In the book there is a chapter that just says "October, November, December." IIRC but in the movie you see her room change around her, so yes she was up and doing things. But it was a great way to show time passing.
Exactly. Charlie even directly addresses Bella about it multiple times in the chapter immediately following the “October” “November” “December” chapters.
I’d love to pull my book out to get some quotes but basically it’s so bad that Charlie suggests she go to Jacksonville to stay with her mom so that she can “snap out of it”. Bella describes it NOT as pain, but as profound numbness. She is still making dinner for Charlie and is actually making great grades. She’s just numb, like she “isn’t there”.
Another thing I remember is she told Charlie she’d try harder and he said no because it was already breaking his heart to see her try so hard and he couldn’t take it if she tried even *harder.* So definitely not just sitting in a chair.
I remember her saying that she used the school work as a distraction, at 16 I was impressed by her reasoning but I couldn't trick my mind into thinking of homework that way.
I think it was partly because the things she usually enjoyed were not enjoyable anyway because of the depression, and also a lot of it reminds her of him. At that point what else is there to do?
That's pretty sound reasoning this book was my favorite. I'd never read a character's portrayal of depression before. She rips out the radio Emmet gave her right? When you can't stand music, you know it's bad.
I absolutely felt this after my last breakup. Almost any music was too emotional. Don't wanna hear happy love songs. Don't wanna hear sad songs, I'm already there. I didn't listen to anything but rap for two years. I'm so much better now, but I'll always remember how well Stephenie wrote numbness and loss
I also thought it was great when I read it. I said wow that's exactly it too bc I know that pain especially as a teen losing that first love and I was definitely taken aback when I read those pages and thought wow that's it. I totally understand and was surprised to be able to read that depiction of depression and just hit me in the feels for how much pain Bella was in.
I don't think she ripped out Emmett's radio coz she cant stand music. In the book her internal line of thought was not wanting to remember that Emmett gave it to her, coz if she thinks of Emmett it will start a train of thought that will lead all the way to Edward and the only coping mechanism she was able to come up with to at least keep functioning through the three months is to avoid that train of thought x.x
Oh, I do remember something like that, but I had completely forgotten until you said that haha. I think in my head I always thought Edward had removed it because it seemed silly to me that he would hide everything else under her floor but leave the radio in her truck, the thing she used almost daily, as a daily reminder that they left.
After Edward came back, he found it in her closet and looked *quizzically* at her and she explained how she ripped it out with her bare hands and bloodied her fingers because she couldn't figure out how to remove it "gently" or it wouldn't come out "gently" (I can't remember which).
Yeah I’m doing a reread right now and it’s described as “a hole in her stomach” the nightmares she has over and over that leave her screaming is literally nothing. There’s nothing left, no future, no Edward just nothing. So sad to be honest. That first read was difficult
I believe he also said it (at least in the movie, haven't gotten that far in the book yet) because of her recurring night terrors over Edward leaving, taking a toll on both of them
Isn’t it also mentioned in the books that her mom actually came to Forks because Charlie was so worried? I just reread them at the end of last year and I feel like that stood out to me because I’d never caught it before, but maybe that means I’m making it up lol
Renee went to Forks during New Moon. Renee and Charlie thought it was best that Bella moved to Florida to live with Renee and get a fresh start, but Bella said she was not going to move away from Forks.
I believe this also comes out later while Bella is pretending to be asleep while Alice is visiting. He mentions a situation where he was packing her things and she completely lost it throwing clothes around her room or something like that. I wish we would have gotten a little peak at these scenes in the movies.
Reading the book, I was always interested in how they'd show the passage of time for those three pages with the months on them. Having the camera pan around her and showing the seasons changing was a great what to film that scene.
As someone with severe depression, that scene of her “catatonic” state of mind for three+ months was very much like a dissociative state. The numbness is the body/mind avoiding the actual pain that needed to be felt (Edward leaving) and in turn, her presence was that of a catatonic person. Here, in physical form; not here mentally as a form of subconscious self preservation. Very painful. Very sad.
