An Ardent, Unironic Defense of Edward Cullen 

I'm so tired of hearing "omg it's such a bad message to send to young girls" young girls can be fascinated with bad messages and want to watch a train wreck sometimes. Why is nobody complaining of how much male violence young boys are exposed to through their media consumption? Nobody bats an eye. I liked Twilight as a child (then I started hating it because I was a pick-me teenager) and yet I never wanted an Edward or a Jacob. Even as an 8 year old I could separate fiction from reality.

I watched this after having my heart broken for the first time and having someone tell me "hey, it's okay to feel hurt. it's okay to be permanently changed because you love someone" was groundbreaking to me. thank you so much

“What is better? To be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?” -Paarthurnax

So as far as the woods go, Edward left Bella within view of the house. He didn't abandon her in the woods. But Bella was so distraught by his leaving, and wondered deeper into the wood looking for him until she got lost.

Another concerning criticism that I've run into a few times is that Edward sucks because he won't have sex with Bella until they're married. This tends to come from people who express very normal, healthy views on consent and sexuality, but then they turn around and make fun of Edward for being so old-fashioned and frigid. That just really bothers me. Yes, making a big deal out of virginity and purity is not good, but saying that Edward's a bad person because he won't bone his girlfriend is frankly appalling, especially once we see what happens when he does. The double standard in this situation is ridiculous. On a separate note, one thing I love about the Twilight franchise is the side characters. Characters that could easily be throw-away plot devices get mini arcs and moments to shine, like Angela asking her crush to prom. Jessica is the ditsy girly girl, but she deconstructs a zombie movie outside the theater and gives a thematically relevant speech at graduation. Charlie is the dad with a tangentially-plot-related job, but he also feels inadequate as a father as he struggles to connect with Bella. Rosalie is the disapproving relative to be won over, but it's because of her traumatic past and complex character motivations. Leah is the girl werewolf, but we see her grapple with her identity as part of the pack. I care about Seth and Bree and Kate and Garrett and I would literally die for Alice, and it's impressive to me that it takes so little screen time to be emotionally invested in these often understated characters.

Edward has always been my favourite character. He is the original "man written by women" because he is so understanding, committed, and more importantly devoted entirely to Bella and her independence, wants, and life. He is the dream tortured heart-throb, and Robert Pattinson did an excellent job portraying him as such.

Who knew 15 years after the first book came out I’d still be watching twilight commentary. Both my preteen self and fully grown adult self appreciate all the work and research you did for this video. Amazing job as always!

If twilight was really patriarchal propaganda I don't think Meyer would have ever written a gender bent version in which the male Bella is just as fragile and clumsy and the female Edward is just as formidable and sexy

As a romance writer, Bella and Edward actually kind of have a good arc! It's not necessarily well-written (although to be fair SMeyer does have her moments; New Moon's blank pages for Bella's depressive episode is perhaps melodramatic but also...literally the best way to express the things depression does not only to your subjective experience but also to your memory) but a girl who has found human connection to be unreliable because it always ends up hurting her and a boy who has actively avoided connection out of fear of hurting people both realizing that the risk is what makes that connection important and they'll both be hurt and hurt others no matter what, so they may as well attempt connection and happiness...it's good! It's a great "the same solution to opposite problems" set up! The fact that the external threats to their relationship are easily overcome when they work together is (or should be, with writing that supports it) a great underlining of the theme and the lesson they both need to learn! They struggle for longer than many couples because instead of each having something to teach each other, they are grappling with the same problem and not necessarily keeping pace! Also a girl from Phoenix falling in love with a vampire IS intrinsically hilarious and interesting for the sheer "wait, how is that going to work?" It is kind of a shame that Meyer's writing often didn't keep pace with her ideas, and that no one ever reined her in on the uhhh horrific racism present in multiple worldbuilding decisions, but like. It's a fundamentally relatable and compelling story. It's a little goofy and sometimes melodramatic, but it's both a teen romance and a vampire story. Goofy and melodramatic are both going to happen!

I'm scared because right now I'm reading Twilight, and I'm actually... surprised... shocked... that despite all its flaws and weird quirks it's a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The plot devices are fun, the tropes are played with in ways I haven't seen yet, and S Meyer (for all her faults) struck gold.

All I’m saying is this series had a huge cultural impact and the only reason it gets as much hate as it does is because it was enjoyed by primarily teen girls. And we all know that teen girls are *never* allowed to enjoy things sans ridicule.

The one hour, ten minute, forty five second video defending Edward Cullen that I have been longing for!!!!

"sometimes when i watch press junket interviews i feel like im watching a performance art piece on the meaninglessness of human connection" you're right, Robert seems sweet and genuine {and now i understand why i was endeared by Edward in the movies}. watching him fed to the soulless like Hollywood machine im wincing..

