Top 10 Reasons Edward Cullen is the WORST

There are a lot of things about the entire concept of “Twilight” that are a little bit disturbing if you think about them for more than a second or two. The first is the thing that actually kicks the story off, which is Edward’s fascination with Bella. He is intoxicated by her scent, but not because of the typical pheromones that draw people together. No he thinks she smells especially good as in he wants to bite her and suck her blood. What a cool normal reason to kick off a relationship!

Inherently, by involving himself in Bella’s life, Edward is putting her in constant danger. Considering how many years he has been on this Earth, you’d think he’d have a little more self-control by now. He brings her into a family of vampires, all of whom have varying degrees of lust for her blood. In “New Moon”, this comes to a head when she manages to get a papercut, which prompts some of the members of his family to lose their restraint. To be fair, he tries to break up with her after that, but he probably could have seen something like that coming.

One of the biggest problems with so many romance movies is how they romanticize pretty problematic behavior from men. In the “Twilight” franchise, Edward does a whole lot of stuff that you really wouldn’t want a potential suitor doing in real life. This includes following Bella everywhere, and watching her without her consent. In the real world, we call this “stalking”, but in the “Twilight” universe it’s presented as a display of his love for her, and willingness to protect her no matter the cost. Yeah, no.

Let’s say clearly that “Twilight” should not be seen as a manual for how teenage relationships should unfold. On top of the troubling behaviors that we have already mentioned, Edward forces Bella into a relationship that quickly becomes unhealthily codependent. He is incredibly clingy with her and seems to be fixated on her all the time, unable to live his life without her. Bella falls into all this easily, putting all of her focus on him in return, and letting the other things important to her fall by the wayside. It’s essential for everyone to keep your life well-rounded, even when you’re in a new relationship, and these two are not exactly a shining example of this.

One of the reasons Edward is so intrigued by Bella from the beginning is the fact that he can’t read her thoughts. He possesses telepathy, and hears the thoughts of everyone around him- whether he likes it or not. But Bella is able to shield her thoughts from him. He’s incapable of dealing with this, however, and often becomes visibly frustrated when he can’t see the inner workings of her mind. Considering this is how all of us have to live in the real world, it’s hard to sympathize with him on this one.

In “New Moon” after the paper cut incident, Edward decides to leave Bella for her own good. While his intentions may be noble, the problem is that he breaks up with her in basically the worst way possible. First, he lies and says he doesn’t want to be with her, rather than just being honest about his desire to, y’know, keep her alive. And second, he leaves her alone in the woods! Considering the whole point is to keep her safe, you’d think he'd at least be able to bring her home rather than abandoning her there, where she faced potential danger.

Considering he’s been alive for more than 100 years, you’d think Edward would have found time to develop a little more of a personality. Edward is, well, kind of dull when it comes down to it, aside from being a vampire, of course. Sure he can sparkle, but what else is he good at? His relationship with Bella is based on very little because he doesn’t exactly have a lot of interests outside of playing the piano and playing baseball with his family. Once their lives quiet down, what would these two even do in their downtime together?

Since we see so much of the story told in “Twilight” through Bella’s eyes, it’s understandable that she is not the most compelling character. But she consistently proves that she’ll let other people walk all over her, and since Edward is somewhat domineering, he often takes control of her life for her. There are many moments throughout the series where Bella may have had better outcomes had she made her own decisions, but since Edward seems to want to control all her actions, she finds herself in trouble again and again.

Edward displays countless red flags that would have us running in the other direction if he were a guy in the real world. One example is how overprotective he is of Bella, wanting to restrict who she socializes with, and frequently disapproving of her friendships. He’s right to be somewhat wary of her relationship with Jacob, but it just shows how unwilling he is to cede control. Ladies, if a guy ever tries to limit your friendships, take that as a sign that he REALLY might not exactly be the best choice for a partner.

Speaking of red flags...There’s a reason why this is the most troubling thing about Edward’s character! Watching a girl sleep through her bedroom window is incredibly creepy, whether you’re human, undead, or somewhere in between. There are no excuses for this kind of behavior, and the fact that this action is framed as being swoonworthy gives us pause about the entire series. No man should be rewarded for this kind of behavior, so the fact that Edward and Bella end up having a steamy makeout session is not the kind of reinforcement he should get.