Twilight, and why I think Bella is dumb (along with several other irritating characters)

Warning: Spoilers, but if you haven't read any of Twilight, you probably won't care anyway.

I read Twilight last year. I didn't think much of it, but I knew, since I read the first book, I would have to read the rest. But honestly, it kind of reminded me of "Party of Five" with vampires and no dead parents. You all remember "Party of Five" right? The show that launched Jennifer Love Hewitt, Matthew Fox, Neve? A show so full of teen angst, I felt like I'd regressed to 15 every time I watched it? That's the way I feel about Twilight. I had to keep reminding myself that the main characters were teenagers, and I still wanted to slap Bella - multiple times.
Anyway, I just finished New Moon last night. I almost didn't read it - my Twilight-loving friends all told me it was the worst book in the series and I would probably hate it. I didn't hate it - but it reinforced my dislike of Bella.
Let me clarify, before a slew of avid Twilight fans storm my blog and, possibly, cause me bodily harm - the stories are pretty decent. I have no major problem with any of the other characters - it's just Bella. She is the whiniest character since Holden Caulfield and Raskolnikov. Both characters I wanted to slap around.
During one amusing moment in the book, Bella the whiner is comparing her relationship with Edward to the doomed lovers of Romeo and Juliet. And I couldn't help but agree - because I found Romeo and Juliet to be two of the most pathetic characters in literature. Even in high school - I mean, come on. They were teenagers. Kids - and they certainly acted like it. "oh, no, she's dead, I'll just go ahead and kill myself right here." and then "oh, no, now he's dead..." you get the picture. Understand, I am not the least romantic person alive, but come on. And yes, I am dissing another favorite character in literature - Holden Caulfield. What a whiney, elitist little punk. I never understood Kyra Sedgwick's character's love for him in "Singles"...and the funny thing, my guess is the author meant for the character to be annoying, and what a hoot that so many American girls loved the guy so much. I mean, what a comment on our culture.

Wow, I totally went off topic there. I disliked "Romeo and Juliet", "Catcher in the Rye", and "Crime and Punishment" - three of the world's most popular and best loved works of literature. And now we're discussing...right, the Twilight series, more specifically, New Moon. The entire meat of the book consists of Bella whining for Edward, and developing a relationship with Jacob...and by the way, what is everyone's beef with Jacob? He can't help what he is, and, more to the point, other than the Cullens, the vampires are a lot more deadly than the werewolves. He acts a lot more mature than dumb Bella, and she has pretty much said she isn't going to be leaving Edward. I thought Jacob and his group are a very cool addition to the story, and he could get a heck of a lot better than Bella. Why do these characters love her so much, anyway? She's kind of a twit.

Ok, this was pretty disjointed and crazy-sounding. I just wanted to get this all out before it slipped away. And don't attack me - I'm just as entitled to my opinion, darn it.
Have a nice day. Watch out for mythical creatures.