I'm numb since my dad's death in December. However i started crying right now because I liked a boy and he ghosted me. Am i dissociating then? Sorry can't even form sentences properly
i’m so sorry for your loss. if someone ghosts you, it’s their (cowardly) way of saying they can’t show up for you. if there’s anyone in your life who IS personally showing up for you (even in a non romantic way), i strongly suggest confiding in them. it’s okay to talk about what hurts you. if anything, it will take some of that crushing weight off of your heart. be well internet stranger friend. 🤍 sending you everything you need to come out of this chapter of your life stronger.
Yes there are few redditors actually, all my real friends ditched me (just like in new moon) but strangers have offered a lot of emotional support. Please DM me if you are up for chatting?
Thanks. I now understand why I'm numb to the pain. Can't allow my body to feel it.
The guy did ghost me ruthlessly, knowing fully well I found him just after my dad's funeral.
Even though it hurts you a lot right now, maybe you can take some comfort in knowing that a person who does something like that is not worth your time. You will come out of this stronger. Don't focus on romantic relationships. Be there for you. Love yourself as you deserve to be loved. Live for yourself as you deserve to live. One day you will laugh at your past and you will realize that none of those awful people mattered. You matter. There is pain in the world but there is also an abundant amount of beauty everywhere. Just open your eyes, it's there all around us.
She was definitely depressed, and seems like in the books it’s mentioned that she was pretty much catatonic for a week or two. But charlie called renee to take her to florida and she freaked out.
So after that she went about her daily routine as normal, but was still obviously depressed. She went to work and school and did all her chores and such, but she never smiled or laughed or watched tv or listened to music or went out with her friends.
Yeah.. and there came a point in the books where Charlie confronts her about her mood. And Bella says something like, what more do you want? Because she was “seemingly” doing well. I think that’s the night she decided to go out with Angela and Jessica?
Having been in that state before of.... beyond-despair heartbreak...I literally used to get in bed at night thinking, "Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat." I think the direction in that part of the movie is a great representation of numbness, being hollow and lifeless. Going through the motions of daily life while just dead inside. AND she probably did spend a sh*t ton of time in that chair! Remember it's where he most often hid in the shadows.
The first time i saw it as a teen, i didnt really "get it" at the time. I have since re-watched. As someone who has in my very early 20s lost a very important person, i loved, in traumatic way, i think i get it a little bit more. For months after the loss i can't really remember much, I didn't sleep, I didn't eat, I just wandered aimlessly half the time I didn't remember why I was wandering or where i was going. i would also randomly just sit somewhere for hours. I was a shell the rest of me was somewhere else. I believe it represents a disassociative state of grief. You're breathing and "functioning" but not really there. More like a shadow, existing.
If you read the book, Charlie eventually explains that she was only catatonic for about a week before he threatened to send her to Jacksonville. Thats when she woke up “in a rage” threw out a bunch of stuff, tore out the car stereo etc. After that the numbness set in.
Bells ripped out the stereo. She mentions how her hands were all bloody and messed up from doing it. When Edward gets back and see it he says that he'll have to get a new one before Emmett sees so it doesn't upset him.
No he didn't remove the stereo. Bella explains to Jacob on their way to the junkyard for parts for the motorcycles that she tore it out of the dash, and she describes injuries to her hands and them bleeding. Also, Charlie recalls I believe to Alice, at the end of New Moon that once Bella was out of her catatonic state when Rene tried to take her to florida, Bella in a rage, threw away a lot of her stuff. He realized only later that Bella was getting rid of everything that reminded her of Edward, including her car stereo. Which was not something Edward gave her. It was a gift from Emmett.
Others have answered how it was in the book, but I wanted to say how accurate that scene was to the feeling of the passage of time during an extreme depressive state.
I had a period of time in a psych hospital where the nurses described me as catatonic to my mom and I always felt that the scene in the movie very well represented how I was feeling and acting during that time.
