The popularity of the Twilight saga, enhanced by the film adaptations of the books, sparked a series of interesting reactions of fans. One was the creation of “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob,” in which fans aligned with one or the other character and argue about which one of them could be a better romantic partner. This study explores the messages the movies are sending to young girls around the world about what are the traits of the “ideal” male romantic partner as portrayed through the characters of Edward and Jacob. A textual analysis of the first three movie adaptations of the saga, Twilight (2008), New Moon (2009), and Eclipse (2010) was conducted. Based in social cognitive theory and using a feminist critical approach, I argue that these messages might be teaching young girls lessons about relationships that are up to certain degree dangerous, some of them perpetuating patriarchy.

Examensarbetets syfte är att undersöka hur chick ick representerar skönhet och fulhet. Vi har undersökt och identierat semiotiska tecken och myter i lmerna, samt hur målgruppen upplever att deras självbild inverkas av representationen.  Våra valda metoder för examensarbetet består av semiotiska textanalyser på lmerna The Devil Wears Prada, The Princess Diaries, Clueless, She’s All That och Mean Girls. Vi har även utfört tre intervjuer i fokusgrupper.  Genom vår undersökning och analys kom vi fram till att det nns etablerade tecken som representerar antingen skönhet eller fulhet, och att myter existerar för att understryka ramverk som medföljer ett vackert eller fult utseende. Med hjälp av fokusgrupperna fann vi att även om målgruppen inte upplever att deras självbild direkt inverkas av dessa myter och tecken existerar de som en underliggande tanke när målgruppen reekterar över sitt eget utseende. / This thesis aims to discover how chick icks represent beauty and ugliness. We have examined and identied semiotics signs and mythologies in the movies, and whether the target audience believes their self images have been impacted by the representation.  Our chosen methods for the thesis consists of semiotic analyses of the lms The Devil Wears Prada, The Princess Diaries, Clueless, She’s All That and Mean Girls. Furthermore we have carried out three interviews in focus groups.  Through our discoveries and analysis we concluded that there are established signs representing either beauty or ugliness, and that mythologies exist in order to underline guidelines that follow a beautiful or ugly appearance. With the help of focus groups we found that although the target audience does not believe their self image is directly impacted by these mythologies and signs they often nd themselves keeping them as a constant underlying thought when reecting on their own appearance.