Forget Passive Aggressive Control Freak Vampires, Twihards Want A Real Man (Werewolf, Whatever)

In the Twilight series Bella Swan shuns the attention of a smitten werewolf and falls madly in love with Edward, a local vampire.

His behaviour has been labelled abusive by critics, who worried that teenage girls were getting the wrong message. However, fans are falling hard for the werewolf, played by pumped up Taylor Lautner. Although he is also a monster, he couldn’t be sweeter as a boyfriend.

Everywhere I go there is New Moon merchandise, and every pic of Taylor Lautner has been ripped from the shelves. Pillows with Edward and Bella’s faces sit sullenly beside a gaping hole where Jacob Black’s kissable face once graced. A full length poster of Edward broods beside an empty bin which once held Jacob’s newly ripped torso. Even a set of four buttons at Walmart had all the Jacob buttons ripped off, leaving Edward, Bella and Edward and Bella pouting in gothic misery.

So what is the appeal? Well maybe it is that he is a nice guy.

Women over the age of 16 are a little concerned by Bella’s relationship with Edward. He sneaks into her room every night to watch her sleep, he disabled her car to “protect” her from going where he didn’t think it was safe and he says charming things like, “I could reach out, meaning to touch your face, and crush your skull by mistake. You don’t realize how incredibly breakable you are.”

Jacob doesn’t do any of that. He tells her what he wants and when she disagrees he respects her opinion. He warns her against dangerous things, but doesn’t ban her from doing them, recognizing that she can make her own decisions. And while she pines for Edward, it is Jacob who comforts her.

New Moon begins with Edward dumping Bella but lying about the reasons. It is for her own good, he argued. Although she knows the risks of staying with him she is willing to make the sacrifice when he says his family must leave town. Edward thinks she knows better than she does, and tells her that he doesn’t love her. Then he disappears, leaving her alone in the forest where she collapses with grief and is found hours later.

Contrast that with Jacob’s disappearing act. One day he stops returning Bella’s calls and his Dad tells her that he has mono. After weeks of not reaching him, and mad with grief (common emotion for our heroine) she confronts him at his house. Turns out that he changed into a werewolf and had some shit to deal with himself. Although he could have handled it better, he didn’t abandon her out of antiquated notions of protecting women, but because he was taking care of his own needs. He wasn’t manipulating her or trying to control her — he was just doing what he had to do.

Needless to say, I am a fan of the Twi-hards new fixation. Although it’s a shame that Bella can’t see the light, it’s good to know that teenage girls don’t think nice boys finish last.