I just found this and really love it. I'm someone who was a tween and teen during the age of Twilight and I unapologetically loved it. As I got older the criticism got through to me and I was embarrassed that I liked it as a kid. Now I'm 28 and revisiting the series so I can make my own opinion. And guess what, I do really enjoy it!. It's lots of fun. And like many people say, I wouldn't want so.e of Edward's behaviors in a real-life relationship. But are we forgetting that he is a vampire? Some of his behaviors make sense in that context. And I feel the real fantasy lies in the fact that his base instincts tell him to kill her, but he loves her too much to follow through. That is fun, romantic drama right there. Just my two cents.

my thing on the scene after they do the do and she's bruised is only one opinion: She seems fully into it tbh. She isn't acting wounded or scared, she wanted more of that exact thing. Edward was the only scared one tbh

It's also quite nice how Twilight and Midnight Sun complement each other as "coming of age" stories for both Edward and Bella. Edward battling his stalker homicidal vampire tendencies as he navigated his first love, understanding attraction, jealousy, insecurity, and learning boundaries as a mighty powerful and lethal being, was kinda great storytelling. Bella being a girl who had to step up where adults in her life couldn't, becoming a teen who couldn't quite relate to her peers, then going to the very same city where her mom felt pressured into a traditional housewife role, but finding some empowerment and release from patriarchy by becoming a vampire and entering a community where everyone was equally capable, strong, beautiful and rich could have been a quite interesting and progressive take. Weirdly, I think that Stephenie Meyer was trying to explore that in her own very flawed way. And I might die on this hill, but I can see how in Eclipse Stephenie really tried to build an arch to show Bella and Edward working towards a healthier relationship. Bella finally realized that Edward wasn't perfect, started to establish some boundaries and trust her own judgement. Edward started to realize that a lot of his creepy controlling behaviors towards Bella were not just for protection or with her best interest at heart, but also motivated by patterns and feelings he didn't recognize. Both tried to communicate and have important conversations, learning how to honor each others needs and find compromises. Of course all of that was influenced by some degree of wrong or dangerous beliefs about race, gender roles, love, marriage, sexuality and whatnot, and that might have something to do with Stephenie's religion, community and upbringing. But ultimately, she just wasn't the super reactionary mormon she was painted to be, and it doesn't seem like she was trying to push any anti-feminist agenda.

Absolutely gorgeous conclusions. I always identified with Bella because I've always been easily attached and overly forgiving of flaws and easily emotionally damaged by abandonment and insecurity in relationships. I didn't think their romance was aspirational, it's relatable. The powerful beautiful man with the power to hurt you beyond repair? Yeah I've had that... But the aspirational part was that Edward WANTED to be good for her, he wanted her to have a happy healthy normal life and he made her a stronger version of herself through his support. And your partner making you stronger doesn't have to be misogynistic... He does have a moral code and classical values that are rare in society today. He's not possessive or controlling. This is Edward's first relationship too, he's just fell into a path of pain paved in good intentions.... Which is more than you can say for many men who have murky intentions the whole time

The fear of relationships doesn’t only happen in romance but family and friendships as well. I always admired how Edward swallows his wants and impulses and hurts for Bella’s sake. He is committed. And it’s something I experience everyday with any kind of relationship. Feelings and my own nature sometimes go against true love and it’s an internal fight

There is an undercurrent of Mormonism within the Twilight universe, how much is intentional and subconscious on Myers part I’m unsure. However, Roman Catholicism was the literal bloodline within almost all of Anne Rice’s books. I always thought that the Catholic tone of Interview with the Vampire was so potent it was almost impossible to understand the themes without yourself being Catholic. Rice is considered a literary genius whereas Myers can’t exist without a level of criticism disproportionate to her abilities.

The main reason I loved Twilight was how it flipped the vampire narrative on its head. Instead of living in some faraway castle in Romania, they live amongst us. The danger is amongst us. And that's reality. The biggest threats aren't hiding out in back alleys waiting to spring on unsuspecting victims. They're our neighbors and peers.

Applause for voicing this point so eloquently! Ever since the Twilight Renaissance when people finish off their retrospective with "well, the thing ain't good, but it made people happy so... okay" I felt a bit off. Baby talking to teenagers isn't great, but like you said, everyone to a certain extent went through something that felt like Twilight. Growing up is confusing as hell, and making decisions for the first time in your like regarding morality, acceptance and so on is even worse. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, on taking the stance that it did have a point, even if most people seem to dislike the point it tried to make!

Bella may want what she needs from the beginning, but there is conflict in that her wishes are not accepted by others, including the one who can grant them. In this can be seen a story of a woman who knew how she wanted to live her life but had to stand strong in the face of conflicting opinions from everyone around her who thought they knew better, as well as having to make the choice of a life she herself preferred rather than living for someone else (Charlie). In that sense, Twilight is feminist.

“His most interesting story is at the melanoma clinic” 😭 thank you for this video

I used to think why is Edward and Bella’s age gap such a problem when ppl love couples like Kagome and Inuyasha? She’s from modern day Japan while he’s from medieval Japan, and I haven’t heard one complaint. When Wendy decides to grow up and Peter Pan comes back and takes Jane to Neverland, is that creepy? Is he seen as an old man stuck in a child’s body? So I’ve just come to the conclusion that everyone hating on Bella and Edward’s “age difference” are just picking and choosing which age gaps are okay and not okay to them

I honestly don't care about Twilight and have never done so but I clicked on this because I loved the non-ironic passionate attitude you gave off in the title, and I just fucking love how it ended up as a REALISTIC and HUMAN perspective on storytelling, relationships, love... we REALLY needed this, it's so refreshing to see media analysis by someone who isn't reactionary and who is media literate and knows how to ACTUALLY read stories and not just ignore the purpose of the story, and characters and plots... down with one dimensional media analysis that treats characters and stories as if they are real and should thus be judged and interpreted literally with real world standards. Every choice in writing, even the ones made subconsciously or made by non-action, is meaningful and is meant to communicate ideas and themes. You get it! I love this shit! Thank you for sharing your perspective! Also FLAMING LIPS SWEEP.