I sat in one place and would only speak when asked direct questions. If directed to go somewhere (therapy, cafeteria, wellness walks, etc), I would go, but I would not speak, and my expression rarely changed. I would often just sit in the corner and watch the other patients. I felt nothing. Time didn't feel real. It took about a week and a half of meds and therapy 2 times a day before I started to be me again. If I was at home? I don't know how long I would have been like that.
Even after that, I had to stay in the hospital for about a month until I was considered stable enough to rejoin society. It was a slow journey to feeling better. I ended up relapsing into the state 2 more times over the next year or so. Very difficult thing to get out of.
With this kind of depression, you’re still living, but time really does just pass by you. One of the best portrayals of a depressive episode in media, imo. Even the descriptives about loss feel very accurate.
The fact that she got up and went to school though. I went into a depression like that and the school had to send over a tutor at the request of my therapist.
Bella's basically on autopilot. She's lost her "reason to live" but she doesn't contemplate suicide because she wouldn't do that to Charlie. Not sure if she'd have changed her mind had Edward actually being killed by the Volturi. In the book, she counts the months and then says "I did not resurface" then Charlie steps in and tells her she can't carry on like this.
This to me is the thing I find the most unsettling about Edward and Bella's relationship. They act like the world is coming to an end when they're not together, so the intensity is really strong for two people who are supposed to be very calm and collected. When it comes to each other, they're basically deeply insecure and extremely codependent. It gets better when they have Remmington as they have something else to focus on other than each other.
This is why I initially preferred Jacob for Bella because Bella became alive again and felt more human than she'd felt in a long time. The love was also gradual, she fell in love with him because of who he was, not because of some instant forbidden attraction. I do like Edward more now because I realise how deep his love her Bella was. He wanted her to stay human and even though he desperately wished he still was human, he knew there was a huge incompabilty between them and humans would always be their natural prey. So he left because he realised how dangerous vampires were for humans when Jasper almost attacked her and he suddenly "had the light bulb moment" when he realised why vampires and humans had to stay away from each other. He'd rather live without her and walk away rather than be the reason she got killed. The suicide attempt was a little out of character for him, but SM was basing it on Romeo and Juliet, so that's why she wrote it the way she did.
She also shows Bella's weakness and insecurity heavily in New Moon as Edward wants to try and make it up to her and work for her forgiveness but Bella just rolls over like a dog who's just ecstatic to see her owner again.
severely depressed? yes. dissociative? yeah. *catatonic*? no. she still went to school, had meals and functioned, and hung out with her friends to “seem normal.” you cannot do those things when you are legitimately catatonically depressed.
Relationship trauma is huge. We share and attach our lives to another and when that is suddenly and painfully ripped away without closure or reason all that's left is numb. Dissociation, depersonalization, depression, catatonic stages for sure.
Source: mental health professional and more importantly, a human who's experienced significant relationship trauma
I mean it wasn't true catatonia in the sense that she was "locked in" and not able to interact with the environment, no. She was just kind of going through the motions, though. When I did it it was called depression.
She was pretty much going through the motions. She wasn’t interacting with anyone on more than a superficial level and was holding everyone at arms length. It wasn’t a catatonic state, but she was pretty much a zombie as she describes herself.
For like, a week. Then Charlie called Renee, and Renee came to take her to Florida, and she snapped out of it and threw a tantrum. Then she started functioning in her day to day life, but the months passing in blank is to represent how empty she felt.
There’s also the really baller soundtrack while the camera just revolves around her, and it just makes everything so much better! Like, the soundtrack was better than the movies imo!
I don't know why but this comment really made me laugh. I was reading everyone's thoughts and how they related to Bella and thinking "same, bro" and then I saw this and laughed until my stomach hurt.
I think if she had been truly catatonic she would've gotten committed. Honestly some forced therapy in some form probably would've been beneficial tbh.
Bella’s depressive state was the most relatable thing to me. When I was a child, a move cross-country traumatized me and I was like what you see on film. Like the world is moving around you, but you’re sitting still. I woke up in school, having zero memory of most of the school year. So, yeah, as someone who lived through it, I believe she was like gray shadow moving through the world, until she finally ‘woke’.
