The Twilight Case – It’s not what it looks like.

“Overprotective isn’t he?” Jacob said, talking just to me. “ A little trouble makes life fun. Let me guess, you’re not allowed to have fun, are you?” (Eclipse, 82)

Before I start, I want to confess that I read the books in less than a week, and yes, I was hooked. I can see why girls are crazy about the books; they’re blinded by the supposedly ‘true love’ the main characters (Bella and Edward) experience.   At first sight it seems romantic and dream-like but it’s not. It came as no surprise, that a few days after I finished reading the books, I went for a second read. This time around though, as I payed more attention to the plot and I analyzed the characters, I realized how many flaws this series have. 

I do not hate the books. I don’t. Because that’s what they are, books, and they’re meant for entertainment and are purely fictional. It would all have ended here if it weren’t for the Twilighters. That’s what bothers me and that’s what this argument is really about. It’s not the book per se what antagonizes me, it’s the people that see only what they want to see and are unable to understand all the bad things these books offer. 

Let’s start this thing then. 

Characters

1) To Bella, Edward is just a pretty face with a nice six-pack. What happened to ‘loving for what people are inside’? She’s always rambling about how gorgeous he is but does she ever say what’s so great about him besides how handsome he is? 

2) The whole time, Bella plays the victim. She whines about Forks, but as I see it, she’s very lucky to be so popular so fast. Everyone seems to really like her. In real life, it wouldn’t have happened that way. When you’re new in a school you’re bound to spend a couple of days wandering around alone. But not Bella. ‘Boohoo, a lot of boys have a crush on me! What am I gonna do? This sucks!’ Please… 

She also has very low self-esteem and thinks she’s not worthwhile. 

Loving yourself is the best kind of love out there, and you can’t accept other people’s love until you feel it for yourself. So how can she love Edward so much and accept his ‘love’ if she doesn’t love herself?

 3) Edward is controlling, possessive, manipulative, abusive and a stalker. I think he is mentally unstable and has anger issues.

4) Neither of the characters have a personality. The only thing we know about them as persons (in Edward’s case as vampire) is that they supposedly love each other. 

5) Bella doesn’t love Edward, she worships him. Huge difference. 

6) Bella is needy and clumsy. Nothing special about her. Her whole life revolves around Edward and when she’s not with him or thinking about him she becomes some sort of depressed suicidal zombie. 

7) Bella shows self-depreciating behavior as a human. She hated positive attention, like the parties and make-overs Alice insisted on. She hated gifts, because that meant she was worth other peoples effort. She preferred the door mat persona, and got upset when anyone sacrificed or took risks on her behalf. She really thought she was worthless, and actually fought to keep it that way.

Flaws in the  story

1)The abusive relationship between the two main characters is portrayed as romantic. 

2) The story has no plot, no development and no theme that would actually apply to life. It’s all about how Bella loves Edward. ~So she loves him, we get it! 

3) The vampires claim Bella’s blood smells so much better than regular humans’ blood, but they never explain why. [Prepare for comparison -> In the Sookie Stackhouse Novels by Charlaine Harris, the vampires claim that the main character’s blood smells and tastes a lot better and/or different from regular humans’ blood. But in the books, there’s an explanation as to why!] You can’t expect to leave all the details hanging and have no one notice. 

4) Throughout the books, Bella and Edward spend a lot of time in her room talking all night and often having make-out sessions. Bella’s father doesn’t seem to notice anything. Doesn’t he hear voices in her room? I mean, surely he doesn’t think she’s talking to herself, does he? That kind of indifference is not normal. I think it wasn’t meant to be that way but Charlie is either a really bad father or really stupid. 

5) I think something is just a little wrong with Carlisle. After all, besides his wife, he turned only teenagers/young adults. What’s up with that? 

6) The books encourage incest. I know the Cullens are not blood related but they have lived together for centuries. I think that qualifies as being ‘too closely related’. 

7) The books also encourage getting married prematurely only to have sex.

The books suggest that the werewolves experience some kind of pedophilia with the whole ‘imprinting’ thing. Jacob imprinting on Renesmee is just sick. I know it’s explained that Jacob sees her as a sister for as long as she’s young and all that but that just makes it even worse! Disgusting. 

9) Vampires do NOT sparkle. Sparkling is a fairy-ish quality and it goes against all vampires have been built up to be seen as through the ages.

10) IMPORTANT: If they don’t have fangs they’re not VAMPIRES! 

11) Another thing, vampires are by definition sexual beings – drinking blood and having sex pretty much go hand by hand. Virgin, fangless, vegetarian Edward is NOT a vampire! And I really find it disgraceful that they call the creatures in Twilight vampires. It’s an offense. 