When ever someone hates on Robert Pattinson because of how he talks about those movies, I remember that clip where Tyra Banks demands that he bite her neck on her show, and you can see the final ounce of joy in his life leave his eyes.

"He's boring, that means he's on God's side." made me laugh too hard. Great essay!

I love the breakdown of why age gaps are creepy and why "but he's over 100!" didn't quite make sense to me. Great analysis, keep up the great work 👍

Thanks for this. I was 27 when I got hooked on the books and it reminded me of the old world romance I read as a kid like from "Jane Eyre", "Pride and Prejudice" as well as "Anne of Green Gables". I love that Edward is old school and protective.

I love seeing how in all of its infamy, Twilight has inspired so much discussion. Regardless of if I think it's "objectively" good or bad, I'm happy that I grew up in the time of Twilight, because it is such an interesting stand-apart work of fiction. It dove head-first into romantic ideals in a way that most modern narratives just don't, and this video covered that SO well! Why can't something be both ridiculous and wonderful? Why can't a work of fiction surrender to all the things we aren't supposed to as real people? That said, it did kinda lead to the awful trend of fanfics-to-film-franchises and cursed us with the wolf man, so I'm so glad this was in the defense of Edward, specifically!!

Can you do a video for Bella as well? I feel like she also gets a lot of undeserved criticism.

This is one of the best-written, most well-thought-out video essays I've ever had the pleasure of watching. Thank you

I feel in the analysis of vampires you miss that the vampire can also be frightening because on a truly base level, asides from the works of British authors and interpretation, vampires are also representative of the resentment felt by feudal serfs towards their lords. The idea of an aristocrat who literally sucks the blood of his lessers reveals what serfs truly thought of their lord in an interesting way, and that through line can carry forth. In interview with a vampire for example, Louis was literally a slaver who drank from his slaves and Lestat is an aristocrat (even if he is poor). This isn’t the primary focus of the novel, but I still think it’s important that all of these prominent vampires are rich, white, and literally suck the blood from the poor Vampires are capitalism basically, and that’s still frightening

I was born in provo, utah and raised extremely mormon, as well as being a young girl around the time twilight spiked in popularity. Twilight was extra popular in Utah because mormons are very proud of their own, and I was deeply into it for years. Your comments that boil down to being a mormon housewife likely informs the values meyer has and what she thinks is romantic, but her writing doesn't actively push an agenda are correct, in my opinion. Abstinence until marriage is obviously a very mormon value and the value on the marriage as a whole are things that align well with what you're taught as a girl in mormonism, but in as much as the culture you grow up with influence the things you'll like and make.

Thank you for doing this. As an 11 year old, initially I LOVED Twilight, I had my room covered in the posters and read all the books over like two months even though I hadn't read anything before for pleasure that my school or family hadn't assigned. I was then laughed at for liking it at school and from then on for the rest of my teenage years I thought I could only enjoy it as a 'guilty pleasure', and lately since finding this video (amongst others), I realised for once, it doesn't have to be a pleasure to feel guilty about. As you said, it's a story about that intense 'hormonal' love that I think we are lucky to feel in our lives and tbh I agree it's nice to have a story about that, as it's a powerful, confusing feeling.

I almost cried at the end of your beautiful analysis. I read twilight for the first time at 11 y/o and I'm 28 now, it was the book that started my love for books and reading, I've been watching a lot of analysis of the movies and books this past 3 years and I always get to see the story from a new perspective. Thank you for your video, it was beautiful

Adding this on quickly; I also feel like ppl immediately regard Bella (and the girls she represents) as stupid, vapid and naive. Bell might be very much an ingenue but she’s also a pretty well-rounded person. She was parentified by both of her parents and became almost entirely responsible for keeping the homes together at 10 years old, making sure all the bills were paid on time, learning to cook young because the food her mother and father made was inedible, getting a job at 14, going grocery shopping the second she got a drivers permit at 15, doing almost all the household chores and still doing okay at school. She was bad at math and PE, she cried whenever she got mad or felt made fun of, she struggled to connect with people her own age because of the unstable and adultified life she’s had to live. She felt like her mom was her best friend and felt responsible for both of her parents because she didn’t feel like they were really capable of taking care of themselves and therefore felt guilt for not spending more time with her father growing up and simultaneously felt guilting for leaving her mother to “fend for herself.” She grew to like and eventually fall in love with Edward for very cute, mostly normal reasons (he’s hot and actively listens to everything she says.)

I haven’t finished the video yet but wanted to leave a comment before I forget. I agree that when you only look at Edward and Bella the age difference isn’t really creepy because he was frozen in time. However SM has many examples of normalizing older men being with younger women. One of the werewolves helping to raise a toddler and expecting to date her once she’s a teenager is creepy af, same with Renesme. She has another book called The Host. It’s a really entertaining post apocalyptic series but there are two different underage girls that get with adult men by the end of the book. There was no reason for their age difference.

this captured so much of why I love the series and I always like describing the series as having great concepts without great execution (which is what fanfics are for) but honestly, thank you for this, this is a really great video.