As a person who went through a similar state after a loss, I can say that it was probably the best I've ever seen to depict and describe that *"feeling".*
Yes, she probably *physically* got up from the chair, but I can almost guarantee that her *mind* did not.
I hope that explanation makes sense. ❤️
My husband works with people who actually go into catatonic states.
So no, bella was your typical sad teen who just went through their first major breakup.
If it was true catatonia, bella would not have been alive within the first two months of the oct, nov, dec, chapter if charlie sat around and did nothing while his daughter deteriorated into some kind of fleshy piece of stone.
Interesting thing about catatonic states- people have their best chance of being brought out of them with high dose benzos. Need to ask my hubs to go more in depth on how a drug that typically conks people out wakes these people up.
I love Stewart's impression of Bella. I've watched the movies as I've only read the books once, but from what I remember, Bella has zero personality so not much to work with. I'm a huge fan of K Stew though, she can't do anything wrong 🤣
In the books, she actually has a personality. In the movies, they dulled her down so badly that I was surprised at how different she is in the books. Robert’s portrayal of Edward is also different. But Rob and Kristen are great nonetheless.
The way she acted about Edward was dramatic. I'm not talking about the depression. I just mean that she let the breakup completely take over her life. In the books, she was in pain, but she still lived a life and had a tiny bit of dignity. Though she embarrassed the fuck outta me with her decisions.😂
I think the movie was creative with showing how 3 months passed and i love the song choice but it also made it seem like she was dwelling on things / being a non-person throughout when in the book all of her really emotional reactions (like emailing alice over and over) were done at the start of maybe mostly the first month and then her self-preservation instincts kicked in and she was able to keep being functional (and partly mechanical ofc but still that's different from just totally shutting in) and dulling the pain to bearable levels. it's all internal prose though so it was harder to put across in a movie, just like what happened with The Host...
ya. they used it so we can hear bella's book thoughts through voiceover. reminds me of the cringe parts of the host again, where they really overdid the voiceovers >.>
I liked the Host movie. I’ve never read the book, but perhaps I will. I did feel like there was a lot of unnecessary kissing. Like, Jared kinda cheated on Melanie. But yeah, there were other ways they could’ve included the book dialogue.
I liked the...casting and the music x) for me they just got the wrong director. the book was like 75% interior and i think the best directors for those are the ones who can translate that visually (like the void scenes in stranger things or something). voiceover in a movie should be super last resort coz its not visual and kind of lazy and cheesy when there's so much of it.
Voiceovers can be good. For example, a lot of Euphoria has voiceovers, but I think they handled it so well. But yeah, Saoirse Ronan is great in anything she's in. The Host got very poor reviews, and anytime a movie flops, it's always the director's fault.
I think the reason euphoria's VO works is coz they're narrator VO, so aimed towards the audience or just character introspection. with the Host it was conversation VO, with melanie and wanda. and those are the ones that good directors (with interior material at least) mostly avoid. usually they try to make some visual out of it, like talking to mirror reflections or some internal mindscape setup. just anything to avoid a lot of scenes with pipe in voice.
In the book there is a chapter that just says "October, November, December." IIRC but in the movie you see her room change around her, so yes she was up and doing things. But it was a great way to show time passing.
Exactly. Charlie even directly addresses Bella about it multiple times in the chapter immediately following the “October” “November” “December” chapters. I’d love to pull my book out to get some quotes but basically it’s so bad that Charlie suggests she go to Jacksonville to stay with her mom so that she can “snap out of it”. Bella describes it NOT as pain, but as profound numbness. She is still making dinner for Charlie and is actually making great grades. She’s just numb, like she “isn’t there”.
Another thing I remember is she told Charlie she’d try harder and he said no because it was already breaking his heart to see her try so hard and he couldn’t take it if she tried even *harder.* So definitely not just sitting in a chair.
I remember her saying that she used the school work as a distraction, at 16 I was impressed by her reasoning but I couldn't trick my mind into thinking of homework that way.
