Protector or Creeper?

So, with New Moon that came out a few weeks ago, I got talking to my sisters and my Mom about the movies. I love them because they are a representation of the books I love, but honestly I thought Twilight was REALLY cheesy. I mean there's a lot of scenes where the camera seems to be swirling around them as they're laying in the meadow, or laying in her bed and NO interaction. AND Edward, to me comes off as a creepy stalker in the movie and that wasn't the impression I got in the book. So, I'm an Edward fan- at heart, but when I watch the movies I become a Jacob fan.

Anyways, I have a few things that I want to say relating to Twilight, first off has to do with what my mom said when we were critiquing the movies. She was like, Edward IS a creepy stalker that Bella falls in love with. The whole book is about a girl who falls in love with the bad boy instead of what's good for her. I kinda see my mom's point, but at the same time I became defensive- that's NOT the Edward I know and love from my book reading experience. (I don't use love seriously. I'm not so much "involved" with him as some people. I do not expect people to live up to the expectations that Edward creates, nor do I fantasize about a real life Edward, but if a book is written well enough I become part of the stories as I read them. That to me, is a good book. So now, back to the current subject.) So, I started thinking that maybe Edward IS just as creepy as he comes across in the movie. Maybe I loved the books so much as a passing obsession, after all, I've only read them once. So I started reading them again. And I am STILL an Edward fan. Here's the thing, there are subtle hints all along the way of ways that Bella was MADE to be in his world. Yes, he's a vampire, there's a dangerous bad boy edge to his character. But in the books he has risen above it. He has become a "vegetarian" as they call it because he doesn't want to be a monster. He did not start off as a creepy stalker, from reading the books again and a SMALL amount of Edward's book from the brief version online you find out that Edward was attracted to her scent, and he hated her for it because he felt it brought out the monster in him. So what does he do? He leaves for Alaska for a little while and then realizes he can't stay away. Love or lust? I'm not going to go into it in this posting, but he's drawn back but still tries to keep his distance because he knows it's best for her. There's the whole scene where he saves her from being smashed by a car. And he can read thoughts, supposedly EVERY guy went after her, and clearly in the book you see at least 4 examples other than Edward, so how would he not think about her with her being the new commodity running through everyone's head. Once again back to the car incident and various other accounts that he witnessed through thoughts of her clumsiness she proved herself a danger magnet. So he leaves for a weekend and the first creepy stalker account happens after that weekend when he ends up watching her when she's in her backyard. Once again, not going into whether the attraction is more than surface deep or not, but he wanted to know she was safe. More of a protector than creepy stalker, after knowing her ability to find disaster. The incident in Port Angeles, he followed her, but gave her space keeping tabs on her from time to time. He didn't follow her when she went off on her own which is why she had to be rescued from her almost attackers. Then AFTER she basically admits to being obsessed with him, that's when he starts coming to her window and watching her sleep. So basically I'm still under the impression that he's more of a protector than creepy stalker.

On to another point I want to make. I was heading out from my dance class this semester and this guy is writing a paper on attraction- I don't remember full details or how it fulfills the writing requirements for his class, I just remember the basics. We were talking how, shallow as it may be, looks are what usually attracts people to each other, at least initially. He brought up Edward and Twilight and basically said that HE thinks Edward is a creepy stalker, but Bella is so entranced by his looks that she doesn't care. I don't fully agree with that, but maybe it's because I see similarities between Bella and I that maybe I'm in denial about. Either way, he asked a girl if she thought George Clooney was hott. She said yes, so he then asked if she would find it creepy if he was stalking her. She said no. He claimed that it's all based on looks, and I claimed, "well, you see if George Clooney were to stalk you, it would probably just come off as really good acting. Kinda like Jonny Depp, he can play the weirdest creepiest characters and still, I just think he's an amazing, talented actor. Same with Heath Ledger and playing the Joker. You watch that and you're not creeped out when you see Heath Ledger, you just think he was amazing to pull off the Joker. (I guess in his offense, those are ALSO good-looking examples, but still, to me Edward is not a creeper.)

Back to when my sisters and I were critiquing the movie Twilight, my sister and I talked about how we thought they should've replaced some of the boring camera swirls and techniques of just them lying next to each other with better scenes from the book. It's true, you see nothing of the day Bella fainted at the smell of blood (which is kinda important to understanding how she fits in his world- Edward says humans don't smell blood.) You don't see much of their interaction in Biology, you don't see the scene where Edward sits with her at lunch, just the two of them and they have their first real conversation. You don't see SO many things that would be better and go more into their actual relationship than just the surface, superficial staring at one another while laying down scenes.

So my conclusions: liking the books was not a passing obsession. They may not be the best books, but I still love them. And Edward in my mind is still not a creepy stalker. Edward and Bella were made for each other.