THE BELLA QUESTION

[Maureen Johnson]

One of the crazy things about the Twilight phenom is that if anyone criticizes the book, they run the risk of getting slammed six ways til Sunday. (Believe me. This is true. And viciously. With incredibly filthy language and occasionally threats! NO I AM NOT JOKING. I have seen it happen!)

I'm not saying everyone does that. Nerdfighters probably wouldn't. I am just kind of dying to know where that kind of strength of emotion comes from. Twilight produces an extremely strong reaction in a lot of people. Even hardcore Harry Potter fans are unlikely to smack you down for not liking Ron or something. (Even though not liking Ron is BONKERS.)

What is it about Twilight and/or Bella that people like so much? Specifically. I mean, as specific as you can possibly get. Tedious detail is fine. I'm particularly curious about Bella as a character. How does she work for you? Does she? Can you be a Twilight fan and not like Bella?

(Please note that I am not actually saying anything about the book. This is purely a discussion question.)

[CaptainK!]

I think that Bella's pretty stupid, and Edward's a total creep so, you know, oh well?...

[Mercy Johnson]

As an answer to your question about being a Twilight fan and not liking Bella, it's entirely possible. I used to be a huge Twilight fan (until I was driven mad by the obsessive Edward fangirls, but that's another story....), and I hated Bella. She's such a weak character. She can't live her own life without Edward. Obviously a lot of people these days are pretty dependent on their significant other (or whatever), but the way Bella's life was destroyed in New Moon was just kind of appalling. I mean, who is so weak and dependent that when they're told their true love is never going to see them again, they curl up in the middle of nowhere and act they just lost their soul?! And, sure, saying "their true love is never going to see them again" sounds pretty harsh, but a lot of things are pretty harsh. And people don't react the way Bella did.

[Nerdylation]

I'm in the odd position of thinking Twilight is the worst book series ever written, but I'm more angry at Harry Potter. As it says on my page, I can forgive a book for being terrible, but mediocre is a sign of not even trying.

I only like Luna Lovegood because I like girls who are a bit Loony.

[amari kyoto]

i think ppl like the book soo much because like life we all want what we cant have...perfection...and edward is that...personally i like bella but she is to pesimistic!

[Becka]

I should like to point out, in defence of the fans, that the anti-Twilighters can get equally defensive when talking about the books.

I say this as a person who tends to get very vocally anti-Twilight when confronted.

[Sidnee Grubb]

I really like Bella.
I think she is a strong female character.
Who gets incredibly lucky by meeting a beautiful creature like Edward.
She may be a little love struck at times. But she is a really great character all around.

[strawberry moors]

my cousin told me that at a lecture they were discussing great modern works literature of literature and one of the students mentioned twilight. the professor disagreed (quite rightly) with the sudent. on his way home the lecturer got jumped by the kid and her mates for saying twilight was not a great work of literature :O
that is fandom for you.

[Nicole Hinton]

That's not fandom...that's extremism. And scary.

[Nicole Hinton]

It's a weird phenomenon, the defensive/aggressive twi-hard is.
I personally don't know many people who even remotely like Bella as a character, so I find this to be an interesting question. Despite my general dislike of the series, I think Bella is one of the more realistic elements in the story. I remember being as weirdly obsessive and emotional as she is at her age, and everyone (at some point in their life) fantasizes about having a perfect something. Bella succeeds in her own interpretation of this wish, and I think that may have something to do with why some people, particularly young girls can/wish to relate to her.

[Brittaneee]

I have to agree with this. I know there were some levels that I did relate to Bella (not all but some). I think what a lot of people, especially younger girls, find appealing is that she is a full on regular girl. And while in a lot of books the girls are also very regular, Bellas character almost takes it to a new level. I mean really, in the books her only talent was her being so closed in that Edward couldn't read her thoughts. She really is a weak character in that sense (actually in other senses too but especially in that thee is nothing incredibly interesting about her) but by doing that she is so appealing to so many people because they find at least one thing where they relate to her.

[ashaberry]

The more I think critically about Bella, the less I like her but on my initial reading I really enjoyed the characters. (Team Jacob all the way though - I like Edward but still).

I think Bella works because she is very nearly a blank slate: she has issues that many teenage girls share (worries that she's ugly, clumsiness, feeling like she doesn't fit in) and so you can project yourself onto Bella without a lot of effort. (potentially that sentence could read: I could project myself....) I love small towns and greenery but don't need to focus on those details of her to find things to relate to - like volleyball failure.

And Bella suddenly realizes that she's special: awesome guy likes her, she has quasi-special abilities, all the kids in town want to be her friend. And though she rationalizes most of it it's still a total teenage girl fantasy. Oh you thought you were normal and boring? Well actually you are beautiful and unique! (While still being bookish and insecure and kind of dorky. For all the stalkery weirdness of Edward, he never does expect her to change those aspects of herself and become someone new.)

I think it's the wishful fulfillment nature of the Bella character that strikes such a chord with her defenders - attacking her is attacking them. Especially since the most common attack against Bella is that she is weak and her boyfriend's a creep. But if you commit to those books you are going to spend over 2000 pages hanging out in Bella's brain as she tells you about herself. If she is weak than the story means less - because the idea is that she is actually strong - making the hard decision to follow true love rather than the easy decision to live like a normal person and give up on love.

Though obviously many fans are a bit anti-Bella I think that is the major reason her defenders can be so fervent because they see themselves in her and take it a touch personal.