So I had a slew of problems with the first movie (and the couple of Bella and Edward in general). But in that article, mostly I covered the issues with Bella and Edward, and the relationship as well as why I was never a Twilight person. Sometimes, sequels improve upon the first films. New characters are brought in and things get better…..eh–not here.      

The next phase of the story:   

Most stories try to change up stakes in sequels, following seasons and second books. Twilight New Moon is the second book in the series and takes place following Bella and Edwards' officialization as a couple. Bella and Edward are dating, and they’re struggling with all the issues that come when a vampire is personally involved with a human. Because of these issues Edward leaves Bella, and her childhood best friend-who has been in love with her all along–steps into the picture. 

So basically, the second film seems to be trying to address some of the issues I had with the couple in the first place:

• Edward is immortal and Bella isn’t. So not only is he much older than her but she’ll die while he stays looking like a seventeen year old boy.

• The dangers of Bella being close to a family of vampires with blood lust. Edward’s brother nearly kills her because she cuts her finger. 

• Bella is beginning to see that there’s no future for her and Edward if she stays human. But Edward doesn't want to change her so as a couple they're at an impasse. 

To play the devil’s advocate, I think this couple could have been saved or at least made better by focusing on these issues and attempting to resolve them in a better way. It would have given the franchise and the story higher stakes and actual consequences to choices made by the characters. I could accept that the first film was a teenage girl falling in love without thinking about the future, and that Edward was a flawed enough character to believe it could work for a short amount of time. Now in the sequel if the writer tries to bring out the consequences of the choices made in movie/book 1, things could start looking up. However, I had problems with how these issues were handled. That–and as I said, the writer only addresses, some. 

Why the break up and resolution falls short for me: 

So for starters, the writer only addresses some of their relationship issues in the story. If you're going to write a love story between two flawed people and make me take it seriously, you have to address all the bodies in the closet: miscommunication, insecurities, different belief systems, levels of experience, age etc.. Naturally, there’s a level of incredulity we suspend for fiction. Address enough problems to make a story real but leave something to the fictional realm of what we want to see. 

Take a classic couple, Spiderman and Mary Jane in the Sam Rami film series. The writer addresses Mary Jane being in danger because of Spiderman’s enemies, the level of mistrust because of his dual lives, and by the 3rd film complexities are still being flushed out and explored. The writer doesn’t go so far as to have them have discussions about, “Will he stop being Spiderman when she wants to have children?” “How will he raise a family while living a dual life?” But it goes fairly deep into all the most basic struggles. That makes me able to sympathize and take it seriously. Bella and Edward only address a couple struggles in their relationship, and they don’t resolve them in a satisfactory way which allows the characters to grow as people. What issues am I talking about?

• Edward wants to be married and Bella openly hates marriage. Edward never attempts to explain why marriage is important to him or to make her understand his beliefs. It causes me to beg the question, why is he pushing to marry a girl with no respect for his beliefs without at least trying to make her understand his values? 

• Bella being with Edward forces her to lie to her father repeatedly and break off ties with all her other friends including, Jacob. This is never addressed. Edward never even says he feels bad for making Bella lie to her father or seeing her without her parents' consent. 

• Bella is suicidal without Edward and this never changes. Her whole world revolves around him and she never grows. She’s never forced to be strong on her own, not even in an emotional sense. Edward simply comes back to her and she doesn’t kill herself. That's not a very inspiring arc for a heroine. 

• Edward truly believes if he turns Bella into a vampire she’ll become evil or lose her soul but he agrees to turn her anyway so she’ll marry him. Edward never abandons this belief that she’ll lose her soul, and Bella never convinces him otherwise. Bella has no opinion on what she’ll be like as a vampire except that she’ll be immortal and beautiful. 

• Edward leaves Bella to protect her but returns and tries to get her to agree to marriage. Edward knows Bella doesn't want marriage, and he doesn't seem to care how it's going to look to her family and friends that she's getting married right out of high school without explaining a thing to her father. Marriage is something I applaud a character trying to achieve in fiction because it’s so rare. But in this story, it looks like Edward is trying to get Bella to agree to something without making a real plea for it. If Edward were mature (he’s supposed to be hundreds of years old) he wouldn't marry this young girl till she understands the significance of the union and actually wants it as much as he does. I said something to this effect in the first article, but Bella is very young. A man 10 years her senior should have the maturity to let her grow up and come into her own. She may not always want the same thing and getting her to do something she doesn’t want (get married) because right now she wants him, doesn’t show a lot of wisdom on Edward’s part.

