Having a positive outlook isn’t usually a deal breaker in a relationship or in life, even though sunshiny people make our left eyes twitch if we’re not caffeinated enough. But then there’s the twee personality, or the twee affect, or the shroud of perpetual happy that’s all consuming in a way that’s only supposed to surround Pixar animation or most everything found on Etsy.com.
In a Chicago Tribune article on the subject called, “Twee Time: Can We Stop the Sweet?” reporter/writer Christopher Borrelli lists things that are innately twee. He says:
“Your cat is twee. Otters are twee. Scarves are twee. Mittens are twee. Connecticut is twee. “The Hobbit” is twee (though “The Lord of the Rings” is not). Whistling as a musical instrument is twee; therefore Chicago whistler/musician Andrew Bird is quite twee. Paul Simon is prototypical singer-songwriter twee; cutesy Japanese pop (Hello Kitty, etc.) has been bedrock twee for years…”
Ostensibly there is probably a twee maximum threshold, and let’s just say for argument’s sake that Zooey Deschanel is sucking up all the available twee. Well, after all, she’s pretty much its corporeal embodiment, yes? Yes. Twee has been decidedly defined as being affectedly dainty or quaint, and we’ll add genteel, wide-eyed, and precocious. All of this Deschanel has in spades, almost as if she were jettisoned back to an old Blondie and Dagwood movie. There is so much darn, “gawrsh darn!” that lives in Deschanel that well, it can feel a bit suffocating when viewing her. It it a shtick? Or an act? Who knows?
Borrelli goes on to discuss Ms. Deschanel and her “adorkableness” and the other various cutesy references that now seem to go hand-in-hand with the actress — as well as her inexplicable appeal.
“She embodies all that is mannered and precious, and weirdly hard to resist, about this confusing quality called twee. Deschanel plays Jess (a twee name), a woman-girl long out of college but so relentlessly childlike and adorable – or in series parlance, “adorkable” – she’s like a dithering Mary Poppins. It is a performance so cheerful and comfortable with its own sickening sweetness, Deschanel – who also sings in twee indie rock duo She & Him and started a twee website named Hello Giggles – has single-handedly caused those who wouldn’t normally wonder to ask themselves: How twee is too twee?”
Exactly.
The woman-girl part of the statement is curious, however. A notion of parading around with a childlike air, which could be mistaken for immaturity or silly-hearted, ribald daydreaming that goes along with “tweeness.” And, when you think about it, it can be very diminutive in action and in perception with this stroke of innocence and naiveté that fits within the dynamic of one who seemingly eschews all things risqué, bawdy, or raunchy. But along with its pre-war era dialogue, handcrafted items, and Über-cutie everything, “twee” conjures a time when perhaps “women didn’t or wouldn’t say outlandish things.” And even more disconcerting, it creates an opening for someone to say, “Oh, I can’t take you seriously, because you’re just so very twee.”
Is the appearance of “twee” a way to downgrade the seriousness of the person? To reduce them to someone with such quaint, antiquated ideas and thoughts that they should be discounted and treated like a cutesy “Hello Kitty” clock on a wall? Well, that’s a bit of an albatross to this whole twee thing, isn’t it? Feminists hope it’s more of a nonstarter and that by asserting this tweeness, it doesn’t mean a loss of bare-knuckled womanhood. Ideally a cultural movement should not automatically be seen as a regressive gender step back just because it embraces an overlooked sentiment rife with simplicity and a lack of Nihilism. However, admittedly, it seems a bit daunting when we’re talking about a cultural movement that has a penchant for baby doll dresses and Shirley Temple-esque face mugging.
Within the article, Borrelli tries to get to the bottom of why twee exists at all in modern day. What he’s come up with is a push-back against edginess and societal pressures with a denial of coolness, put squarely in a world where “twee” has become nearly a value set of its own. It is also a way to be counter-culture within a sub-culture (hipsters) that are already countering the current status quo. In a nutshell “Twee” is a culture without irony. And to those who would mock it, including the naysayers, skeptics, and critics that do so, it’s almost seen as being angry at someone for being nice or charming, which makes the person doing the mocking a “churlish bastard,” or some sort of humorless, joy-hating harpy. Well, maybe, but let’s be honest. All counter-cultures, whether aggressive or aggressively twee, will be named insufferable and superficial at some point.
In 2010, when actress Emma Thompson was asked about Audrey Hepburn and My Fair Lady she had this to say:
“I’m not hugely fond of the film. I find Audrey Hepburn fantastically twee. Twee is whimsy without wit. It is mimsy-mumsy sweetness without any kind of bite. And that’s not for me. She can’t sing and she can’t really act, I’m afraid. I’m sure she was a delightful woman – and perhaps if I had known her I would have enjoyed her acting more, but I don’t and I didn’t, so that’s all there is to it really.”
Well, ouch. But, also, yes. This is one perception.
It seems like a delicate balance then, embracing this tweeness as something provocative and modern even when it’s wrapped in such a batting eyelashes, quiet, and at times meekly displayed demeanor. In addition to Hepburn — the Deschanels, the Michelle Williams’, the Carey Mulligans, and the Taylor Swifts — do seem to be benefiting from this whole zeal for the “affectedly or excessively dainty, delicate, cute or quaint” thing which has rocketed them to super stardom.
However, like any emerging culture there is always the worry about over-saturation. What happens when this unique and interesting outlook becomes incredibly mainstream? You know, when you start seeing “Twee” in commercials, at the doctor’s office, or at the local Applebee’s? Including when the migration from value set, way of life, or culture, becomes fad or trendy. Is this a time to worry? After all, the mother of the current twee, The Mod (Modernist), had its singular representation in Twiggy, probably one of the more notable and marketed “twees” before Deschanel. She was the household name that lasted generations, and was revered, celebrated as an icon, and copied.
So maybe there is concern about the rise of the mass-marketed twee, one that comes complete with over-sized scarves and glasses. The end result of that could just be that people will move on whenever the next subversive thing comes along or outgrow it, especially if it effectively becomes lame when the next generation comes of age. Yet, in attempting to answer the original question — can there be too much twee? The answer may come in the form of its motivation, and whether the arbiter is doing so to modify their values, as a part of a growing culture, or fad. But ultimately, we live in a fickle place; and losing the pixie cut, the lanky build, and the penchant for “Oh, Golly Gee! My Stars!” doesn’t always mean the masses will now suddenly “get it” or you. Ask Gwyneth Paltrow.
Sure, twees will still have critics, but if you’re being your authentic self, what do you have to worry about? At least, with Audrey Hepburn, you’re in good company.
UPDATE: In the midst of our debating this topic, it’s come up that perhaps it’s unknown what a true Twee is, from a Twee’s perspective. Well, I offer you some musings from Bebe Zeva, a high schooler who’s also a blogger. In her writing, simply titled “How to Be Twee” she outlines the exact tenants of being twee. Have a read. She pretty much nails it.
