The Twilight mania has received much media attention since the film’s opening, but how many of the articles you read talk about the themes of emotional abuse and obsession over Taylor Lautner’s sexy abs?

I’ll admit it. When I first read Twilight, I was frequently dazzled by Edward Cullen, hated Jacob for trying to steal Bella from him, and thought that Bella was the luckiest girl ever. But exactly how lucky is she?

Bella has an extremely attractive boyfriend (or husband by Breaking Dawn) who sweeps her off of her feet and loves her deeply, isn’t that what every girl dreams of, what our obsession with finding our Prince Charming is all about? In theory that’s how it should be, but when looked at closer, it’s easy to see that Bella is not someone to be jealous of and Edward is by no means the perfect boyfriend.

Bella and Edward are not so much in love, but obsessed with each other. Their happiness revolves around the other being safe, happy and in each other’s presence. They exchanged “I love you’s” maybe, what, hours after deciding that they were officially together. How healthy can that relationship be? To feel like you can’t breathe or possibly ever experience true joy without that specific person? That isn’t love; that’s obsession and obsession often leads to abuse.

In the beginning stages of abuse, the abuser often isolates his (or her) significant other from their friends and family. Often the abuser will convince his SO that being with their friends isn’t a good idea, saying arguments such as “I don’t want you hanging out with (insert friends name here). She’s a bad influence about you.” They’ll convince the abused person that they’re only doing it because they care when, in reality, it’s much safer to be with this friend who’s a “bad influence”. This same situation applies to Bella and Edward. Edward becomes angry with Bella’s friendship with Jacob and frequently tells her that she can’t hang out with him. His reasoning that he tells her is that Jacob is a new werewolf which makes him unstable which causes Bella to not be safe while she’s around him. Yeah. Because the vampire who is with Bella all the time even though he’s painfully tempted by her blood that at any moment the temptation can become too much to resist leading to her inevitable demise has any right to talk about what isn’t safe for her.
Edward thinks that he’s safer to be around than Jacob because he supposedly has more control over his actions than Jacob. We, as readers, know that Jacob has astounding control over his newfound abilities. Just to prove it, let’s look at when Bella decided to punch Jacob in the face. How much self-control do you think it takes a normal human being to not instinctively hit back when someone takes a swing at your face? Now, imagine how much self-control it takes a new werewolf who, biologically, is prone to having a temper. If you ask me, that’s a lot of self-control that Jacob has. Edward finds out about this ordeal, so obviously, he knows Jacob’s control. So, explain to me why he continues to use the “keeping Bella safe” excuse as to why she may not see her best friend.
Easy. Edward is jealous. Jealousy and control are the immediate warning signs in an abusive relationship Because the abuser doesn’t trust their significant other, they do their best to control what they do and where they go. Which is exactly what Edward does to Bella. Jacob had to kidnap her in order to see her because Edward didn’t “allow” her to see him. I have such a problem using the word “allow.” A person’s boyfriend or girlfriend has no rights dictating what this person can or cannot do. They’re supposed to be the one a person loves, not the authority figure in their life.
Yes, I’ll admit that Bella doesn’t fight hard enough against Edwards controlling actions, but that’s another story. I think it’s scary how teen girls are idealizing this relationship when there are so many flaws in it. Edward does love Bella; I’m not disputing that. I’m only asking one thing: Is this kind of love worth it?