Team Edward Or Team Jacob; Neither! Pt.1 (Movie Analysis)
When the topic of Twilight comes up, the first question is always, "Team Edward or Team Jacob?" Every single time, I pick Edward and not because I think Jacob is less attractive or because Edward is a better person, but because of the premise of the series. In the end, Edward was always going to be the end-all, be-all for Bella.
I don't even think Bella truly cared for either of the men. If you pay attention to the beginning of the first Twilight movie, it introduces Bella moving to Forks, Washington, with her birthday coming up soon. Bella makes it clear that she doesn't care for her birthday as much as her father, Charlie, wants her to feel special on her annual day.
Throughout the franchise, Bella is shown having brief glimpses of her ultimate fear: aging and death. Bella is afraid of dying and growing old. Meeting Edward, a vampire who has lived for however many hundreds of years, whom she believes she is madly in love with, only intensified Bella's fears of eventually dying while Edward could continue to live on in his 17-year-old body and potentially find himself another lover in a decade or so.
"Team Edward or Team Jacob" was about the best opportunity for Bella, not the best partner for her. The franchise allowed Bella to see a glimpse into her future with both love interests. With Edward, she was able to experience the pampered high life that could last for eternity. With Jacob, she saw the ability to just be and to be free. Jacob was the present, while Edward was the future.
Bella knew exactly who and what she wanted in New Moon. Edward had gone and left her alone in Forks, leaving her with only his memory and hallucinations of him, often appearing whenever she came into contact with something potentially dangerous. People often see this as a fault of Edward's: "Why would he leave her and then come back? So nasty, so rude," and so on. However, Edward leaving was his way of saving Bella's life, as his and his family's association with her could have gotten her killed without warning, i.e., the Volturi. Bella was not supposed to know of their existence as a human.
Edward's absence allowed Bella to immerse herself in the life of her good friend, Jacob, the second love interest. After confronting Paul about the pack's mistreatment of Jacob, and after Paul and Jacob were hashing it out in their wolfly way, Bella met Emily Young. Gorgeous girl, but Bella saw her future through her. Being with Jacob would only leave her with a scar, an imprint, and a life of being a muffin-making machine.
Bella wanted more, and Jacob couldn't give that to her. He wasn't enough. Looking at the bigger picture, the life of a werewolf's mate left her vulnerable and powerless. Although she would be with a werewolf, she wouldn't reap the benefits because she herself wouldn't be able to become one. Even then, look at Billy Black, the son of a chief and Jacob's father. His wolf transformation was never triggered. He is a paraplegic, unable to fend for himself, and he will eventually die, hopefully of old age. Being with a werewolf, in Bella's eyes, would only leave her vulnerable and powerless...
