“Say it… out loud…”
GASLIGHTING.
[Originally published on September 16, 2020]
I’m going to say something (or type rather) and I am not sure how it is going to be perceived. On the one hand, there are going to be tons of twi-hards with Stockholm Syndrome calling for my head (I’m really overestimating the importance of my opinion here) and on the other hand, some of you are going to agree. So here it is: Twilight is domestic abuse (and slightly pedophilic) fanfiction. There’s a lot to unpack here.
We all have just conveniently overlooked the fact that Bella is essentially a child, while Edward has almost a century on her. He has the mind of an old man and the body of a teenage boy. If a 17-year-old brought home her 100-year-old boyfriend, I’m pretty sure a parent would take issue with that. On top of the sketchy age difference, he also is abusive. Yep, I said it. Someone had to. Edward spends the entirety of the series gaslighting Bella, lying to her, abandoning her, abusing her physically and emotionally, and straight-up stalking her. Put that into the context of a nearly 100 year age difference, you start seeing Bella as a victim. Also a dumb bitch, but also a victim.
Midnight Sun, the newest addition to the series which tells the first book from Edward’s perspective, has proven that Edward is a predator. I haven’t finished it yet because it’s terribly repetitive and upsetting, but from what I’ve read of the first 200 pages, Edward is a psychopath. He literally is spending every waking moment obsessing over Bella like prey, while also gaslighting her. He’s literally fucking with her by talking to her, then ignoring her, then disappearing, then returning and talking to her; he literally tries to convince her that she’s going crazy, but also keeps reeling her back in for his own selfish purposes? That’s emotional manipulation and abuse.
What’s even more upsetting than the romanticizing of this kind of abuse is that it was marketed to tweens as not only normal but desirable. I don’t want to place sole blame on Stephanie Meyer for my bad relationship choices, but when you’re fantasizing at 14 about an emotionally unavailable older guy coming to sweep you off your feet it’s not not a factor. We all just accepted this and fed it to impressionable children much like Bella was (figuratively) fed to Edward.
Bella is also involved in another abusive relationship. Her relationship with Jacob. This playing field is slightly more even since he’s age-appropriate and she’s not blindly in love with him, but it is still incredibly problematic. In New Moon Bella suffers from crippling depression after Edward leaves (another example of his unhealthy control over her). Jacob exploits this opportunity to worm his way into her life. Then, in a classic example of addiction transference, becomes emotionally dependent on Jacob. He’s had an unhealthy and possessive crush on her since they are first introduced and now is his time to take advantage.
Bella is no angel though. It could be argued that Bella emotionally manipulates Jacob for the entire series, constantly stringing him along to get what she wants from him and then casting him aside as soon as Edward comes knocking, but this is a learned behavior from Edward. He taught her how to be emotionally manipulative and now this is the only way she knows how to show affection (don’t even get me started on her relationship with Charlie, but that’s for another day).
In Breaking Dawn Jacob imprints on Renesmee (Edward and Bella’s baby daughter). If you don’t know, imprinting is an involuntary thing werewolves do when they find their soulmate. Yes, you read that right. Jacob experienced love at first sight with a day old baby. Yet, no one cried pedophile. Edward doesn’t try to kill the adult man in love with his infant child. Sure, Bella is upset for like a second, but then gets over it? THIS IS FUCKED UP.
“It’s not like love at first sight, really. It’s more like… gravity moves… suddenly. It’s not the earth holding you here anymore, she does… You become whatever she needs you to be, whether that’s a protector, or a lover, or a friend.”
Jacob basically becomes Renesmee’s best friend/big brother, but there’s always the underlying pretense that they will couple up when she’s no longer, ya know, a child. Then Jacob has the audacity to try and rewrite history by saying he was never really in love with Bella. It was always the inevitability of her child that he was drawn to.
Someone could write a book on the psychology of Twilight and the emotional manipulation of it all. I wish I had the time to break down Bella’s relationship with her father (avoidant as hell), the incestuous nature of the Cullen family, Carlisle playing God, and so much more. I think the point I want to drive home here is that this franchise sucks. It teaches impressionable children to normalize abuse and probably has had lasting psychological effects on all of us who read these books as pre-teens. There’s a reason this series was the perfect foundation to launch a series also about the emotional manipulation and abuse of a woman (that’s right, Fifty Shade of Grey started as Twilight fanfiction). Let’s try and do better, shall we?
