haha this is quite funny. i actually really like the twilight series for the books but do often find bella's character annoying; the films not so much, its sooo hollywood and i was disapointed, acting included. haha i love this line steerpike, and its so true!
From the perspective of someone raised in her religion, I always felt like it was the second one. Not trying to turn this into a religious debate or anything, but depending on how deeply entrenched you are in the religion, sometimes the only women you see are women who are very similar to Bella. It's kind of how women are expected to behave, so if Meyer is really involved in her religion, like I was growing up, it would make sense that that's the sort of main character that she would be drawn toward... I laughed out loud when I read this because it's so true. I'm actually a big fan of the Twilight books, but the people I know who really dislike it spend far more time talking about them than I ever have...
Personally, in both the books and the films, I think Bella seems a very 'small' character, by which I mean she never seems to dominate the story-line to me. She seems to be the object (right word?) of most of the action rather than really initiating much of it and I feel as though her personality is dwarfed by many of the others in the series, perhaps because she doesn't really have one. This seems a bit weird to me as it's different from most other books I've read. Not bad, necessarily, but certainly different.
I wish that Edward would have flat out killed Jacob. That would have made things much more interesting. As well --- the last book should have been two and her change was WAY TOO CONVENIENT. Bad writing there to me.
You could write a whole book about Bella's character--and someone did, only they did it 50 years ago: “the only passion, the only pursuit, the only goal a woman is permitted is the pursuit of a man” - The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan Nevertheless, Twilight is a great bit of fantasy for a lot of females (regardless of age), even those with lofty goals that reach beyond having a great boyfriend/husband/partner.
Bella reminds me a bit of Vivian Gandillion from Blood and Chocolate. Actually a lot of Bella reminds me of both Vivian and Zoe from the Silver Kiss. If Blood and Chocolate had a baby with Silver Kiss, Twilight would have been their aborted fetus. Bella is to plain and to mild to be a real person. Anyone who thinks she has a personality has fallen into the trap of the host they withered themselves into. To many times did I get an homage to Ann Rice and Annette Klause in Twilight.
Eh, I just do it for fun really, I'm not one of those "haters" who'll go into depth analysis of the text just to pick faults though. If someone likes the series then fair enough, I won't make fun or ruin it for them, I just don't really like it myself and enjoy a bit of light hearted snarking That would have been quite interesting, it would have mad Edward a bit more complex and cause some real emotional turmoil for Bella. It also would have prevented the whole imprinting thing, I didn't care for that.
I actually can't think of Bella's personality traits. Perhaps because she had none. Her whole character revolved around Edward whose whole character revolved around her. All I can say is that Bella is whiny, selfish, and everyone loves her. Basically she is a Mary Sue. Any fault of hers was instantly forgiven or disregarded by the people around her and anyone who disliked her was written as a self-aborbed harpy (since only female characters actually disliked her). Bella is not so much a character as she is just a host for the reader. Since she is so transparent, it is easy for people to step into her shoes.
I agree with this. While I don't like her as a character I will say this is probably why she is a successful one. It's not hard to put yourself in the story when it's told from first person and the character's personality isn't ever really elaborated upon. (now wondering if this thread will turn into a disaster that gets locked)
In fear of suffering an anyeurism, I didn't watch the film. However, I'm currently (after two years) trying to push through the first book. From what I gathered, Bella is just a common example of awkward, clumsy, bitter teenage girls I had the displeasure of dealing with back in high school. She's whiny, she's dependant, and she obsesses over the first hot guy that gives her the slightest bit attention (it doesn't even have to be good attention. In fact, it's not). She doesn't think twice about her well-being and is already showing signs of a mental abuse victim. I believe she has one good trait and it's that she's good for sex. Obviously, if it's going to make Edward eat a pillow, it must be that good.
Please state these "not acceptable behaviours" so I can prove you wrong. The violence was negligible, the XXX was after marriage and was blanked out, the vampire transformation may be painful but it's part of every single damn vampire book. Also, why not have Bella as your role model? She had a happy ending
From what I understand about the Twilight series (only read the first half of the first book, and seen the movies), Bella gets a happy ending because other people, mostly Edward, pamper her like she's some kind of princess. All of the other characters are constantly fawning over her, despite the fact that she's totally average and has no remarkable qualities. I mean, she's cute and all, but the amount of attention she gets from the other characters is a bit over-the-top. A role model should be someone you strive to be like - someone brave or clever or just an all-around nice person. All Bella does is get taken care of by other people. This doesn't make her a particularly bad character or anything, just not a very good role model.
Wish fulfillment character, damsel in distress, blank slate with no redeeming characteristics to speak of.
Well, even in real life, kristen stewart seem to have the same facial expression ALWAYS, at least from the pictures you see of her, it's just another expression than bellas. I'd say I prefer Bella to kristen. the actress, the real life person seems even more annoying to me.