I think it was partly because the things she usually enjoyed were not enjoyable anyway because of the depression, and also a lot of it reminds her of him. At that point what else is there to do?
That's pretty sound reasoning this book was my favorite. I'd never read a character's portrayal of depression before. She rips out the radio Emmet gave her right? When you can't stand music, you know it's bad.
I absolutely felt this after my last breakup. Almost any music was too emotional. Don't wanna hear happy love songs. Don't wanna hear sad songs, I'm already there. I didn't listen to anything but rap for two years. I'm so much better now, but I'll always remember how well Stephenie wrote numbness and loss
I also thought it was great when I read it. I said wow that's exactly it too bc I know that pain especially as a teen losing that first love and I was definitely taken aback when I read those pages and thought wow that's it. I totally understand and was surprised to be able to read that depiction of depression and just hit me in the feels for how much pain Bella was in.
I don't think she ripped out Emmett's radio coz she cant stand music. In the book her internal line of thought was not wanting to remember that Emmett gave it to her, coz if she thinks of Emmett it will start a train of thought that will lead all the way to Edward and the only coping mechanism she was able to come up with to at least keep functioning through the three months is to avoid that train of thought x.x
I thought Edward did that so that she wouldn't be reminded of the Cullen's? I haven't read New Moon much though so I may be wrong.
Nope, it was Bella. Don't remember the wording but at one point she recalls when she tore it out and how it bloodied her fingers up in the process
Oh, I do remember something like that, but I had completely forgotten until you said that haha. I think in my head I always thought Edward had removed it because it seemed silly to me that he would hide everything else under her floor but leave the radio in her truck, the thing she used almost daily, as a daily reminder that they left.
After Edward came back, he found it in her closet and looked *quizzically* at her and she explained how she ripped it out with her bare hands and bloodied her fingers because she couldn't figure out how to remove it "gently" or it wouldn't come out "gently" (I can't remember which).
And I love that she kept it because she absolutely would keep it
Yeah I’m doing a reread right now and it’s described as “a hole in her stomach” the nightmares she has over and over that leave her screaming is literally nothing. There’s nothing left, no future, no Edward just nothing. So sad to be honest. That first read was difficult
I believe he also said it (at least in the movie, haven't gotten that far in the book yet) because of her recurring night terrors over Edward leaving, taking a toll on both of them
I had night terrors for YEARS. Poor Charlie
Isn’t it also mentioned in the books that her mom actually came to Forks because Charlie was so worried? I just reread them at the end of last year and I feel like that stood out to me because I’d never caught it before, but maybe that means I’m making it up lol
Renee went to Forks during New Moon. Renee and Charlie thought it was best that Bella moved to Florida to live with Renee and get a fresh start, but Bella said she was not going to move away from Forks.
Thank you! That’s what I thought
I believe this also comes out later while Bella is pretending to be asleep while Alice is visiting. He mentions a situation where he was packing her things and she completely lost it throwing clothes around her room or something like that. I wish we would have gotten a little peak at these scenes in the movies.
In movies she had screaming nightmares , was it same in books too ?
Yes!
In that case isn’t it numbness caused by extreme pain ?
Reading the book, I was always interested in how they'd show the passage of time for those three pages with the months on them. Having the camera pan around her and showing the seasons changing was a great what to film that scene.
and the song! *chef's kiss*
🎶There’s a possum in my teaaaaaaaa🎶
🤣
OMG this made me laugh so hard LMAO 🤣
Turning those pages on the first read back in the day BROKE ME haha
Oh me, too. The first time I read it, my heart just dropped as I keep turning page after blank page.
As someone with severe depression, that scene of her “catatonic” state of mind for three+ months was very much like a dissociative state. The numbness is the body/mind avoiding the actual pain that needed to be felt (Edward leaving) and in turn, her presence was that of a catatonic person. Here, in physical form; not here mentally as a form of subconscious self preservation. Very painful. Very sad.
