Tag Archives: YA

Twilight, sex and the tween

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apple of tempation; cover art; Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

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

Twilight discussion: Edward, the virtuous vampire

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apple of tempation; cover art; Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

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

Twilight discussion: the problems with Bella

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apple of tempation; cover art; Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

No, it’s not her romance with a blood-thirsty vampire or her inability to stay away from near death experiences. Not even her lack of coordination for basic physical activity.

Bella Swan, the 17-year-old heroine of the Twilight series, has bigger problems than vampires, a crashing car or bad guys stalking her down dark city streets, making her every parents worst nightmare for a teen-aged daughter. These are the problems I find in Bella:

1. Obsession with Edward

Bella admits it early in the first novel of her “unhealthy” preoccupation with Edward, the strange, yet beautiful boy she spies for the first time in the high school cafeteria. In the second novel, New Moon, her reaction to their break-up is over-the-top despair. I believe her father uses the term comatose. After being threatened with returning her to her mother, Bella finally decides to fake a recovery. Honestly, I had a hard time reading the first half of New Moon, Bella’s misery is so bizarre. Do 17 year olds react this way over a break-up with a first love or just the ones falling for a vampire?

2. Poor self-esteem

This may bother me more than the obsessiveness over a boy, the lack of self-worth Bella feels for herself. All four novels have many references to her perceived lack of beauty, her unworthiness to be protected and general lack of confidence on her part.

3. That sex thing

And this is one of the major reasons I read the series, to observe the relationship between Bella and Edward. Bella admits to a lack of belief in any faith in God, does have a sense of right and wrong (i.e. doesn’t like to lie), yet has no problem attempting to wear down the “old-fashioned” Edward, who refuses to give into temptation again and again. As a Bible-believing Christian, I believe Bella’s behavior is wrong and a sin. (I have a lot more to say about sex and the series, but this post is long enough. I’ll share those thoughts in the next few days.)

Sadly, I don’t care much for Bella – and I tried, I really did. She’s too clingy, obsessive. A bit whiny. Of course without those character flaws, there wouldn’t be much of a plot. I wish Bella were more independent, more strong in herself, and not crazy-obsessive with Edward. Of course, I would advise her to stop trying to have sex before marriage. At least the girl has enough sense to enjoy reading and good books.

What do you think? Do you agree with my assessment of Bella? If not, why?

Up next: Can vampires go to heaven?