Rating: ***1/2
I go to a lot of comic conventions and sci-fi festivals, and at every one of these occasions there are people running around in elaborate costumes based on anime characters. I don’t get a lot of anime, I haven’t really been able to engage in a lot of it, but God bless those fans because they care about their stories, they take pride in them, and wear that pride on their sleeves. Literally.
Now I know the fandom surrounding those hopelessly devoted to the Twilight series of books and films is seen down the nose of a lot of people, but are they really that different from any other fan? Like Trekkers they have their own cute little nickname: Twihards; like Star Wars or Harry Potter fans they line-up at midnight on open night to see the next movie; and like the people who take the Seinfeld tour of New York or visit the real life “Cheers” in Boston, Twilight fans have their own Mecca, the small town of Folks, Washington.
Destination Forks is an interesting companion piece to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which also came out this week. To the people for whom the fandom around Twilight is incomprehensible, this documentary may shed some light on the phenomenon. Then again, it might not. Amongst my group of friends, associates and fellow critics, I’m probably the easiest on the sparkly-vampire/shirtless werewolf epic romance, but as these things go, I don’t think the simple charms of Destination Forks is going to convert the conscientious objector to The Twilight Saga.
As for the documentary itself, I think it sometimes struggles to get over a point where it can stop proving why it’s something more than an expanded extra that probably should have been left on disc two of one of the Twilight releases. From the loving, travelogue-esque photography of Forks to the corporate video-like title cards, I struggled to get into to Destination Forks initially, but as soon as we start diving into the cottage industry of Twilight-related tourism in the town, I have to admit that I was hooked.
Among the stops are the respective homes of Bella, Edward and Jacob. The owners of each home are interviewed and they talk about their experiences with the fans and their place on the pop culture radar. What’s interesting is that it’s more than a money-making scheme for these people, and you can tell how deeply they’ve entrenched themselves into the lore. The retired couple that run the real life bed and breakfast at the fictional home of the vampire Cullen clan can trace the ownership of the house back to when the Cullens might have, theoretically, bought the house. Additionally, the owner at that time was a doctor himself with five children – three boys and two girls. Coincidence, or inspiration.
Another stop I liked was a visit to Port Angeles and the restaurant Bella Italia, the real life location where the fictional Bella and Edward had their first date. The owner of the restaurant talks about how their mushroom ravioli dish was a seasonal menu item until Twihards started coming in year-round asking for it. (For non-fans, mushroom ravioli is the dish Bella was served on the aforementioned date.) Another handy piece of info from the owner is that if you plan on stopping by his restaurant for some mushroom ravioli, make a reservation. Apparently, people line-up to get in an hour before this 55-seat eatery opens.
The rest of the film more or less documents the fan experience from the intergenerational bonding to the silent minority of male Twilight fans. One of the things that interested me, from a sociological standpoint anyway, was hearing some of the young women talking about the appeal of the story. It affirmed something a blogger from Entertainment Weekly wrote this past summer that part of what attracts girls to the story is the old-fashionedness of the romantic leads. One girl espoused the gentlemanly qualities of Edward and how “you don’t find guys like that anymore.” I’m not sure if it’s enough to let the “Twihaters” give a pass on the franchise and its fans, but who knows.
Regardless, I found Destination Forks a delightful little documentary. I’m still not sure if there’s enough to it to justify buying it as an entirely separate disc, but I enjoyed it just the same.
