I reread the “Twilight” Saga—and

I reread the“Twilight” Saga—and Jacob deserved better

WHY I'M A TEAM JACOB CONVERT Written by Rachel Hale, Culture Editor Graphic by Mac Gale, Staff Graphic Artist

It has been nearly a decade since the final film in the “Twilight” saga was released in theaters, but the arrival of the series to Netflix last month sent many Twihards—myself included—running to reminisce in some Forks-fueled teenage nostalgia.

My anticipation of an inevitable movie marathon led me to reread the series, and yielded a revelation more unexpected than the twist ending in “Breaking Dawn: Part 2”: I’m now

Team Jacob.

Picking up the books for the first time since 4th grade, I expected to find some shortcomings with the plot, which is basically about a 100-something-year-old glittery vampire (Edward Cullen) endearing himself to a teenage girl (Bella Swan), who he occasionally wants to eat for lunch. Along the way, a shapeshifting werewolf (Jacob Black) vies for Bella’s affection, the peace of an age-old Native American treaty is threatened and a hybrid, vampire-mortal baby is born— easy to follow, right? Yet even as I noted aspects of the books that failed to meet my expectations a second read around, I was most shocked to realize how many of Edward’s red flags I overlooked in my youth. I’m under no illusion that Bella wasn’t going to end up with Edward—with all due respect to Team Jacob, it’s painfully obvious that she was going to choose the romantic, self-loathing vampire by the end of “New Moon”1 — but that doesn’t mean that Jacob wouldn’t have been better for her. Edward’s protective nature, which once seemed endearing to 11-year-old me, now appears overly controlling and at times downright creepy. For starters, his obsessiveness with being able to read her thoughts leads him to lash out more than a few times, and his natural concern for her safety turns toxic when he breaks her truck to keep her from visiting Jacob. And if spying on her in her sleep and following her everywhere in the first novel wasn’t enough, he’s impossibly clingy and sees no

problem with her cutting off her existing friends to spend more time with him. Worst of all is his own self-loathing, which nearly drives both him and Bella to death after he abandons her in a broken state, leaving Jacob to pick up the pieces. Jacob, on the other hand, falls for Bella for reasons unrelated to the allure of her bloodstream. A longtime family friend of the Swans, Bella comes to him for friendship in “New Moon,” finding that he’s the only person who helps fill the hole of Edward’s absence. Jacob is playful, caring and more than happy to let Bella lean on him for support, even when she initially insists that she doesn’t return his feelings for her. Despite the pain of her rejection, he continually makes sacrifices for her, keeping her safe from malicious vampires in the Cullens’ vacancy, abandoning his pack to protect her and even supporting her in pregnancy as she carries his rival’s child.

Opponents would argue that Jacob is just as dangerous as Edward: he’s temperamental, and a fleeting moment of anger could lead him to shift and lash out at her, just as Sam did to Emily. In “Eclipse,” Jacob kisses Bella against her will and later threatens suicide after finding out about her engagement, manipulating her into kissing him again.2 Despite these flaws, Bella finds that she’s in love with the werewolf in a way that doesn’t require her to be careful, and she ponders about a future with him where she wouldn’t have to give anything up. The two mythical suitors are hot and cold different—literally. It’s only a matter of days before Edward and Bella’s relationship brings on danger, from a mere paper cut to a chase with a tracker that forces her to betray Charlie and lands her in the hospital. In contrast, Bella’s relationship with Jacob comes about naturally, building motorcycles and eating muffins with Jacob’s Quileute friends. A future with Jacob would’ve allowed Bella to remain human, bear children normally and keep her family and friends involved in her life (and could have avoided the awkward imprinting-on-Renesmee situation). While the books compare Jacob to Bella’s personal, ever-shining sun, Edward’s love for Bella is akin to his personal brand of heroin. When Bella is with Edward, she’s intoxicated, willing to shut out the rest of the world and her better senses of safety, a fact of which Edward is well aware. Being with Jacob, alternately, completes the natural world she’s already living in. The effect of the “Twilight” series and subsequent Team-Edward-Team-Jacob debate can’t be understated: Just typing “Twilight” into Google images will have you scrolling through pages of hunky vampire-human-wolf trio pictures before finding a photo of actual dusk. The initial books and $3.3 billion five-film adaption3 that followed concluded in 2012, but Meyer’s August 2020 release of “Midnight Sun’” sent many fans spiraling back into

the comfort of the teenage love story, and a subsequent revival moment has sparked TikTok fashion trends and Instagram sliders catered to a new wave of Gen-Z fans.

Edward’s character isn’t the only part of the series that aged poorly in the time that has passed since, which saw the legalization of gay marriage, the rise of the MeToo movement and countrywide protest over police brutality. Namely, its purity culture and lack of diversity—having more characters of color and representation from the LGBTQ+ community would have greatly enhanced the plot (imagine an alternative plot where Alice had feelings for Bella too!). Still, these qualms couldn’t overcome my hunger for the page-turning books, which I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that I binged in under two weeks. As other longtime fans began their own reread of the series, some Team Edward supporters pointed to Meyer’s gender-swapped “Midnight Sun,” a retelling of the first book from Edward’s perspective, as reasoning to understand his intentions. But while the novel gave readers a further look into the incredible self-restraint Edward had, it only reaffirmed my belief that Jacob would’ve been healthier for Bella—Edward himself recognizes Jacob’s integrity in his pure thoughts and notes that he seems to be the human friend with whom Bella is most comfortable. All the while, we learn that Edward made up his mind to leave Bella early into the novel, despite seeing Alice’s harrowing vision of her in a lifeless state pending his departure. When Jacob arrives for an unexpected dance at the prom, Edward briefly considers him and Bella together, knowing Jacob possesses a quality Edward desperately wants Bel-

la to hold onto but will never have himself: humanity. In the following novels, Edward recognizes that Bella would be happy with Jacob, acknowledging that Bella’s feelings are partially a consequence of his absence in “Eclipse,” and even suggests that Bella have a child with Jacob to avoid the danger carrying his brings on in “Breaking Dawn.”4 Reflecting on the love story that captured millions a decade later, it’s clear the debate is a closed case: Bella ended up with Edward, crushing Team Jacob supporters everywhere. But last year, Meyer announced that she has plans for two more “Twilight” books in the future, leaving a path for the saga to stay alive for years to come. While Meyer confirmed that she won’t write anything more from Edward’s perspective (thank goodness), she has hinted that she may revisit Jacob and Renesmee’s story. Despite my embarrassment, I know I’ll cling on to every sentence if she does, but can’t help but hope that Jacob fares better off—out of everyone in the saga, he deserves it most. ■

Jacob, on the other hand, falls for Bella for reasons unrelated to the allure of her bloodstream.