The Twilight Saga: The Red Flags on Both Team Edward and Team Jacob

Love it or hate it, you’re probably familiar with The Twilight Saga, consisting of five movies released from 2008 to 2012, based on the book series by Stephenie Meyer. Things begin with Twilight, where Bella (Kristen Stewart) moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father, the police chief. There, she meets and falls in love with the mysterious Edward (Robert Pattinson), who is a vampire. This puts her at odds with werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner), and though Bella ultimately ends up with Edward, their love triangle is a major plot point throughout the saga.

The movies had – and still have – a massive fan following. Their releases reignited the popularity of vampires, werewolves, and supernatural romances. The romantic love triangle was a particular favorite, with fans declaring themselves “Team Edward” or “Team Jacob.” However, over time – and as the target teen and young adult fan base has grown up – many have…
In Twilight, when Bella is trying to figure out what Edward is, she asks how old he is. After he says that he’s 17, she asks how long he’s been that age. He simply says, “A while.” It’s later revealed that Edward was born in 1901. While Edward is physically 17, it can’t be ignored that mentally and emotionally, he’s over 100 years old, which technically makes it an underage relationship. This is a bit of a gray area, as Edward is still 17 in most senses. However, it’s hard not to think of how much more mature he is compared to Bella, especially considering the experiences he’s been through. This gives them an early imbalance, even before Edward engages in manipulative behaviors.
Jacob also isn’t perfect and has many red flags in his relationship with Bella – not even mentioning his imprinting on her newborn baby, which is downright creepy. Most of his actions center around still loving Bella even after she’s turned him down. He fully believes that he’s better for her and tells Bella this. This unfairly puts her in between him and Edward and in between the Cullens and the wolves. This escalates into him frequently forcing her to choose between them and threatening to remove himself from Bella’s life entirely if she stays with Edward. This is a form of manipulation that gives Jacob the upper hand while disrespecting Bella and trying to get her to choose him.