Okay, so we all remember our Twihard phase: the posters, the action figures, the jewelry, the magazines, the aggressive number of t-shirts. It was a beautiful time whether you were Team Edward or Team Jacob. For me Twilight was a way to distract myself from the painful torment of preteen youth but as I grew up I started to realize it was actually super toxic. How, you might ask? Let’s begin.
I looove love but that definitely wasn’t it. Fascination in the beginning turned to a sick, twisted ruination of self. Bella’s unhealthy infatuation with Edward almost got her killed at least five times over the course of the series. Love should be simple. Sure, I get the extenuating circumstances about her being human and him being a bloodsucking undead creature may have caused some hiccups but not several near death experiences worth of hiccups.
The “I can’t resist him” mentality is a beyond unhealthy idea for love that we were exposed to at such a young age. It’s the most anti-feminist idea that could have come out of that movie. She was no longer Bella in the end. She was a shell. She was an extension of Edward. I love the idea that you can become a permanent piece of you partner but that should be a even give and take. You should give as much as you are given. In Edward and Bella’s dynamic she became nothing but Edward’s personal plaything, completely losing herself in her first love which, if your first love was anything like mine then you know that that isn’t really love. To give yourself over completely to someone is never okay.
The ENTIRE series since she found out that Edward was a vampire she asked for him to end her young life. This makes me question: Was Bella suicidal or just aroused by the fear that should have rightfully been associated considering she was dating a freaking killer? There is evidence for both arguments. The suicide angle can be seen in the fact the she actively did things that could have killed her: jumping off a cliff, jumping on the back of some random stranger’s bike, dating a vampire. On the other hand, she also tries for the whole series to have sex with Edward which could have very well killed her. Either way, this isn’t exactly something I would want my hypothetical preteen daughter watching. This shit toxic.