The similarities between Fifty Shades of Grey and Twilight have been widely noted since the former series rose to popularity, and with good reason. Fifty Shades is essentially Twilight, minus any of that fun supernatural stuff and plus a whole lot more NSWF content. But when thinking about the two series side by side, the similarities become a little too apparent, and it starts to get pretty clear that Fifty Shades is in fact little more than Twilight fan-fiction. So in honor of the release of Fifty Shades Darker this weekend, here is a list of who in Fifty Shades is twinning with who from Twilight.
Christian –– Edward
Okay, so pretty obvious. But the more you think about it, the weirder it gets. Both are creepy tall men who stalk the girls they're crushin' on before actually having conversations with them; both are weirdly over protective; both talk about how they have no heart/soul/don't deserve affection with alarming frequency; both bruise their wives during sex and then get really bummed about it; both are so attractive that every woman in every room they walk into bats her eyelashes at them. I could go on, probably for several pages.
Ana –– Bella
Again, obvious. Both are self-deprecating brunettes characterized as abnormally clumsy. Both are oddly unafraid of men who have announced very clearly that they have an innate desire to cause them physical harm, and both have immense, and I mean immense self-esteem problems, and both blush at least once every three minutes. Not to mention they both begin the books as virgins, which was apparently quite an important aspect of the plot to both Stephenie Meyer and E.L James.
Mia –– Alice
The bubbly sister of the creepy male protagonist. Both are spunky with short brown hair, and show immediate liking for the girl their brother starts dating.
Jose –– Jacob
Ana and Jose were friends, so were Bella and Jacob. Edward literally would not let Bella see Jacob; Christian lost his damn mind whenever Ana was around Jose. Both Edward and Christian harbor an irrational hatred for both Jacob and Jose, mostly because they perceive the other men to be a threat to their relationships. It's all very extra. Side note: both are the literal only people of color in either story, excluding background characters and the rest of the wolves in Jacob's pack. Also, I'm pretty no one cares that much about either of these characters.
Jack –– James
I can’t help but think that Ana’s freaky stalker is pretty similar to James from book one. James manages to lure Bella away from the Cullens by saying that he kidnapped her mom. And Bella, being valiant or whatever, runs off to meet him. Upon arriving, Bella pretty much gets the bejesus beat out of her, and ends up in the hospital. Exciting stuff. Ana’s story is quite similar! Jack lures her away from her security detail by telling her that he’s kidnapped her sister-in-law. And because she, too, is valiant or whatever, she ran off to meet him. She also got the bejesus beat out of her and ended up in the hospital. WILD. They also both have pony tails, though James only has his in the movie version.
Leila –– Tanya
This is kind of a stretch since Tanya never posed any physical threat to Bella, but that’s not the focus of their similarities. Tanya is the mysterious former flame that Bella is endlessly and kind of obsessively jealous of, no matter how often Edward tells her that he rejected her. Leila, similarly, is Christian’s ex-sub, who though established as a crazy person and also someone who Christian rejected, Ana is freakishly jealous of. Like, it’s weird how jealous she is of this mentally ill girl.
Paul Clayton –– Mike
In case y'all have forgotten Paul, he was that guy that we met in book one for literally five seconds while Ana was working at the hardware store. In both books, this character’s only purpose is to remind us of how pretty both Bella and Ana are, because both have such low self-esteem that they can’t acknowledge their prettiness themselves. They need their boyfriends to note how many other men are lusting after them. Fun stuff.
Elliot –– Emmett
Even their names are similar. Both are the super outgoing, hot brother’s of their equally hot but more subdued male leads. Enough said. By this account, Ana’s friend Kate is kind of Rosalie (weirdly pretty blonde, confident in kind of a bitchy way, but also lowkey/highkey a true friend).
Ray –– Charlie
Literally the same person, so much that I actually do not want to talk about it. It’s not even funny. How did E.L James not get sued for plagiarism on this one?
Carla –– Renee
It’s the same deal with these moms. Ana and Bella’s parents both have the exact same story. The. Exact. Same. E.L James, this is just too much.
This article might seem incredibly extra, but the almost identical nature of the characters in the two series was too much to ignore. The thing is, though, Twilight wasn't very good to begin with. Copying its characters didn't really give Fifty Shades of Grey much of a chance, so I don't really get what the game plan was.
(((I mean, it still wouldn't have really had a chance, you know, because of the fact that it's a wildly unrealistic depiction of what is essentially an abusive relationship and also the fact that E.L James describes blushing as turning the color of the Communist Manifesto but that's all thank ugoodbye)))