I think the only flaw in the twilight saga is that Bella is mostly driven by her feelings for Edward, and she has no more personality apart from these two boys she fell for, we don’t get to see her interests or goals or develop real friendships

I'm very very liberal & I like Twilight (aside from that whole wolf telepathy scene where I had to leave the theater for a few minutes because I could not stop laughing at that ridiculousness). I did, however, make sure to explain to my girls the problematic parts, ya know, like a responsible parent who wants their children to have healthy relationships. There are red flags that would be incredibly problematic if they happened in real life, just like with darn near all movies ever.

I once spent winter vacation sweating over a graduate level Vampires in Literature class for fun. I could have just waited a few decades and watched your video instead. Damn! Well done you :)

I laughed for a solid five minutes at "VAMPIRE BOARD OF DIRECTORS"!!

I can see how much work you put into this video and it is a great analysis, so I wanna congratulate you and thank you for that. I would also like to add something that pisses me off about all this Twilight hatred in a particular way, namely how people - and when I say people, I think it's mostly a certain category of feminists that does this - hate Bella for being "useless", for "doing nothing" for being the "demoiselle in distress". They compare her to Hermione saying how Hermione was so amazing with all her smarts and spells and punching Slytherins in the face and being a badass. In today's society, that's pretty much the narrative: that if you wanna matter as a woman, you need to be more like a man, you need to constantly compare yourself with a man and prove "everything he can do you can do better" and all that. And somehow if you chose your life legacy to be teaching kindergarten or being a housewife, you're just not successful, cause basically if you're not some sort of girl boss, who are you? And from my humble point of view, for a 17 years old girl with no special magical powers whatsoever, Bella is incredibly strong and brave. I'd love to see how brave they were at that age. It's just not fair that just because she doesn't fight with a sword or guns or shoot lasers from her eyes while walking sexy in slow motion all Lara Croft-like, her courage and sacrifices aren't viewed as valid or important. In the books we are told how she takes care of her mom, she cooks and takes care of the household, she sacrifices her happiness multiple times so that the ones around her get to live their happiness, even when she moves in with her dad she's more concerned with his happiness and worries about him being lonely. She never gets pushed around and doesn't give up, her intuition and emotion tells her what she wants and what she doesn't want and she is going for it without blinking, willing to accept whatever consequences there might be. When she thinks James kidnapped her mom she doesn't think twice about going there to die so that Renee can hopefully be safe. And not to mention when everyone was freaked out about her baby killing her, how all she cared about was her baby being born healthy, no matter if it killed her in the process. And I've heard people saying she does all this because she's just emo and suicidal and bored with her life and doesn't have anything good to live for. But isn't it kinda dumb to look at it that way? Even when she becomes a vampire, her special power is a shield, because she's always been a protector and an intuitive person, which is the ultimate feminine energy. She's always been lead by love, not just for Edward, but love in general. She is very similar to Carlisle in that way, I think. Cause he is also a person that chose to be good, to help others, to be a protector. And passive protection is just as valid and important as active protection. She reminds me of this quote that goes: "Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid" which is what happens in twilight, her courage, love and determination inspire people to wanna join their cause, get involved. The wolves join them, the other vampires join them, because what they're there to protect is something we all care for and need in the world: love and truth. Everything Bella wanted, she's been told she can't have, yet she managed to get. Even when the Cullens told her that once she becomes a vampire she'll have to say goodbye to her parents for good, well, the universe bent to her will so that she could. So, I would love to hear your thoughts on this, Maybe you can make another video on it some time :)

This is genuinely the most refreshing and well thought out take of Twilight I ever heard! Thank you for this incredible piece, I will be sending it to all the haters :)

Holllllly mooooly this videooo. I was one of those hardcore twihards for years since it came out. And I never thought of the things you said in a very articulated way. Amazing video

That giggle by Michael Sheen is one of my favorite things ever 😂😂😂

This was a fabulous video essay and you've done what I thought impossible: you changed my mind about Twilight. Now Fifty Shades on the other hand, that shit is toxic waste. It does everything Twilight is accused of doing while lacking the mitigating context. I used to lump the two together in my mind, but now I see that Fifty Shades is the product of someone who got the wrong impression from Twilight and thought that wrong impression was a good thing.

my god, i love this video. i've grown so tired of video essays, but finally- an intelligent, nuanced, thoughtful argument (not trying to 'you're not like other girls' you, just saying this isn't just a summary of the plot which is rare) and you've spoken about the vulnerability of love in a way that's very compelling and true. you're so underrated, how is this not viral?

Gosh this was such a smart analysis. I was also in the group of 12 year olds who didn’t watch it because it was “stupid”. I saw the movies for the first time when I was 21, and they weren’t masterpieces, but they were enjoyable. I resent the idea that stories about love are for stupid, when like you said almost every person experiences love in some way. I think media also just loves to invalidate the interests of teenage girls. Like if the largest part of the audience is teenage girls then it’s automatically thought of as being dumb, without any further analysis. Of course the movies had problems - especially the appropriation of the Quileute, yikes - but the love story between Bella and Edward is decent entertainment. I wish teenage girls were allowed to enjoy things for just being fun to watch, instead of being ridiculed because they want to enjoy things that aren’t deeply intelligent classics or whatever lol.

