Edward vs Jacob
Look at the headlines and you’ll see lawmakers debating health care, terror trials and the war in Afghanistan. The rest of the population, however, seems far more enthralled with a much more heated debate. This other conflict has the American people completely divided, in a split more fractious than all but the most visceral of political and religious conflicts.
The cause of this division? The debate over who should win the heart of the Twilight series’ Bella Swan. Those rooting for Bella’s cold as ice vampire love have sworn their fealty to Team Edward, while fans of the more hot-blooded weres wave their banners for Team Jacob.
And when I say fans, I am of course referring to droves of shrieking, fawning, fainting teenage girls. Although plenty of others have joined in as well.
Not yours truly, however. While I’ve read the first three books in the four-part series, I’m not enough of a fan to want to see either the first movie, Twilight, or the much anticipated sequel, New Moon, which has broken all kinds of box office records since it opened last week.
That’s not to say that I haven’t chosen sides. No, I’m firmly planted in the Team Jacob camp. A decision which, thankfully, was confirmed by a cosmogirl.com quiz just this morning. I would have lost all respect for myself if the results had said otherwise.
It’s not really that I’m a “werewolf kind of girl,” as the quiz surmised. Excessive body hair can be a bit of a turn-off, I’m afraid. Although I can thoroughly appreciate his physical prowess and stamina. Yowza.
No, the real reason I support Team Jacob is that I’m not a fan of his blood-sucking rival, Edward Cullen. Or more precisely, I dislike who Bella becomes when he’s around.
I can see why she fell for him. I think most women are drawn to the mysterious, brooding type. Particularly if their skin glows like diamonds in direct sunlight. It’s probably hormonal.
But she’s just so blah. I like my central female characters to be strong, and she is anything but. Especially when Edward’s around. Good lord, the girl can’t make a decent decision to save her life.
Heck, she seems hell bent on endangering her life, especially in the series’ second installment. I just can’t support that kind of self destructive behavior. Lets hope all these teenage girls who are such fans of these books and movies don’t look at her as a role model.
This is why I stopped reading the books, by the way. It was too much like watching a train wreck. In fact, I think there should be a third faction in this debate. We could call it “Team Lets Send Bella To Counseling,” or perhaps “Team Don’t Be a Sap.”
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November 27th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
1.) I feel really uncomfortable even writing this, cause i think that twilight is a waste of time, and because I am the stereotypical teenage girl.
2.) I understand why you would side with “Team Jacob”, but I am honestly in the middle. ‘Cause Jacob, (is pretty hot and…) i dunno… but Edward is kind of cute too, even though he is wearing more makeup than everyone else put together, and even though, cough cough *his abs are hairy* cough cough, i still think that he is really cute. If I were Bella, I would like Edward, just because of everything, and the fact that he doesn’t follow Sam the way that Jacob does.
3.) I don’t like Twilight AT ALL, ’cause… ok, so Edward is like 103 and she is 17 and it is totally unrealistic, the whole concept. also in New Moon, they have really ‘deep’ conversations but they are only teenagers and its kinda messed up.
4.) What you say about “central female characters being strong”, you are TOTALLY right, but honestly, if you were Bella, wouldn’t you be sweeped away by 2 hot guys? I mean seriously, think about it… I can’t tell exactly how old you are by your picture… so if your a teenager, then you should be able to understand what i just said and if your not then you are totally missing out.
Just wanted to share my opinion. Great blog.
Adri.