(Team) Jacob

Monday, November 16, 2009 - 8:19 PM

Edward is kind of a creeper. OK, I said it.

Jacob and Bella discuss a secret that is keeping the two from remaining friends in the second installment of the “Twilight” series. Photo courtesy of Summit Entertainment.

In the fantasy world of mythical creatures, I prefer Jacob over Edward, werewolves over vampires and friendship over lust. While most fans swoon over the relationship between Bella and Edward, I can’t find it in myself to sympathize. Quite simply, Edward is everything that women have been wrongfully taught to chase after. Attractiveness (this is arguable — Robert Pattinson leaves his mouth agape too often), wealth and obsessive relationships are the cornerstones of everything that is wrong with this novel.

And then there is Jacob. Forever stuck in the friend zone, he is punished by his own good nature and loyalty. Jacob doesn’t “dazzle” Bella. He doesn’t buy her fancy things or stop her heart with sheer good looks. But he makes her happy and he makes her laugh. While “New Moon” was always referred to as Bella’s dark ages, even she admits in the novel that there are many things from this time that she actually misses. More gut-wrenching laughter, intimate conversations and truly joyous events come from her time with Jacob.

It is Jacob and Bella’s relationship that I value. One that takes a natural course and gives a real look into how love and heartbreak work. While Edward and Bella declare their “love” for each other within a matter of weeks, Bella’s relationship with Jacob grows stronger through their time together, friendship and struggles.

And unlike the pre-adolescent idea of love that Bella shows with Edward, her unexplainable pull towards Jacob and final realization depict a much stronger reality than the mythical, obsessive “love” between her and Edward.

So “Twilight” isn’t exactly a self-help book. But if literature, movies and pop culture don’t influence society’s idea of right and wrong, what does? Even on a subconscious level, the books that we read register as something that is either accepted or not.

Unfortunately, Edward’s behavior does not fall into the latter. And while the undying passion and forbidden relationship is fun for a bit, by the end of the novels, it’s more “masochist abuses sadist” than “lion falls in love with the lamb.”

I am looking forward to “New Moon” not only because the acting, budget and special effects are supposed to be exponentially better (more flying vampires, anyone?), but because “Twilight” fans are in desperate need of a real man to swoon over.

Oh, and did I mention that Taylor Lautner is freakin’ hot? Forget palid skin and dumbfounded expressions — Lautner’s a regular Chippendale.

And I can only pray that his stunning good looks and portrayal of Jacob will be enough to wake up viewers and show them that love is about friendship and struggles — not passion, the forbidden and sex.

Tara Verderosa can be reached at tverderosa@nevadasagebrush.com.