My BIGGEST issue with Edward is that he stopped eating rapists and pedophiles, predators need a natural predator of their own and he can read minds so he knows without a shadow of a doubt that they are guilty... but he's just too damn Mormon and has an obsessive reverence for human life. *eyeroll* Other than that I think most of his controlling behaviors were just him being traumatized by losing his mother at 17 and nearly dying himself just to go and fall in love with an admittedly frail mortal. I think it speaks volumes that he immediately apologizes for underestimating Bella when she becomes a vampire and adapts to it like a duck to water. He's happy to admit he was wrong and acting out of fear for the majority of their relationship, he's happy to admit he was wrong to project HIS hangups around vampirism onto Bella. Bella is more similar to Emmett, she LOVES being a vampire, and she also has a debilitating fear of aging lol. I also have a theory that Vampirism stunts brain development so while he has a lot more life experience, I fully believe Edward is working with the same partially formed 17-year-old frontal lobe as Bella is... and by the end, she's got at least a year of brain development on him! Because if his body stopped aging at 17 why would his brain do anything different??? Why else would he need to go to daddy and mommy for advice so often???? Like I know the vampire parents thing is to make them seem more normal but I feel like he actually needed parental guidance, and so did his siblings. Although I'm just going to keep pretending Carlisle is 43 and not 23 because wtf is that??????

A part of the apeal of the book for me was the fantasy of never being sick or poor and having a family with unconditional love. Like, i enjoyed the romance, for sure. But basically the concept of having a life that didnt have any of challenges I faced IRL? That was amazing and I dont see it as talked about. Bella didnt get a boyfriend, she got a lifestyle.

Wow. I'm just... I'm blown away. Twilight was the first book series I read as a young woman, the first romance novel I ever read and felt personally, deep in my soul. I feel that I got very lucky in that I did not have my experience belittled or poisoned by outside forces. My parents loved that I loved reading, they took me to all the movies and encouraged my enjoyment. Twilight meant, and still means, so much to me, and will forever be a part of my life story. As a writer, Twilight inspired me to capture my emotions-of infatuation, of lust, of pain, of fear, of joy-in as ardent a way as possible, because reading Meyer's own capturing of those emotions really made me feel seen. Twilight was the first book series that made me feel "I want to write something one day that impacts other people in the way this work has impacted me". As I got older and became aware of the hate and criticism towards Twilight, I was always able to roll my eyes and hold my joy for myself. I feel very lucky for that. Other things I have loved, other pieces of art and media, have not been so unscathed by the outside influences of adulthood. But Twilight... Twilight has kept itself whole and lovely in my heart, and I feel like getting this video recommended to me by the RU-vid algorithm was a true blessing. Despite never giving into the Twilight hate, I have felt discouraged by the absence of a well-written, well-executed defense. Then again, I have not gone out and sought one, for fear of only getting bombarded with the vitriol that I have so become privy to. But this video, this incredibly well done, eloquent, lovely lovely video, has given me so much joy and a sense of peace that I didn't know I needed. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for giving us this incredible video, for doing so much research, for speaking with such bravery, and I really do mean that. I wish I could show all the bad faith critics this video, because I really feel they could really benefit from your thorough and thoughtful perspective. I also wish I could show this video to Meyer herself, because I feel like she would appreciate it. I will definitely be watching this video again, and I'm intrigued by the possibility of a Jacob video in the same style! (Edited because I forgot her last name had no "s" at the end)

I love kristen stewards acting choices. Book bella doesn't have two braincells to rub together and i think she really emulates that.

I loved this. I always loved Twilight books and movies. I felt a little confused about why I liked it so much, so I read some of the academic papers and thought they really missed the point, you’ve hit the nail on the head in many ways. I wonder why now all entertainment has to be about the way we want things to be, from a feminist perspective, rather than the way they are. I fear there are a lot of little girls that are going to be disappointed that they can’t kick big guys asses. It’s hard to believe the female experience throughout history will no longer be valid and will have to be manipulated in the media to represent the future we strive for. Can’t art represent our experience? From my perspective first love is scary, and for me boys were really scary and sort of “other”. Bigger, stronger, exciting, confusing, and the way they behaved was a mystery. They might as well have been vampires. That unavoidable attraction to some one you weren’t really sure about but wanted to be. Although I’m from another generation, I identified with Bella because of her clumsiness and I was terrible at volleyball, and I have experienced the starting school in a new place as a teenager. I also had passionate crushes that I dreamed would last forever and awkward and confusing interactions with said crushes. I really loved your conclusions, especially about Edward and Bella evolving in their difficult relationship and learning the hard lessons. This is a brilliant analysis. Thank you so much for tackling the topic. I’m so glad I watched it.

