Today I had lunch with a friend of mine who has just finished New Moon. Now she is Team Jacob. I'm still friends with her because I love my friends in spite of their flaws. We were enjoying our lunch. I was having Tortellini A La Pana and she was having a Calzone. M was eating chicken nuggets as usual. We were laughing it up like we were in an Olive Garden commercial or something. We weren't even discussing Twilight. When our laughing died down, she comes out with this: "I don't know how you can even like Edward. He's so controlling and abusive." uh UH! She did NOT just say that! So I told her WHY I love Edward and why Jacob makes me want to spit.
Edward isn't controlling. He's protective. He's had a century long dry spell, you'd expect that of him. Yes, he tries to keep her from seeing Jacob in Eclipse, but he later backs off on that and lets her see him, against his better judgment. He even admitted that keeping her from him was wrong because she can make her own decision. That whole situation goes to show that even though Edward goes overboard sometimes, all it takes is Bella standing up to him.
And he isn't abusive. I'm so tired of this accusation against my book boyfriend. It's usually spoken by people who haven't been in an abusive relationship. I'll use personal examples. Not once did I see Edward grabbing Bella by her hair and slamming her against the wall. I never saw him punching her in the stomach because it wouldn't leave a mark. I never saw him tell her she was worthless and unlovable. Never once did he hit her and tell her that she deserved it. And the one time he did actually bruise her, by accident, it took him forever to forgive himself, even though she had forgiven him from the beginning. He was afraid to even touch her after that. And he always, in their relationship, gave her the option to leave if she wanted. Abusive relationships are all about dominance. And Edward was protective, but he didn't assert dominance over Bella.
Jacob was more abusive than Edward. Because 1) He kissed her without her permission, even forcing the kiss on her after she refused him and continued the kiss even after she struggled against him. Then after she broke her hand punching his face in (something he rightfully deserved), he still taunted her boyfriend and tried to flirt with her. 2) He manipulated her emotions over and over again, hurting her over and over again, to try to get what he wanted. 3) He lied to her to manipulate her once again, using freaking SUICIDE as a weapon. He has more markers of an abusive person than Edward has.
I told my friend this and she just sat there dumbfounded for a second and said, "Well, I'm still Team Jacob." *Sigh* I tried, Edward. I really tried.
On a lighter note I'm SOOOOOO excited about the DVD release! I was at Wal-Mart today and they are having a costume contest Friday night. I thought that was hilarious. How do you dress like a Twilight character? What would your costume be?
