In light of the autumn season, comes the annual rewatch of the Twilight movies, and with that comes my hottest take.
Jacob is better than Edward.
That being said, I have only watched the movies; I have not read the books, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
In the first two movies (Twilight and Twilight: New Moon), Bella decides to throw her life away with her loving parents, partly due to Edward’s successful manipulation, after she learns that the only way she can be with him is if she is killed in her mortal body and turned into an immortal vampire.
You would think that maybe she would stick up for herself and find her own self-worth when this boy is telling her she should uproot her life for him, but no. He also stalks her, breaks into her house to watch her sleep, almost gets her killed multiple times, convinces her to run away from home on more than one occasion, and abandons her after they start dating to “protect her.” A great start to a blossoming relationship.
On the other hand, Jacob is her friend from childhood who is playful and fun with Bella. He gets to know her and the things that she enjoys, and helps her through her most depressive time. He is honest with her, clearly communicative about his feelings. He calls her out for holding Edward to a higher standard than Jacob when he hasn’t taken any lives other than vampires, and Edward had admitted to Bella’s face that he would be able to control himself around her (meaning he wants to suck her blood and kill her). Edward also admits to Bella that he has killed before, which she dismisses and says that she trusts him (great).
Now I understand that Jacob’s character gets ruined after he fully transforms into a wolf, and in the later movies he becomes a lot more toxic of a character, but to be quite frank, I think that was Stephenie Meyer realizing that Jacob was a much healthier option for Bella instead of Edward. His character drastically changes after the second movie, while Edward’s just becomes more like Jacob’s from the first two movies.
Also, Jacob never manipulated Bella into running away from her friends and family for him. Instead, he encouraged her to live her life to the fullest and to be with her beloved dad, Charlie Swan. He loved her better than the vampires, and he loved her for who she was. Not what she did for him, not for what she could be, but for her soul. Even at her lowest, she was still perfect to him.
Therefore, I am team Jacob, and always will be.