This is so good! I was well into Twilight in its early days, and me and my friends all waited for each of the books to come out so we could read them asap etc. I definitely got well into the whole "Edward is controlling and Twilight was awful" band wagon in the last little while, and this has been a really helpful fresh perspective! Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. I think I related to the whole "Edward was awful" stuff because I had had a few relationships that were indeed awful, and in watching videos about Edward being controlling it's easy enough for people to point out the problematic bits and ignore anything else. In seeing this, though, I am realising that Edward is very different to all the real life controlling and awful men that I knew. Edward did want what was in Bella's best interests, and that's not the case with actual awful boyfriends. He has a very different motivation, even if his demeanour is a bit creepy and some bits of his character aren't great. Maybe, now that I'm in a stable marriage, that allows me to look back and see lots of the aspects that you're pointing out. From my current vantage point I can see the reality of the "love has the potential to leave you hurt" idea and that whole notion that it's worth it anyways. And Bella wanting to commit to this guy, to the exclusion of other options, is what she wants. If feminism is to leave women with the choice to pursue marriage and babies, if that is what they actually want, then it needs to allow for media like Twilight not being awful hellscapes.

I think the issue with Twilight is less the character of Edward and more the structure of the relationship between Edward and Bella. In action, they are both in-love teenagers. Sure, that's okay. They're going to do some stuff that adults would find ill-advised. They're going to do these things because their brains haven't fully developed the capacity for inhibition as of yet. But the structure of the relationship between Edward and Bella is one in which Bella is very much the submissive wife. Alternative ways of being aren't even considered, let alone explored in any depth. In sex, Edward hurts Bella and nobody stops to think "what if Bella gets on top", because that would be a much different situation, one that wouldn't hurt her and yet also one that would require that she be in control. Edward might not be controlling, but the structure of the relationship that Bella demands and Edward accepts and neither of them question is one wherein Edward is very much in control. Just lucky for Bella that he's only controlling where he thinks her safety is at issue.

This is so good! I can only imagine how long it must have taken you to make this video. I'm so grateful though! It's both funny and intelligent. I just recently got into Twilight, despite hearing the hate, and I couldn't help but love it. But I could never articulate why I thought it was good, and here you come with all of your top notch arguments - for example your explanation of why Edward’s not really creepy for being ”old” was such an aha moment. And the montage of plot ”noise” with action music where suddenly a cactus shows up made me lol. I love your TL;DR plotline of Bella: a bored girl in a beautiful/dangerous/complicated world where goodness depends on decisions and there is hearthbreak and so forth. It gave me chills. And when you summed up Edward plotline POV someone started cutting onions… hngg. :’) And YES, thank you, Bella’s trust is so important for the relationship - and love that you point out that Bella is the only person that Edward in turn ”just have to trust”. Thanks again

This video is so well writen and edited, loved every second of it, that ending is perfect. You took me in a journey across coulture and media, thank you so much.

I can’t believe this video is two years old. I just found it and I think it’s great! When I watched all the movies as an adult, I found myself really liking Edward as the saga progressed. He’s one of the people who really respected Bella’s wants and her agency, especially towards the end of the franchise. Thank you so much for the thoughtful breakdown!

wow this just belatedly popped up on my recommended and im so glad!!! i was truly captivated the entire way through. i love the way you explain things and the editing details you put in!!! thank you for this!! i loved the twilight books as a preteen, then reread the series as an adult and realized… i STILL love it. it’s even better as an adult because i can appreciate the nuances of the characters and the rationale behind the more complex decisions they make. bella has so much agency and her decisions drive everything. edward is always considerate of her feelings and wellbeing (even during his problematic moments, not that it excuses them but he really is consistent!). i remember i hated new moon when i was younger bc there was so little edward. rereading as an adult, i was so surprised to realize that it so accurately captures the aftermath of a ghosting/traumatizing end of relationship. i ended up weeping throughout most of the book and got so anxious i had to take breaks from reading it bc it was resonating with me so much lol, so wild! i feel like i have never read anything that portrayed that experience so accurately. dang i really love these books!!! all that said, i actually can’t bear watching the movies lol! i never understood why, they just always made me uncomfy. your summary of robert pattinsons mindset/struggle to realize his vision for edward, and the issue of portraying such an internal conflict on screen, really helped me understand why they don’t work for me. maybe one day we will get a more thoughtfully designed twilight film series !! really thank you again for this deep dive!!!

I'm almost at the end at my first viewing of this and I can already tell I'll be revisiting this video over the years. Great job; thank you

I agree with so many points in this video. But it’s not a defence of Edward, but Film Edward. And the actions of Book Edward that weren’t adapted undercuts the arguments made here.

ok that section on trust and romance is maybe the most mature, concise and accurate summation of that dynamic I've seen yet.

Fingernails and hair don't grow after death, it's just that the skin shrinks. Once dead, the body loses the ability to make more stuff like it would while alive. Otherwise great video as always!

The morbid zoo: douse a vid on twilight Me who has never watched twilight: I guess I’m into twilight

you've explained so well what i've liked and emphasized with in twilight, books AND movies. great analysis!

56:18 “From what I understand that’s the primary method by which we get more people” Great point delivered with great sass. Bravo!

