Why are Bella and Edward really attracted to one another?

Michael Sheen, who plays Aro in the The Twilight Saga: New Moon, has said how seriously Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson take their roles in the franchise, and after reading this Metro World News interview with Stewart, I'm starting to believe him.

• Explaining Bella's role in the second film, she says, "She loses the man she's in love with, but she also loses her entire life plan, and she's so young to have to be forced into a decision like that. It's just a glorified, elaborate version of the worst breakup you've ever been through. All of a sudden you question everything. All of a sudden you know nothing and you're dropped in the middle of a freezing cold ocean. Oddly, we have a character that's warm enough and bright enough to bring her out of that, and it's truly gut-ripping. Because as perfect as Jacob is for her, she holds on to an ideal, the ultimate fiery love that she has for Edward even though it's not comfortable, it's not practical and it's not a good idea. So it's really a very strong thing to do. It takes someone who really trusts themselves."

• Asked if Bella is introverted or just seeking an ideal, she says, "It's not that she's incredibly introverted. She's just yet to have found a connection that is truthful. She's a seeker of the truth. She's not one to get wrapped up in something that is a fantasy. She doesn't set herself up for disappointment. So that's what makes the story with her and Edward so compelling, in that this is a girl that normally wouldn't do something this crazy."

All this talk about Edward being "an ideal" and a "connection that is truthful" made me think back to a conversation I had with a friend who didn't understand why Bella and Edward were actually drawn to one another -- besides the fact that he's hellahot and her blood is like his own personal heroin. Is it more romantic if a love is somehow destined -- like in a scent or an imprint -- or if the connection is actually explained? Do you feel like it's explained in Twilight? Is it as basic as a lion wanting to take care of a lamb, and the lamb wanting to feel protected? (Probably not, right, since Bella isn't actually safe with Edward?) Maybe Bella is the only teen in Forks who ever wanted to listen to Edward's Debussy CD?


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