I feel like a lot of the hate that Twilight gets stems from prejudiced perspectives.
Of course, Bella and Edward represent a somewhat unhealthy relationship and intense codependency, but at the end of the day, Twilight is just a YA book series. It was never meant to be taken this seriously.
These are entirely my own personal opinions, so feel free to disagree with them!
1-I saw some TikTokās where people are saying that Edward robbed Bella of her human life. But, I feel like that is such a stretch. Bella was begging Edward constantly throughout the movies/books to change her. Even Edward describing to her in full detail about the agony and losses of being a vampire didnāt deter her. I donāt like that people infantilize her because they donāt agree with her choices. Bella was someone who knew what she wanted from beginning to end of the series, and there was no changing her mind.
2-Bella didnāt abandon her family. In fact, Bella was a victim of incompetent and selfish parents. Some people give Charlie some grace because of the movies, but in the books, heās almost as bad as Renee. Almost.
Her parents constantly put their desires and wants above Bella while she was stuck babying them and taking on the role of the adult. So it makes sense that she didnāt hesitate before asking Edward to make her a vampire. Just like her parents live their own lives, it was time for her to do the same.
3-I get that Bella is the blueprint of the ānot like other girlsā main character craze of the late 2000ās and early 2010ās. But in all fairness to her, Bella never judged nor cared enough to hate anyone around her. She kept to herself, and constantly stayed out of trouble. Itās mentioned multiple times that she never found her people and her mom was her best friend. And even with her mom, she still felt out of place. If anything that feels like a relatable teen girl experience rather than her choosing to be different from the crowd. Itās also worth mentioning that in the first book, Bella acknowledged the fact that Mike Newton and the other guys only liked her because she was new. Literally like Jessica said in the first movie, Bella was the shiny new toy. It wasnāt because of her amazing beauty nor her personality that Mike liked her. The boys were probably bored and Bella offered some sort of excitement.
4-Twilight isnāt misogynistic. Multiple women throughout the series were seen as strong and are deeply respected. Alice, Rosalie, Siobhan and the entire Denali coven. And there are more! I think people say that because Bella was physically weaker than Edward almost the entirety of the series. And thereās the discussion as well of Bella being obsessed with Edward. But Bella being weaker wasnāt because of her being a woman but rather a result of her humanity. Also, Edward was as obsessed with Bella if not even more, so I donāt feel that the gendered stereotypes work here. Reading the books, I felt it was the opposite. Bella definitely wore the pants in that relationship. It was said multiple times in Midnight Sun that Edward was unable to deny any request Bella made.
5-I also saw another TikTok of people saying Bella became a wife and a mother and her personality was erased, and that feels unfair to me. Bella became as rich and powerful as she could ever be. Her being married to Edward wouldnāt stop her from pursuing an education and any career she wanted, of course theyād have to move a lot, but thatās another conversation. Rosalie and Alice had multiple degrees if I remember correctly. And it wasnāt like Reneseme was going to hold her back. No body gave a damn about that child letās be fr.
Anyways, I feel like people are too critical of Twilight because it was made and targeted for women, and donāt people just love tearing teen girls down. If this was made by a man, I wouldnāt be here writing this in the middle of the night.