Recommended to me 2 years later, The twilight hyperfixation is back🐺✊️

As someone who has been a defender and lover of Twilight for all of this time, I really appreciate your willingness to do a deep dive and explain things that I’ve been saying for years. Edward has always been one of my favorite fictional characters because he is flawed, for sure, but he is also very genuine. He never hides the fact that being a vampire, for him, absolutely sucks. He does everything he can to put Bella’s best interest in front but has obstacles to maneuver. Loved this video so much! ❤

Incredible. Honestly this series defined so much of my adolescence, and I think I am all the better for it. Thank you for this

I was obsessed with Twilight and Edward in particular in my early teen years but my environment and social media made me think that it was something stupid and ridiculous. Still, I reread or rewatch Twilight once in a few years and I still enjoy it! I think what I loved so much about it is the idea that you can be loved without being special or interesting (and that’s what men usually hate about Bella); that you can actually just cuddle and kiss in bed without having sex. I think that in this sense Twilight is actually better than lots of modern romances. And as you said, it perfectly captures the feeling of emptiness when your crush disappears from your life. For me personally it was the most devastating experience in my whole life, although I’ve been through other objectively more horrifying things like war and death of a friend. The reason why this is so painful is that as opposed to external factors which you cannot control the unrequited love feels like your failure: you think that they never loved you back because you did something wrong, because you did not prove to be worth their love and that’s exactly what Bella felt. And yes, love can really change your life dramatically in the positive way and feel like the best thing in your life and it does not make you less oh a feminist. The fact that you at least once felt unconditionally loved can make you confident for the rest of your life.

this is so much more serious than i expected it to be!!!! genuinely made me emotional, such a good video essay ♡

love this entire video!! it put a lot of my subconscious thoughts into words, so i’m eternally grateful. finally someone acknowledges that jacob was the one to look out for all along 😌

This is such a genuinely good video, well written, researched, and produced. I hope you keep making content like this!

This essay made me believe in love again, in the moviegoer sense. What a tremendous talent; holy shit, I'm blessed with this perspective.

The only real issue with twilight, from my perspective, is that Bella tried to kill herself, and at no point did she grow to realize her life had value outside of a relationship. I wanted to see her learn to live for herself as and maybe be an example for others struggling with thoughts of suicide. I had no problem with Edward. He's a vampire. No need to judge him by human standards.

i will constantly engage with twilight related content because i love it and then immediately get smacked in the face with mormon related ptsd

i could listen to your essays/analyses all day, seriously, lemme get on that patreon fr

i was so engrossed in vampire lore from the 20th century I forgot this was a video about twilight

I came to the twilight phenomena really really late - like a few months ago at the age of 43. I was too old when it originally came out and then heard everyone saying how crap it was. So when it came time for my teen girls to have an interest in it I told them to stay clear cos it was crap. They asked me if id read it and I had to admit that I hadn’t - so I found a free version online and read it in about 2 days! Aaaaaaand I was hooked. So, for me, it was like that experience at the end of ratatouille where the food critique gets pulled back into a memory of his childhood and it brings something back alive you never noticed was dead. It brought me back to when I met my husband at age 21. Twilight for me was like experiencing what it was like to fall in love for the first time with ‘the one’! (We are still happily married 20 years!) and so started by obsession with twilight. It also helps us see that not one person is perfect - this new generation of young people are statistically the loneliest and the ones having the least amount of sex! I wonder if it’s cos they believe that others should be perfect like them, without noticing their own imperfections, or maybe expecting people to put u with them. 🤷‍♀️ Edward was not perfect, Bella was not perfect, but together they worked on that - and that is actually how you build a long lasting and happy marriage - I can guarantee you that’s the only way to do it. After that I had to read the next one - where I weeped the whole way through. Again, this threw me back to what it was like to have a break up with the one. It was exactly like what happened with my hubby - he needed some time to get his shit together (we both came from very troubled backgrounds and he wanted to be more ‘whole’ for me) literally broke my heart. And to be honest I don’t remember much other than the pain of longing and thinking I’d never get passed it. (Interesting side note, Carter Burwell who wrote Bella’s lullaby, wrote that piece after he had his heart broken by the love of his life, recorded it and put it away as a kind of catharsis - they later married and are still married!) and I knew I would do absolutely anything for him if his sister rang me up and asked me! So on to the 3rd one I went - and again, a perfect example of what happens when you form a relationship with someone that you need to survive, but then jealousy and bitterness sets in. I thought the book handled Edward better in this than the films! And let’s be honest, how many of us would manage to cope with a partner that loved another person, even though it was differently, and needed them because of what we had done to them?! I couldn’t even have my hubby’s ex girlfriend at my wedding! 😂 Anyway. Suffice to say I am now a big fan and am encouraging my girls to read the actual books before watching the films

I'll synthesize what's the T with Jacob: Taylor Lautner is SO sweet and adorable that his personality and energy kinda overshadows Jacob's toxicity. But Jacob is INDEED super toxic. But lso Edward has livedd longer and knows more, he is also an intelectual. Jacob has double hormones, teenager and werewolf and also happens to be more interested in physical activities than thinking

I honestly came here because I remember all of the drama and comedy that came with fandoms, way back when. It was a much different time from how fandoms are now. I love the thoughtful takes here, and this is admittedly a perfect video essay. Good job and thank you!

maybe this is just because I don't know how to read but your writing is phenomenal and this is one of the more genuinely enlightening videos or, anything I've ever seen. thank you.

Brilliant! Thank you for this. I am a, ahem *mature* woman, who somehow missed the saga first time around. An odd set of circumstances, including physical therapy, and singing lessons, brought it to my attention last year, and now I'm hooked.

I love Twilight - but I had never fully realized how these books and characters can reflect the danger of relationships - along with the beauty. I feel like my eyes have been opened in a way, even though I already liked Twilight! I have a different appreciation for it now, understanding more of its context and effect. Thank you so much for this amazing video essay! This is seriously the best video essay I’ve ever seen! I can’t wait to watch more of your videos! You are so clear and thought provoking! Thank you!

