you been to Volterra, Italy?”
Huh? This game of never-have-I-ever has escalated; I think I missed something important. The guide is now showing the other women pictures of her trip to Italy, particularly to Montepulciano, where Edward’s wannabe Romeo and Juliet dramatic reenactment was filmed for New Moon.
“Wow, you really like Twilight”, I wonder out loud.
“Well, yes. Twilight changed my life. Obviously I was not a teenager when the books came out, but I read them and they helped me become more outgoing. I used to be very shy, but I was inspired to go back to school and take theatre classes. I started speaking out at the movie premier camps when I was the only one who knew the trivia answer and that earned me tickets for more events. I’ve met several actors from the cast multiple times, as well as Stephenie. Sadly, when I was over at Forks for one of the festivals my home burned during a California wildfire and I lost thousands of dollars of memorabilia. It was a shame, but after I got the settlement I decided to move up to Forks and that’s how I ended up working here.”
My companions and I stare at each other open-mouthed.
Ma'am! You ARE a Twilight fan! No hyperbole at all, reading those books literally changed your life. Our guide is now the most interesting part of this exhibition, more so than the blood-stained wedding attires from Breaking Dawn’s nightmare sequence.
“Those were such a hassle to unpack!”, the woman continues explaining, unfazed by the fact that she just shared snippets of a life story that could easily fill a novel by itself.
“When they first sent out the auction items we had to work like archeologists, carefully cataloging everything that came out of the boxes. That dress was all scrunched up and the syrupy blood made everything stick together. I spent three weeks unraveling tiny pieces of fabric trying to not tear anything!”
Ain’t that the dream. Living your best life to be part of something you love and sharing that love with others. I aspire to be as bold as that woman who allowed her life to be molded by unadulterated passion for something. I’ve spent a long time downplaying how much I’ve engaged with Twilight –more often than not by ruthlessly criticizing it– but also, occasionally, really getting into the cheesy parts. I even read Wuthering Heights because it was often quoted in Eclipse.
A couple of years ago I came back to Twilight in an effort to shut off my brain after a particularly difficult semester. Braver Twihards than me jumped at the idea and I broadcasted my impressions of said rereading, confident that this was an innocuous topic about which to share my opinions online.
In a similar fashion, the first film of the franchise has become one of my comfort movies. I love how the soundtrack immediately brings me back to high school, and how the girls are dressed in layered tops just like ones I used to wear. I love Charlie and the rest of the perfectly casted characters; baseball to the tune of Supermassive Black Hole transcends meaning in a ridiculously entertaining sequence and I ascribe historical value to this movie just because it’s where I first heard the word “Google” used as a verb.
“I had an adrenaline rush. It’s very common, you can Google it.”
I guess I’m not the only one who thinks like that, at least judging by the mere existence of this collection. After all, we –including all the haters who inadvertently helped cement the brand– have collectively ascribed no small amount of worth to a bunch of used props. Yes, even to the Chuckesmee doll that surveys the room from her own corner, with disturbing eyes that remind you to kindly donate before stepping outside.
So, is there such thing as a real Forks? There’s certainly a town with the same name, a logging community that was officially incorporated in 1945, but when Stephenie Meyer chose that place as the setting for her first novel, she did it without having set foot in there. She based her choice merely on the need to render credible a near-constant cloud coverage, and because she liked the name (which, incidentally, comes from the river forks around the area). The first Twilight movie wasn’t even filmed there. It was mainly shot in Oregon, while later on various places of British Columbia also served as filming locations.
Thus, the town of Forks, WA was unwillingly trusted into the spotlight thanks to a generation’s obsession with a love story. With time, it has learned to embrace its incidental fame and welcome the zealous tourists that venture over there chasing a tangible way to live their shared fantasy.
