Why Kristen Stewart Is the Ultimate Internet Girlfriend
It’s difficult to pinpoint the moment Kristen Stewart went from being one of the most loathed celebrities on the planet to one of the most beloved. For so long Stewart was That Girl from Twilight. Then she was That Girl from Twilight Who Cheated On Her Hunky Twilight Boyfriend. But eventually all that slid away, and the true Stewart emerged, the Stewart with whom the internet fell in love. That Stewart was brash and unrepentantly herself. She gave incredible performances in independent films from female and foreign directors. She was an establishment-approved style icon that seemingly never compromised her personal taste for a brand’s generic idea.
Stewart is a case study in growing up in the public eye, becoming exactly who you want to be, and saying “fuck you” to anyone who doesn’t like that. And while she’s still shaking off some of the assumptions that have followed her ever since she became a teen phenomenon, she’s also transformed into something of the ultimate Internet Girlfriend—someone who is desirable in all senses of the word.
Before Twilight came along, Kristen Stewart was a promising child actress. Her career seemed to parallel that of Jodie Foster, her costar in David Fincher’s Panic Room. But then she got the role of Bella Swan in the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s already immensely popular book series. The Twilight movies were melodramatic and campy, and taken incredibly seriously by their army of devoted fans. The fervent devotion was met by intense mockery, much of it aimed directly at Stewart, who, by the way, was totally aware of what kind of performance she was giving. She recently told Howard Stern she wanted to do a “cult-y, weird, indulgent . . . girly” role.