All of these problems drive at one point: neither character matures or changes throughout the films. Edward wants Bella, but isn't man enough to step out of her life and admit she’d be better off without him. He does but then comes back and enters into the same flawed relationship without mending anything. Bella lives solely for Edward and this never changes. Its not a great message to send to young girls that its okay and even romantic to be suicidal without your boyfriends. Bella tries to kill herself but doesn't because Edward takes her back. Edward is going to leave but doesn't because he wants Bella so much. The resolution to all of these personal conflicts is this: 

-Edward will agree to turn Bella (which he believes is wrong and doesn’t want to do), if she’ll marry him (which she thinks is stupid and doesn’t want to do). But they both get what they want, so begrudgingly, I guess it works out. No one matures, changes, or actually successfully communicates in the relationship. It would have been much better if Bella actually learned to see the importance of marriage and wanted to say yes to Edward (as opposed to doing so under protest). Also, if Edward had been patient enough to not marry her until she was ready. Or if he learned he was mistaken about her losing her soul. Or if Bella had told her father the truth and explained why she wanted to be with Edward and….the list goes on. Basically, the story is about Bella and Edward both trying to get what they want without going about it like mature adults. Bella’s a teenage girl but Edward has no excuse. 

The Love triangle and the role of Jacob:

The set up for the triangle is good. Edward leaves her and her best friend steps into the picture, finally having a chance to show how he feels. Jacob is the opposite of Edward and seems to be everything Bella needs. He’s her friend, close with her family, if she married him she wouldn't have to change her life. In fact, it would even strengthen her connection with family and friends in Forks. I have issues with Jacob as a character in movies after this, but in New Moon I thought he was handled well. 

• Jacob’s arc is a tough one but it's understandable for the place he’s at in this film. He’s a teenager, so his wisdom in decision making isn’t going to be perfect–and he can't see Bella isn't interested in him except as a possible back-up plan to Edward. He’s known Bella since childhood and can see all the issues with her and Edward so he doesn't want her with him anymore than I do. For the most part, Jacob is better for her than Edward. But he doesn't have the self esteem to walk away and accept she’s using him as a band aid.  

My problems with the triangle in this film are it just makes everyone but Jacob annoying. And believe me, I understand the trials and tribulations of making a good love triangle where the viewer isn't just sickened by everyone involved. But at the very least we should empathize with everyone. In this triangle, it's just like Jacob is the poor patsy who doesn't stand a chance and Edward is the golden boy who Bella never shuts up about even though he's not even there.  Bella never looks tempted by a relationship with Jacob, only as if she reaches the point of desperation where she might pick him. At which point, Edward calls and Bella drops Jacob like a hot potato without explanation. Bella doesn't talk to Jacob till the end of the film when she's back with Edward and then it's only to tell him he doesn't stand a chance. In a love triangle we can’t always have it to where we don’t know the outcome–but we can make it so that we sympathize with people involved. 

• An example would be Wolverine, Jean Grey and Cyclops. We know Jean marries Cyclops in comics but while the triangle is going on we’re frustrated for everyone. Cyclops and Jean have been friends since childhood, and now friendship has turned to love. But Wolverine is a loner who doesn't have any family or loved ones and Jean shows him kindness so he develops feelings for her. We don’t want to see Wolverine wreck a happy couple, but it's sad to see there’s no one for him because Jean is taken. 

In New Moon’s triangle, Jacob is trying to rescue his childhood love from a bad relationship (which is clearly unhealthy and left her suicidal)--he spends all of his time with her to support and help her deal with the trauma, and she casts him aside for a guy who’s been gone six months and only comes back as a last resort. I don’t sympathize with Bella because she learns nothing the whole movie and does not mature at all. She’s not angry that Edward left without a word. And she doesn't notice that Jacob was with her the entire time Edward wasn't. Bella didn't die in Edwards absence, but she could have. Jacob saves her life and gets no credit. Edward is gone the whole time but gets the red carpet for returning. By the end of the film Bella is still whining that Edward has no reason to love her, and she's nothing. And Edward returns after SIX MONTHS and starts making demands about their relationship instead of slowly being reintroduced into her life after a long and painful absence. 

So in summation….yeah. It could have been much better. The final pieces of this love triangle play out in Eclipse which is another story all together. Stay Tuned…

-Jubilee