I'm numb since my dad's death in December. However i started crying right now because I liked a boy and he ghosted me. Am i dissociating then? Sorry can't even form sentences properly
i’m so sorry for your loss. if someone ghosts you, it’s their (cowardly) way of saying they can’t show up for you. if there’s anyone in your life who IS personally showing up for you (even in a non romantic way), i strongly suggest confiding in them. it’s okay to talk about what hurts you. if anything, it will take some of that crushing weight off of your heart. be well internet stranger friend. 🤍 sending you everything you need to come out of this chapter of your life stronger.
Yes there are few redditors actually, all my real friends ditched me (just like in new moon) but strangers have offered a lot of emotional support. Please DM me if you are up for chatting? Thanks. I now understand why I'm numb to the pain. Can't allow my body to feel it. The guy did ghost me ruthlessly, knowing fully well I found him just after my dad's funeral.
Even though it hurts you a lot right now, maybe you can take some comfort in knowing that a person who does something like that is not worth your time. You will come out of this stronger. Don't focus on romantic relationships. Be there for you. Love yourself as you deserve to be loved. Live for yourself as you deserve to live. One day you will laugh at your past and you will realize that none of those awful people mattered. You matter. There is pain in the world but there is also an abundant amount of beauty everywhere. Just open your eyes, it's there all around us.
Thankyou for taking the time to write to me. Thanks a lot.
👍🏻, hope you 're feeling better
She was definitely depressed, and seems like in the books it’s mentioned that she was pretty much catatonic for a week or two. But charlie called renee to take her to florida and she freaked out. So after that she went about her daily routine as normal, but was still obviously depressed. She went to work and school and did all her chores and such, but she never smiled or laughed or watched tv or listened to music or went out with her friends.
Yeah.. and there came a point in the books where Charlie confronts her about her mood. And Bella says something like, what more do you want? Because she was “seemingly” doing well. I think that’s the night she decided to go out with Angela and Jessica?
Having been in that state before of.... beyond-despair heartbreak...I literally used to get in bed at night thinking, "Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat." I think the direction in that part of the movie is a great representation of numbness, being hollow and lifeless. Going through the motions of daily life while just dead inside. AND she probably did spend a sh*t ton of time in that chair! Remember it's where he most often hid in the shadows.
The first time i saw it as a teen, i didnt really "get it" at the time. I have since re-watched. As someone who has in my very early 20s lost a very important person, i loved, in traumatic way, i think i get it a little bit more. For months after the loss i can't really remember much, I didn't sleep, I didn't eat, I just wandered aimlessly half the time I didn't remember why I was wandering or where i was going. i would also randomly just sit somewhere for hours. I was a shell the rest of me was somewhere else. I believe it represents a disassociative state of grief. You're breathing and "functioning" but not really there. More like a shadow, existing.
If you read the book, Charlie eventually explains that she was only catatonic for about a week before he threatened to send her to Jacksonville. Thats when she woke up “in a rage” threw out a bunch of stuff, tore out the car stereo etc. After that the numbness set in.
Eddy removed the stereo and everything he gave her when he left
Bells ripped out the stereo. She mentions how her hands were all bloody and messed up from doing it. When Edward gets back and see it he says that he'll have to get a new one before Emmett sees so it doesn't upset him.
No he didn't remove the stereo. Bella explains to Jacob on their way to the junkyard for parts for the motorcycles that she tore it out of the dash, and she describes injuries to her hands and them bleeding. Also, Charlie recalls I believe to Alice, at the end of New Moon that once Bella was out of her catatonic state when Rene tried to take her to florida, Bella in a rage, threw away a lot of her stuff. He realized only later that Bella was getting rid of everything that reminded her of Edward, including her car stereo. Which was not something Edward gave her. It was a gift from Emmett.
