Bella Swan, Not a Role Model

 So Stephanie Meyer's Twilight isn't exactly feminist literature.  The main character, Bella Swan, is utterly dependent on her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen, in a way that is surely not at all a healthy relationship for girls to aspire to.  Bella would do anything for Edward, even die (or lose her soul by becoming a vampire).  By most feminist critic's accounts Bella Swan represents archaic gender stereotypes.  She is the submissive women, waiting around for her vampire lover, or werewolf admirer to save her from imminent danger.
But perhaps this is not what the adolescent girls who so earnestly adore the film and book series see when they look at Bella Swan.  I recently watched the second film in the Twilight series, New Moon, in the hopes of looking at it from a different perspective. What do adolescent girls see when they look at Bella Swan?
I came up with three main observations that may help explain some of the allure to young people and, perhaps, redeem the story a little.

1. Bella has no Charisma.

Admittedly, this is an objective observation and is up for interpretation but from where I sit there is nothing particularly cool about Bella Swan.  She is not smooth talking.  She is definitely not popular and has trouble fitting in.  Still, Bella finds herself the object of desire to not one but two handsome, supernatural beings.  Both Edward Cullen, a vampire, and Jacob Black, a werewolf, are hopelessly devoted to Bella and her protection.  Given that Bella is no more charismatic than her tween and teenage fans it is clear to see why they feel so strongly about the character.  They can identify with her, unlike the unlike some heroines of teen films or are extra smart (like Hermione Granger in Harry Potter), very beautiful (like Ariwen from Lord of the Rings) or amazingly skilled (like Katniss of The Hunger Games).  Any girl could just as easily be Bella Swan and this contributes greatly, I think, to her popularity.
2. Bella is Not Wise

Feminists look at Bella Swan with frustration.  She is, as Edward points out in New Moon, reckless and stubborn.  She does not think through her actions. For example, desperate for a hallucination of Edward (which in the film are regularly brought on by her reckless actions), jumps off a cliff into the ice cold ocean, alone without telling anyone.  All the while she knows full well a blood thirsty vampire is after her.
Even ignoring the murderous super human after her there is still the added danger of the cliff itself.  Jacob informs Bella that most people jump from much lower ledges. She also knows that those who jump from this ledge in particular are, in fact, super human werewolves.  Still, she jumps into the ocean with absolutely no plan on how to get out.  Only luck, in the form of Jacob Black's supernatural ability, saves her.
On a more relational level, Bella is desperate to become a vampire and stay with Edward forever.  She disregards the warnings that she will lose her soul and that the life of a vampire is a difficult one and begs to be bitten.  Her only reasoning for this is that she wants to stay with Edward forever.  In her mind she too must be young to match him if they are to be together.
Bella makes decisions based on emotion. Bella makes decisions like an adolescent.  Most of her choices are based on her own interests, mainly her love for Edward.  She is not guided by an esoteric mission (Contrast Harry Potter's quest to defeat Voldemort) or by a higher moral imperative.  She act only on her own desires, which is relatable for young, unattached adolescents who often want to break free from authority figures and do just that.
3. Edward treats Bella like a child.

Bella's adolescence is emphasized by the way Edward treats her.  He loves her, to be sure, but does not trust her judgement.  He tries to protect her from her own decisions, cautioning her not to be reckless and refusing to turn her into a vampire as she desires.
It is not surprising, given the way she makes decisions, that Edward treats Bella like a child.  Actually, to Edward who is 109 years old, Bella, at 18, is a child.  He tries to protect her in almost a fatherly way.  Much older and wiser than she, Edward makes decisions to "protect" Bella that she will not make herself, such as his decision to leave the town of Forks in New Moon.  Though Bella is left in a paralyzing state of depression, this protection is part of Edward's appeal.
Adolescents are not exactly known for valuing parental advice, which may be why Edward is a much more palatable source of guidance.  Bella feels distant from her father, who is clueless about her difficulties.  Edward on the other hand is close, desirable, and wise.  Edward parents Bella much more effectively than her own distant, bumbling parents.  Adolescents this might be a way of fulfilling their need for parenting while still remaining separate from parents.
What does it mean?
What might be key to understanding why Bella Swan is so appealing is to stop looking at her as a role model.  It is entirely possible that girls do not necessarily aspire to be Bella Swan.  Rather, they identify with Bella in her feelings of  lack of power and desire for love, and to be grown up (or in Bella's case, a vampire). Bella is someone not all that extraordinary in and of herself. In this way Bella is a more realistic character.  Bella makes decisions that are actually reasonable to expect from a seventeen year old girl.  In this way, what is so attractive about her is that she is not supposed to be a role model, she is supposed to be just like them.
In the long run teenage girls should get a little bit of credit.  The Twilight Saga in and of itself does not necessarily create an ideal of the submissive woman and the "take charge" man, nor is it nonredeemable.  One parenting cite suggested that talking about Twilight with girls by help them better express issues regarding sex, relationships, and power structures that might otherwise be inaccessible or uninteresting to them, thus providing educational opportunities. Moreover, examining things from the other half, looking at Bella Swan in a more sympathetic light may help adults better understand how girls feel, in a world where they have limited agency.


http://www.commonsensemedia.org/video/modal/1248844


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/15/AR2008081503099.html