There are plenty of things to both love and hate about The Twilight Saga. Like them or not, the novels and films helped spark a newfound interest in supernatural romances and vampires in general. In fact, from 2008 to 2012, teenagers loved everything to do with vampires and werewolves. But there is one glaring problem with Twilight: It doesn’t have the best protagonist.
Anyone revisiting the books and films today will immediately see that Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), the central character, is pretty problematic. She changed so much during the saga, and it was often for the worse. Many fans preferred other characters over her, which isn’t good since the story is all about her. Take a look at ten ways Bella got worse over time and how she's not exactly the best role model around.
She Made Major Life Decisions As A Teenager
It’s hard to believe that Bella is just 17 years old when Twilight began. She meets Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), and she knows he’s her soulmate. She doesn’t question that maybe she’s too young to know he’s “The One."
Throughout the saga, Bella makes important life decisions well beyond her teenage years. She decides at 17 years old that she wants to become a vampire and give up her mortality. In Eclipse, she accepts Edward’s proposal and doesn’t bat an eye to the fact that she will be giving up so much to be married to him. Throughout the saga, viewers forget that Bella is just a teenager who's barely out of high school. She may act more mature than her years, but Bella shouldn’t have to grow up so fast.
She Lost Her Ambitions
Bella doesn’t have too many interests outside of vampires and werewolves. This tends to make her a boring character for some fans. In fact, she doesn't have any hobbies.
In the beginning, Bella seemed interested in literature, particularly William Shakespeare's plays. She was intelligent in biology, and she loved her rustic truck. However, as the saga progressed, Bella lost her hobbies and ambitions. She doesn’t even pursue a career. She only wants to become a vampire, which is selling herself short since she had so much potential when viewers were first introduced to her.
She Ditched Her Friends
When Bella first moves to Forks, Washington, it doesn’t take her long to make friends. Everyone is infatuated with her. She forms a circle of friends, including Jessica Stanley (Anna Kendrick), Mike Newton (Michael Welch), Eric Yorkie (Justin Chon), and Angela Weber (Christian Serratos). However, Bella becomes a bad friend.
After she meets the Cullens, she starts ditching her friends. She used to be interested in them, even going shopping for prom dresses with Jessica and Angela. Jessica tries to help Bella after Edward leaves her in New Moon, but Bella later thanks her by not hanging out with her in the rest of the saga. It's clear that Bella doesn’t deserve the Friend of the Year Award.
Her Obsession With Edward
Bella loves Edward, but this soon turns into an obsession. In Twilight, their relationship is cute and normal—well, as normal as a vampire/human relationship can be. But in New Moon, Bella becomes obsessed with Edward. She’s also obsessed with age, since he's technically immortal and she isn't (yet). When he leaves her, she doesn’t know how to live without him.
In Eclipse, she’s determined to stay with Edward, no matter what. She’s only 17-18 years old and, once again, she makes the major decision that she has to be with Edward no matter what. It becomes a toxic relationship that no one should romanticize.
She Just Gave Up On Life After Edward Leaves Her
In New Moon, Bella becomes depressed after Edward breaks up with her. While this happens to plenty of people and mental health is certainly not a joke, fans acknowledge that Bella becomes too melodramatic.
For example, she sits on a chair for months on end. She refuses to see her friends. She doesn’t want anyone to help her. For lack of better words, she just shuts down. Unfortunately, her only solution is to become dangerous to herself.
She Can Be Dangerously Selfish
Bella can be really selfish at times. In New Moon, after Edward leaves her, Bella sees visions of him when she’s in danger. So, she becomes determined to put herself in dangerous situations to see him. She becomes more obsessed than ever before to see Edward’s face and to hear his voice. At one point, Bella rides motorcycles recklessly and even jumps off a cliff. Luckily, she didn’t die, but can you imagine if she did?
Not only would it hurt Edward, but it would destroy her parents. Bella is even more selfish in Breaking Dawn – Part 2 when she doesn’t listen to Edward’s advice about her pregnancy. She makes her own decisions, and this is one of the rare times Bella and Edward actually fight.
She Led Jacob On
In New Moon, Bella starts to hang out with her good friend, Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). Did she ever actually have feelings for him or was he simply a rebound when she missed Edward?
Jacob clearly loved Bella, but she didn’t share those same feelings. Regardless, she led him on, and she continued to string him along in Eclipse. She even kissed him. It was cruel to play with his emotions over and over again. She always gave him an inkling that maybe someday she would leave Edward.
She Was A Perfect Vampire
Bella was a pretty clumsy human. She tripped and fell down on numerous occasions. She was terrible at volleyball. Because of her many quirks and flaws, many fans related to her. However, this changes in Breaking Dawn – Part 2.
When Bella becomes a vampire, she basically becomes perfect. She doesn’t have a hard time controlling her thirst for blood. She’s good at hunting. She acts like she has been a vampire for years. It’s like she was never an awkward, clumsy teenager. Fans related more to the imperfect mortal Bella than they did with the perfect vampire Bella.
She Got Furious At Jacob About Imprinting On Renesmee
In Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Bella finds out that Jacob imprinted on her newborn daughter, Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy). The whole plotline of werewolves imprinting on their significant others is still pretty confusing and troublesome, but Jacob didn’t have a choice. It was involuntary, but Bella doesn’t handle the news very well.
In fact, she screams at Jacob for this, leading to one of the most cringe-worthy moments in the whole saga. He was her loyal friend and she used to have a clear understanding of how imprinting works. She knew Jacob didn’t mean to imprint on Renesmee and yet, in that brief moment, Bella forgot everything she knew and exploded at Jacob.
She’s A Terrible Daughter
During the course of The Twilight Saga, Bella becomes a terrible daughter to her parents, especially her dad Charlie (Billy Burke). In the beginning, they seem close. They eat dinner together and they have a great relationship. However, as the saga progresses, she spends less time with him.
It gets so bad that by the time of Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Bella completely ignores Charlie after giving birth to Renesmee. She does this for his safety since she’s a newborn vampire, but she doesn’t even inform him about what’s going on. He worries about her, thinking she’s gravely ill. Charlie is a caring father who always wants the best for Bella. It’s unfortunate Bella became a distant daughter.