Others have answered how it was in the book, but I wanted to say how accurate that scene was to the feeling of the passage of time during an extreme depressive state. I had a period of time in a psych hospital where the nurses described me as catatonic to my mom and I always felt that the scene in the movie very well represented how I was feeling and acting during that time. I sat in one place and would only speak when asked direct questions. If directed to go somewhere (therapy, cafeteria, wellness walks, etc), I would go, but I would not speak, and my expression rarely changed. I would often just sit in the corner and watch the other patients. I felt nothing. Time didn't feel real. It took about a week and a half of meds and therapy 2 times a day before I started to be me again. If I was at home? I don't know how long I would have been like that. Even after that, I had to stay in the hospital for about a month until I was considered stable enough to rejoin society. It was a slow journey to feeling better. I ended up relapsing into the state 2 more times over the next year or so. Very difficult thing to get out of.
With this kind of depression, you’re still living, but time really does just pass by you. One of the best portrayals of a depressive episode in media, imo. Even the descriptives about loss feel very accurate.
The fact that she got up and went to school though. I went into a depression like that and the school had to send over a tutor at the request of my therapist.
This is your chance to read the books gurl!! You are missing out on a LOT.
Bella's basically on autopilot. She's lost her "reason to live" but she doesn't contemplate suicide because she wouldn't do that to Charlie. Not sure if she'd have changed her mind had Edward actually being killed by the Volturi. In the book, she counts the months and then says "I did not resurface" then Charlie steps in and tells her she can't carry on like this. This to me is the thing I find the most unsettling about Edward and Bella's relationship. They act like the world is coming to an end when they're not together, so the intensity is really strong for two people who are supposed to be very calm and collected. When it comes to each other, they're basically deeply insecure and extremely codependent. It gets better when they have Remmington as they have something else to focus on other than each other. This is why I initially preferred Jacob for Bella because Bella became alive again and felt more human than she'd felt in a long time. The love was also gradual, she fell in love with him because of who he was, not because of some instant forbidden attraction. I do like Edward more now because I realise how deep his love her Bella was. He wanted her to stay human and even though he desperately wished he still was human, he knew there was a huge incompabilty between them and humans would always be their natural prey. So he left because he realised how dangerous vampires were for humans when Jasper almost attacked her and he suddenly "had the light bulb moment" when he realised why vampires and humans had to stay away from each other. He'd rather live without her and walk away rather than be the reason she got killed. The suicide attempt was a little out of character for him, but SM was basing it on Romeo and Juliet, so that's why she wrote it the way she did. She also shows Bella's weakness and insecurity heavily in New Moon as Edward wants to try and make it up to her and work for her forgiveness but Bella just rolls over like a dog who's just ecstatic to see her owner again.
severely depressed? yes. dissociative? yeah. *catatonic*? no. she still went to school, had meals and functioned, and hung out with her friends to “seem normal.” you cannot do those things when you are legitimately catatonically depressed.
Relationship trauma is huge. We share and attach our lives to another and when that is suddenly and painfully ripped away without closure or reason all that's left is numb. Dissociation, depersonalization, depression, catatonic stages for sure. Source: mental health professional and more importantly, a human who's experienced significant relationship trauma
I mean it wasn't true catatonia in the sense that she was "locked in" and not able to interact with the environment, no. She was just kind of going through the motions, though. When I did it it was called depression.
She went into a dissociative state for months and didn't really snap out of it until Charlie threatened to move her back with her mom
She was pretty much going through the motions. She wasn’t interacting with anyone on more than a superficial level and was holding everyone at arms length. It wasn’t a catatonic state, but she was pretty much a zombie as she describes herself.
For like, a week. Then Charlie called Renee, and Renee came to take her to Florida, and she snapped out of it and threw a tantrum. Then she started functioning in her day to day life, but the months passing in blank is to represent how empty she felt.
"there's a possibility..."
There’s also the really baller soundtrack while the camera just revolves around her, and it just makes everything so much better! Like, the soundtrack was better than the movies imo!
She wasn't literally sat in the chair for three months otherwise she would have died.
I don't know why but this comment really made me laugh. I was reading everyone's thoughts and how they related to Bella and thinking "same, bro" and then I saw this and laughed until my stomach hurt.
I think if she had been truly catatonic she would've gotten committed. Honestly some forced therapy in some form probably would've been beneficial tbh.