I... LOVE and appreciate that fast summary. Gosh, it was so fun. :D

YES ALL OF THIS honestly i’ve been searching for the words for so long not even just for twilight but for life and this was so beautifully done

No because we neeeeeeed a video about Jacob. Like I loved this video pleeeeaaase give me more content. I literally love those like hour long videos diving into stuff. This is great, do more twilight plz

As a teenager and young adult I, too, hated twilight with all my heart. That was until two years ago, when the person I then considered the love of my life left me. The scene in New Moon where Bella just sits in a chair, staring out of the window for months and crying and screaming every night was and is to this day one of the only film scenes about breakups that really made me feel seen and understood, because that's exactly what I did. I still get goosebumps watching that scene today and I appreciate the message behind it that yes, breakups can be traumatic, they can cause depression and it doesn't make you weird or weak to have had an experience like this.

This has been in my "Watch Later" forever, but oh my gosh, finally getting to listen to it... Your thoughts are so well formed, articulated, and thought-out! The editing is also on-point. I read a similar comment, but this is definitely one of the best video essays I've ever seen. I'm so excited to watch more of your content, thank you for it!

I am extremly grateful to you and your analysis. Thanks for respecting TL fans (which I am not) and thanks for your reflexions on relationships. 🙏

This video was so good! I think you articulated a lot of what I love about twilight! Your points about vulnerability actually brought me some insight into my own personal relationships.

I wholeheartedly agree with you. I watched this entire film series with my Girlfriend, Back to back, A movie a night during the pandemic (sadly over long distance and we watched a lot of movies, film series that way and still do but I digress) both out of Legitimate curiosity, because neither of us had seen any of them, and with the full intent of Absolutely Clowning on them and we both ended up insanely shocked how entertained we were by them. The movies are DUMB, But the way the vampires and werewolves work is cool and it’s a legitimately fun ride with a flawed but sweet and kinda relatable (on some level) romance. Although well before this we saw that crappy 2011 Red Ridinghood movie that was kinda a twilight ripoff, which already filled me with despair because Little Red Riding Hood is my favorite fairytale and I’m even working on writing my own twisted horror take on it. But after watching Twilight and Enjoying it… it actually hurt worse because “not only did they turn my favorite Fairytale into a Twilight ripoff, they turned it into a SHITTY Twilight ripoff!!!”

this deserves more views! how was i not recommended this 2 years ago?? fantastic video!!

This intro is so perfect. It lists every absurd installation to the original haha funny vampire book i red as a letteral infant. AND the fact that this is in defence of EDWARD?! I can't- I'm obsessed.

one thing that's stuck out to me about the "oh edward is so creepy" discourse - he's been trapped in the mind and body of a 17-year-old from the 1910s for nearly 100 years by the time he meets bella. he's had to play the role of being 17 too, by repeatedly going to high school and graduating over and over again to keep up the cullens' illusion of being a Normal Human Family. between him being born in *1901* and him being stuck with the brain/body of a teenage boy for nearly a century, that's gotta do a number on your mental health, not even mentioning that he might have been even MORE of a "problematic" person by modern standards before having to spend a century watching human social standards run extremely far past what he was raised to believe the world was like. edward probably isn't intentionally behaving in ways that modern humans find as "creepy", he's probably very socially and romantically inept due to being over 100 years old and still having the emotional capability of a teenage boy. he was raised in an era where women were literally considered the legal property of their husbands and it was perfectly legal to beat or assault them, he probably thinks watching bella sleep through her window is perfectly harmless and wouldn't weird anyone out. one thing i'd like to point out though, cause i've literally written academic papers about bram stoker's dracula novel - bram stoker was irish, not british, and was VERY involved in the home rule movement during his life. a lot of the "dracula is about immigrants" readings come from british and american literary critics, but some irish literary critics argue that dracula and his real estate development being a threat is a metaphor for british imperialism against ireland. around the time dracula was published, using vampires to depict the british crown or the english more generally as a threatening figure against some symbolic audience insert character for the irish people (most of the ones i've seen used the mythological figure of eire) was actually something that you could see as a regular theme in some pro-home rule publications as political cartoons. it's a more recent theory, but imo it's worth investigating as much as the "dracula is trash literature for racist, paranoid british people who are sexist idiots" reading. one final thing, if i could find a way to wipe aro's laugh from my brain so it doesn't play on loop like one of your friends who likes to abuse the soundboard on discord calls keeps slamming the aro laugh button every time i watch something with michael sheen in it. i just want to consume good omens in peace from my own rotted brain.

I think all this is valid. The only thing I'm still kinda hung up about is its goddamn weird that before the start of their relationship, Edward breaks into Bella's room to watch her sleep all night without her consent, and he stalks her. Its to "protect her" but that's still yikes. As someone who has been stalked before its a terrifying invasion of privacy, and I think its problematic that Twilight doesn't present stalking in a critical way but rather romanticizes it. :o

And with this video I end my amazing weekend binge watch of your channel. I hope you make more videos, but even if you don’t this was a great experience and I feel you made me look at a lot of things from a different perspective. Thanks for that 💜

This is one of the best videos I've ever watched in so many ways. Thank you