From the article:
I watched the pilot episode of Glee when it premiered a few months before the show was to begin airing regularly. It was decent enough to at least give some time to the next few episodes. But by the end of episode two, I was getting a little uneasy.
Read the rest at Relevant Magazine.
And now we come to what I believe is the most grievous problem with the Twilight series: the tween Twilight reader. The following is a real conversation I had with my 11 year old recently:
Susan: One of the girls in my class at church read Twilight.
Me: Hmmm. I see.
{Pause for dramatic affect}
Me: And how old is this girl?
Susan: I’m not sure. I think she’s ten.
Friends, Twilight is a YA novel. As in: Young Adult. Emphasis on the adult. The pre-teen reader is too young for the complex relationships, love triangles, make-out bedroom scenes, and Bella’s hot and heavy pursuit to bed her vampire boyfriend. Twilight is not for young kids.
I suspect my opinion is not the majority. Unfortunately, I think a lot of parents mistakenly believe that as long as their child is reading something, anything at all, then it’s better than nothing. We all want our kids to read. I get that. Remember how excited I was when Susan discovered the world of a page-turning novel? I love it that she loves to read.
But no way do I want her reading Twilight – or any other fiction with a heavy emphasis of sexual passion and pursuit – no matter how G-rated it is for a YA novel. And Twilight certainly is mild when it comes to those bedroom scenes. Twilight has nothing graphic that I can point to as evidence to say, “Ah-ha! See! Bella and Edward in bed with detailed description of fornication!!” No, there isn’t anything like that in the series.
And yet . . .
The problem isn’t so much what’s IN the book, it’s more who’s READING the book.
This is the problem with American culture; we expose our children too early to adult ideas, concepts they are not mature enough to handle. It’s in the music, television, movies, advertising, Internet, and books. Human anatomy and biology is fine, I’ve no problem with teaching our children how their bodies work, babies made. My concern is for the young reader being exposed to sexual desire, sexual passion. These are concepts our tweens need to hold off on until more mature.
Answer me this question: Why the rush to end childhood innocence?
Think about what the tween – the 9, 10, 11 and 12 year olds – are reading, and thinking about, if they read the Twilight series.
Bella’s continuous attempts to bed Edward – what does that teach the tween about dating relationships and sex?
What about Bella’s poor self-esteem?
And I shudder at the tween reading these books without any parental input. Bella is a horrible example for an impressionable tween girl.
What say you? Do you agree with my conclusions or am I way off the mark? Let’s discuss.
Up next: Final Twilight thoughts
When I read popular novels, I love to find unexpected references to spiritual things. Twilight doesn’t disappoint.
In the Twilight series, beyond the teen romance and surviving the Bad Guy vampires, there is Edward, a vampire struggling to understand what will happen to him if he should die (that’s an IF because vampires are supposed to be immortal, unless destroyed, right?). Head Good Guy vampire, Carlisle, believes in redemption for their kind. Edward isn’t so sure, and spends a lot of time talking about heaven and hell with Bella. (That’s one of the reasons Edward doesn’t want Bella to become a vampire, remember? He doesn’t want her condemned to an eternity as a lost soul.)
Now THIS is a topic I can really sink my teeth into.
At first, Edward tells Bella no to her sexual advances because she is “fragile,” he’s afraid he might hurt her, but the further we get into the series, we come to learn that he is concerned with his own soul. He’s a murderer, a monster. He knows he’s done wrong, and now he’s trying to make amends with his non-human diet. Here is a vampire looking for any way to increase his odds of going to heaven. So no sex with Bella before they are wed.
Interesting, isn’t it?
What do you think?
Can Edward make it into heaven by his good intentions?
Can a vampire go to heaven or is his soul condemned forever?
Did you like the spiritual aspect of the novels or do you only like the love story?
Let’s discuss.
Next: Twilight, sex and the pre-teen