Oh Vampires, you sure do provide us with entertainment, but entertainment and a skewed outlook on love is about all that you provide. I have not read the Twilight books so my whole opinion is based on watching the first and second movies but gag me please, could they be setting a worse example on love and relationships.
I guess we should not be going to vampire books and movies for advise on relationships (not saying you should come to me either because what do I know) but I am a firm believer that the media effects people and this cannot be having a good effect.
I felt this way about Edward in the first movie but I wanted to give him a chance so I rented the second one and I still feel the same. He is wimpy and whiny and selfish and very naive for being 100 years old. He and Bella do not have a healthy relationship. They are way too enmeshed and seem to bring out the worst in each other. They are so dependent on each other that it just drives me crazy and just when Bella seems to be moving on and becoming a normal person again Edward draws her back in.
The message of this story is that a girl needs a guy to survive and and they need to be so in love that they cannot spend a moment apart. When Edward says "you give me everything by just breathing Bella" I wanted to scream CREEPER!!! Their love is so unrealistic and not in a fun way like some chick-flick movies are but in a depressing way.
I think it is good for couples to need each other but they also need to still keep their own identity. Bella wants to take on Edward's identity so much that she is willing to die for it. She looses her friends and only begins to find herself again in the arms of another guy. This is not good either Bella but at least he is a nicer guy.
So I don't know the point of this post except that I needed to vent a little about this story that is so popular and wonder what example it is setting for young people about the realities of love. I hope they can see it as just a story and not something we should desire for our own lives.