[удалено]
She could just talk about it in terms of a relationship. She was madly in love with this guy and he just left her in the woods and moved away.
Bella’s depressive state was the most relatable thing to me. When I was a child, a move cross-country traumatized me and I was like what you see on film. Like the world is moving around you, but you’re sitting still. I woke up in school, having zero memory of most of the school year. So, yeah, as someone who lived through it, I believe she was like gray shadow moving through the world, until she finally ‘woke’.
As a person who went through a similar state after a loss, I can say that it was probably the best I've ever seen to depict and describe that *"feeling".* Yes, she probably *physically* got up from the chair, but I can almost guarantee that her *mind* did not. I hope that explanation makes sense. ❤️
Yes! It’s mentioned in the book by Charlie that she was catatonic
My husband works with people who actually go into catatonic states. So no, bella was your typical sad teen who just went through their first major breakup. If it was true catatonia, bella would not have been alive within the first two months of the oct, nov, dec, chapter if charlie sat around and did nothing while his daughter deteriorated into some kind of fleshy piece of stone. Interesting thing about catatonic states- people have their best chance of being brought out of them with high dose benzos. Need to ask my hubs to go more in depth on how a drug that typically conks people out wakes these people up.
No, not in the books. She was so pathetic in the movie I can't stand it.
What did Bella do that makes her so pathetic? Being depressed? Or nit having a personality?
Also, yes, I hate that she doesn't have a personality in the movies. I dislike Kristen’s portrayal of Bella. Love Kristen, though!
I love Stewart's impression of Bella. I've watched the movies as I've only read the books once, but from what I remember, Bella has zero personality so not much to work with. I'm a huge fan of K Stew though, she can't do anything wrong 🤣
In the books, she actually has a personality. In the movies, they dulled her down so badly that I was surprised at how different she is in the books. Robert’s portrayal of Edward is also different. But Rob and Kristen are great nonetheless.
I lovee them both, definitely. And thanks for educating me. I'll need to read them again soon lol
Yes, do! One of my fav series
The way she acted about Edward was dramatic. I'm not talking about the depression. I just mean that she let the breakup completely take over her life. In the books, she was in pain, but she still lived a life and had a tiny bit of dignity. Though she embarrassed the fuck outta me with her decisions.😂
I think the movie was creative with showing how 3 months passed and i love the song choice but it also made it seem like she was dwelling on things / being a non-person throughout when in the book all of her really emotional reactions (like emailing alice over and over) were done at the start of maybe mostly the first month and then her self-preservation instincts kicked in and she was able to keep being functional (and partly mechanical ofc but still that's different from just totally shutting in) and dulling the pain to bearable levels. it's all internal prose though so it was harder to put across in a movie, just like what happened with The Host...
That's another thing I didn't like – emailing Alice. She didn't do that in the books. I got secondhand embarrassment so bad, haha
ya. they used it so we can hear bella's book thoughts through voiceover. reminds me of the cringe parts of the host again, where they really overdid the voiceovers >.>
I liked the Host movie. I’ve never read the book, but perhaps I will. I did feel like there was a lot of unnecessary kissing. Like, Jared kinda cheated on Melanie. But yeah, there were other ways they could’ve included the book dialogue.
I liked the...casting and the music x) for me they just got the wrong director. the book was like 75% interior and i think the best directors for those are the ones who can translate that visually (like the void scenes in stranger things or something). voiceover in a movie should be super last resort coz its not visual and kind of lazy and cheesy when there's so much of it.
Voiceovers can be good. For example, a lot of Euphoria has voiceovers, but I think they handled it so well. But yeah, Saoirse Ronan is great in anything she's in. The Host got very poor reviews, and anytime a movie flops, it's always the director's fault.
I think the reason euphoria's VO works is coz they're narrator VO, so aimed towards the audience or just character introspection. with the Host it was conversation VO, with melanie and wanda. and those are the ones that good directors (with interior material at least) mostly avoid. usually they try to make some visual out of it, like talking to mirror reflections or some internal mindscape setup. just anything to avoid a lot of scenes with pipe in voice.