The plot in the books can be clearly traced on any world map, but the corresponding physical locations can only provide fabricated landmarks to link them with the story. The movies showcase another visual landscape, one that it’s easier to visit and identify at a glance, but without the magic of music and editing, it’s hard to see those regular spots as the blue-tinted scenario where unnaturally good-looking people thrive in.
It would be easy to say that the ‘real’ Forks, the one with a grumpy but well-meaning chief of police and superbly over-qualified local doctor, can only be found inside the novels. Many would argue that the most famous Forks is a fake one built on camera angles and gullible audiences, while cynics can simply dismiss the authentic Forks as an unremarkable logging place that got a lucky reprieve by way of tourism.
I would argue that trying to define the ‘real’ Forks is a waste of time. Forks has become an amalgam of fantasy, film, and real-life: it is the place where a coven of vegetarian vampires chose to settle down for a while; it is also a made up billion-dollar stage built by film crews and actors, and a quiet town that you walk through. But above all, it’s a safe meadow where many have dared to be themselves or found solace from daily tribulations.
If we were to believe a sign on the highway, there are 3,580 people living in this community, but outside of local government discussions, whenever people talk about Forks inhabitants, they are likely picturing the millions of people who bought a ticket for a movie premier, the thousands who ordered a book, or the hundreds that are still writing their own versions of the story in Archive of Our Own.
In a way, I am part of that floating population, after having devoted hours to heated discussions about the Cullens, the merits of the Stephenie Meyer’s writing, and the fandom at large. My stance on those issues has varied over the years, and although I will not claim Twilight has literally changed my life, it has certainly been part of it, particularly during my teenage years. Perhaps my renewed engagement with the franchise is part of a larger effort to reconnect with a different time and self.
It’s impossible to truly engage with Twilight through cynic lenses. This is a love fantasy, although I would ascribe that adjective to the story not necessarily because it features vampires with mutant powers (Alice can glance at possible futures based on how people might act? I do that every night), but mostly because it depicts a girl’s high school crush being utterly and unequivocally corresponded.
Slow dancing in a twinkling gazebo? C’mon.
Yes, there are a lot of things that can and should be questioned about certain plot elements and character traits, but in the end, Twilight is more about daring to imagine what it would be like to join a found family of perfectly matched individuals, who free from material or health constrains, can simply devote eternity to their hobbies and each other.
During the opening of the Forever Twilight Collection, its biggest benefactor shared an anecdote of how he burst into tears when looking at raw footage of Breaking Dawn’s last scene in the Meadow. Jack Morrissey’s reaction stemmed partly from thinking about the fans and their feelings upon reaching the end of their beloved movie franchise, but he also marveled at the beauty, the sheer romantic gesture, of Bella lowering her mental shield to allow Edward in.
For Jack, this was an apt representation of how Twilight taught him a bit about lowering his emotional shield, and you know what? I get it. Whenever I listen to Christina Perri’s A Thousand Years a tiny part of my romantic self sparks to life (mostly the cheesy romantic one, but the line “I have died every day waiting for you” does carry with it some powerful XIX century tortured poet energy).
In the end, there are some things I am absolutely positive about, like how the time I spent wandering around the Olympic Peninsula, happily exuding serotonin while ignoring other responsibilities, felt as significant and real as the time I’ve spent in front of a screen anticipating memorable scenes, or the time I’ve spent staring at a page, quietly reliving the same passage over and over again instead of moving on to the next line. In truth, a part of me –and I don’t know how dominant that part might be– longs to feel as much as I did when I first read those words 15 years ago.
So, I dare not say I’ve been to the real Forks, just that I’ve been to a real Forks, and honestly? I am unconditionally and irrevocably happier for it.
Sources
Access Hollywood (2009). Taylor Lautner Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDgA3SPGMtw
Ellis, L. (2018). Dear Stephenie Meyer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O06tMbIKh0
Forever Twilight in Forks (2016). Jack’s Speech: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1118369854874441
Schulz, K. (2015). "The Really Big One". The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one
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