**(I have a very strong idealism of what vampires are by definition. I know a lot of you will disagree but that’s the way I see it. It’s only my personal opinion)** 

Love? 

Edward stated that humans are naturally attracted to the beauty and even scent of the predator; him. So, isn’t it possible that Bella is only attracted to Edward physically rather than emotionally? Maybe she just fell into that inevitable pull of his that affects every girl and woman around him. In the books, Bella focuses on how perfect Edward is. She hardly ever describes his actual characteristics. So, yes, he can do pretty much anything but that doesn’t mean he can do it right. Bella barely describes his actual characteristics such as his musical skills and intellect, and focuses more on shallow things such as his face, eyes, six-pack, arms, chest, skin, hair, and his body in general. This is a perfect description of LUST. 

“You’re not good for me, Bella.” He turned his earlier words around, and so I had no argument. How well I knew that I wasn’t good enough for him.” 

Again, what is so great about him that she thinks she’s not good enough for him? Low self-esteem. This right here is one of the many proves that Bella/Edward relationship is unhealthy. She obviously thinks he is so much better than her and that’s why she does everything he says. Also, she forgives him EVERY TIME. Goddamn, he could kill her entire family and she would still forgive him. It is just pitiful that Stephenie Meyer can’t get a human girl to love herself without giving her super human powers and a need to drink blood.

All these flaws, all the issues in Bella and Edward’s relationship, they’re not really my problem. That’s the way the books are and that’s that. 

I’m a fan of vampires and supernatural creatures and I’m aware that in books and movies these creatures tend to be manipulative and abusive, just like Edward. No argument there. What really gets on my nerves is that in these books Edward is portrayed as the good guy and the perfect man(vampire), when he clearly isn’t. Even worse, girls all over the world have come to believe that they won’t ever be happy unless they find a copy of Edward that stays 24/7 with them and sneaks into their bedrooms at night. Not to mention that they’re expecting to have a boyfriend who won’t pressure them into having sex. All these things, of course, are unrealistic. 

The only reason why Twilighters won’t admit to all the flaws, is that they see the story through Bella’s eyes, and to Bella everything is so damn perfect. They see what Bella tells them, not what Bella shows them. 

Girls can recognize the flaws in Twilight but they refuse to see the flaws in Edward. 

Another thing, Twilighters don’t seem to respect personal opinion. They are willing to hate and verbally murder anyone who is not into Twilight or has something other than ‘Edward is so perfect’ to say about it. Here’s a really good example I came across with on a forum. (copied and pasted just as it was) 

“1.ARE YOU INSANE!?1?!?!?!?!?!

2.WHAT ON EARTH COULD POSSIBLY BE WRONG WITH THIS SERIES!?!!!??

3.What is your name, address and phone number, just so that i can track you down ank kill You with my super awesom vampire powers THAT I AQUIRED FROM READING THE SERIES!!!!!!!!!!

4.do you WANT a cult of angry twilight luvers like mysef at your doorstep at night trying to behead you????? you shouldnt voice an absurd oppinion like this on the internet.

5.(this isnt a question, more of a statment.) you must have not read much good litterature in youre life, because if you cannot appreciate the quality of this art…..YOU ARE MENTALLY UNSOUND!!!!!!!” 

So, not only they don’t respect personal opinion, but they can’t spell worth a damn.  

(Not pointing any fingers nor saying they’re all the same way.) They claim to be avid readers just because they read four books, and they keep saying over and over that the Twilight series are the best books ‘evah!’ But how would they know if they refuse to read any other piece of literature? Most of them had never read a book before Twilight and most of them won’t even try reading another book for a change. Twilight is almost like a bible to them, and Edward Cullen is the God they pray to at night. It’s pathetic. Can you believe some girls even CRY because they know Edward Cullen is fictional and that they will never have a boyfriend like him? Who the hell wants a boyfriend like Edward Cullen! Certainly not me. 

In conclusion, Edward Cullen is not the idealistic boyfriend that most -if not all – Twilighters dream him to be. He is controlling, manipulative, abusive, obsessive and mentally unstable. His relationship with Bella Swan is not healthy and is not the kind of relationship to look up to. Bella is a masochist and she likes to be bossed around. That’s why they’re so perfect together. Lusting your ‘lover’ with intense parasitical need for affection in order to feel good about yourself is not love. 

Girls, I know the effect that Edward Cullen pulls on you when you first read the books – believe me, I fell into his spell for about two weeks. Thankfully, I came around in time. It’s not too late for you You don’t have to hate the books or him, you just need to realize he is not what he seems.