Listening to FKA twigs’ album “MAGDALENE” reminds me of her raw talent. Writing from her own experience, the angelic artist reflects on the pain she endured when Robert Pattinson fans bullied her, giving us the masterpiece that is her second studio album but at a horrific cost.

 Released in 2019, the emotion-filled album is heavily influenced by twigs’ three-year relationship with “Twilight” actor Pattinson. Twigs underwent scrutiny while the two dated in the public eye, with Pattinson’s fans fueled by racist comments toward the English and Jamaican singer. 

Even though the album is five years old, celebrity relationships between fans are still problematic. Singer Chappell Roan recently made a statement on the parasocial relationship between her and her fans, relaying the importance of boundaries, after which I thought about twigs.

“If I were wearing a red dress, they would put a monkey standing next to me wearing a dress too,” twigs said in Louis Theroux’s 2021 podcast “Grounded.“ Twigs recalled the racism she faced as a kid and how even as an adult, the wound still feels tender when someone is severely unkind. 

“I thought that I handled these comments when they affected me when I was young in my adult life, but it takes me back to being five when I didn’t know how to react and stand up for myself,” twigs said in the interview.

Twigs said that the constant bullying left a body dysmorphic effect on her. It is extremely cruel for fans to inflict pain on a person because they disapprove of the woman chosen by the person they idolize. A woman thinking they’re not good enough reflects our society, but we don’t think about how scary it is when women hold the mirror and make each other feel that way. 

In 2018, on his podcast, Howard Stern asked Pattinson if he ever wanted to respond to the racist bullying his fans did to twigs. 

“It’s like attacking a reflection in the water. You look crazy,” Pattinson said, attempting to explain how hard it is to fight a faceless enemy when people comment on social media behind aliases. “The only way to show some kind of strength is having a mindset that none of this shit touches me.”

In the opening song of “MAGDALENE,” twigs sings, “If I walk out the door, it starts our last goodbye. If you don’t pull me back, it wakes a thousand eyes.” Before repeating the line, she says, “I am so cold with all these eyes.” How does one ignore a thousand eyes?

 John Woodhouse, a DePaul junior and FKA twigs fan, believes “MAGDALENE” is one of the best albums ever. However, he says that twigs, being the creative genius that she is, could have made something equally as phenomenal even if the fan disrespect never existed. 

“None of the music was worth what she went through, but the way she channeled heartache into this album, she succeeded,” Woodhouse said. “Pattinson being a white man informed his reaction and lack of reaction, but it’s easy in any scenario to create boundaries if you love someone.”

He sympathizes with the complexity of Pattinson’s situation, which his fans put him in, but ultimately, he feels for twigs.

 The celebrity couple are dating separate people today, but I can’t help but replay twigs’ point of view on Pattinson and his fans. She said in the Theroux interview that “he was their white prince charming, and I think they considered that he should definitely be with someone white and blonde and not me.” 

The comment makes my heart heavy every time with the way fans reduce twigs to a mere reflection of their revolting fantasies. 

 Now that Pattinson has a child with blonde model and actress Suki Waterhouse, it pains me how much his fans love the couple. Although I am a big fan of Waterhouse, every time I turn on the album, I still find it challenging to get over how Pattinson’s fans treated twigs. 

 Devin Blair, a DePaul junior studying film and public relations, believes Pattinson should have done more to defend twigs. Although Blair isn’t familiar with much of twigs’ work, she is an annual “Twilight” watcher.

“He is dating this woman of color, and his fans are attacking her while he’s not doing anything about it, and even though his career is blowing up, why not protect your partner?” Blair said. “I understand him not wanting to anger the crazy fangirls, but even from a PR standpoint, you don’t want anyone talking about you or the person you love, so I don’t know why no one stepped in.”

Twigs is a phenomenal songwriter whose ethereal voice and lyrics profoundly encapsulate melancholy. The last song on “MAGDALENE,” “cellophane,” is a beautiful ballad about unrequited love in which she metaphorically compares herself to being wrapped in cellophane. The album ends with lyrics referring to Pattinson’s fans, where she sings with a softened voice. At the same time, the piano fades, leaving you feeling empty inside but full of perfectly articulated feelings of loss and longing. 

“They’re watching us, they’re hating, they’re waiting, and hoping I’m not enough,” twigs sings.

When fans idolize celebrities, holding them to impossible standards, it dehumanizes them, resulting in agony. Even though everyone is entitled to their opinion regarding celebrities, we must ask ourselves the purpose of making our opinion known.

Related Stories:

• You should know less about Taylor Swift and more about your friends
• OPINION: Stan culture is a new way to obsess

Stay informed with The DePaulia’s top stories, delivered to your inbox every Monday.