Twilight: Parents, Talk to Your Daughters
Young Readers of Twilight May Glean More Than Parents Bargain For
Twilight is not for children.
Targeted at Young Adults, the Twilight Series has held the attention of people of all ages, from girls as young as ten to full grown men and women. However, despite the intended audience of the books, the Twilight series does not belong in the hands of young, impressionable children. It is true that there is no excessive graphic violence, nor lurid sex scenes. Not even the supposed "monsters" - vampires and werewolves - make the material in Twilight inappropriate. Rather, it is the lead character, Bella Swan, who makes this book dangerous in the hands of youth. A more weak characterization of a female has never been set to paper, especially not as the protagonist of the story. Allowing our children to look up to Bella Swan as any sort of role model, goal or ideal is a horrifying prospect.
Bella Swan is not for children.
A book that encourages young people to read, and not only that, but also includes a female protagonist, sounds like it might be too good to be true. Unfortunately, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Rather than using her vast reach and influence to craft Bella into a character worthy of our admiration, with the Twilight books, Stephanie Meyer seems to almost deliberately head off in the opposite direction. Bella herself is nearly devoid of personality traits, let alone admirable qualities, before she meets Edward, her sparkling vampire. After that meeting, the situation only becomes worse. As the Twilight series continues, Bella is completely reliant upon Edward, lost without him, even to the point of sinking into a near comatose state when separated from him. Is this the appropriate message for young teen females? That they need a boy to complete them? That they're useless without him? That life is not worth living without that special man by your side? Bella Swan is a sixteen year old female at the time the Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series is set. At a time when young women should be forming into the adults they will someday become, Bella stops any and all character development the moment Edward walks into her life. Is that the message young women should be receiving?
Parents, talk to your children.
It must be agreed that it is true, anything that gets young people reading can't be all bad. If anything, the Twilight series has certainly accomplished that goal. With books selling in the millions, if your child hasn't read them, they are sure to know someone who has. When making the decision whether or not to allow your child to read the Twilight series, read through it yourself. Take into account a young girl's mind - not yet developed or sophisticated enough to have "Something is very wrong here!" red flags go up when in Twilight, Edward sneaks into Bella's room at night to watch her sleep. Or to see the dangerous flaws in logic when Bella begins attempting dangerous, life-threatening feats in New Moon, simply induce a hallucination of Edward's voice. Or to question why a young woman with her whole life ahead of her would throw it all away - family, friends and future.
There is nothing wrong with reading the Twilight series, but preparing children for it is not simply explaining that vampires and werewolves are fantasy. It is also making clear, especially to young women, that everything in the book is fantasy. That the characters depicted in Twilight are amusing caricatures and nothing more. That Bella Swan is nothing to admire or strive for. Before reading the Twilight series, girls need to be armed with the knowledge that waiting for their Edward to come along is fruitless, unrealistic and a disservice to themselves. The hours spent reading Twilight pass much more pleasantly when armed with the understanding that life is not about waiting for a man to come along and be your everything.
In Twilight, Bella believes that Edward is he other half, as though part of her was missing before he came along. Young women of today, when reading Twilight, need to understand that when the right man comes along, he will not be her "missing piece." She is whole and perfect and wonderful as she is, and when the right man does come, he will be her complement, her partner and her equal in all things. While Twilight may provide young readers with passing amusement, it is important that they be armed with the tools and knowledge to understand that fantasy is fantasy and Bella Swan should stay where she belongs - in the Twilight books.
Published by Kelly Lang
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10 Comments
Post a Comment14 year-old Courtney's comment is rather case and point. She defends Bella as teaching kids to be smart, yet cannot even spell "when" and other simple words correctly. I'm not saying poor spelling makes someone "stupid," I'm saying someone with such poor spelling may want to spend more time studying English vs. defending a fictional person. Making a post using such awful spelling is not likely to be taken seriously by the people you are trying to convince, in fact it will only add credibility to the other side of the argument.
At 16 I was already a published journalist. That's what chasing dreams is really about - hard work and motivation. For the young girls looking for true love, work on developing yourselves first, for a woman who is complete without a man is the one who will have the most options when it comes to finding one.
Great article! Keep up the great work!
Err, just realized it cut me off. -- Anyway, the point I was trying to make was that the teenagers commenting on this post have come away with exactly the wrong idea of love. There is absolutely NOT "someone out there" for you. There are likely thousands of men you could live very happy lives with, but none of those relationships would be anything like the "love" in this saga. At all. To boot, the sort of men who would be attracted to the submissive Bella Swan types would NOT treat them well (just look at any relationship with such uneven control/power). The men who would treat them well? Well, they're looking for *partners*, not some clingy little sheep.
Katelyn, Adriana, Courtney: This is not a love story. Really, there is NO love shown in any of these books. Love is not "I'm pretty, you're pretty, let's live together for eternity." The only emotions the three main characters display in the saga are lust and infatuation. Believe it or not, love isn't an especially powerful emotion. It is neither endless devotion nor blind passion. It is neither eternal nor unconditional. Love is quiet, often rocky, and requires constant building up. Think of a parent or sibling you love. Your heart doesn't burst out of your chest in excitement when you hear their voice, and your knees don't get weak every time you see them. You argue and find fault in their decisions, and it takes time and effort to keep the bonds strong.
Well, romantic love is also like that. It's what's left after the passion fades. And the passion always fades, don't doubt that for even a second. Ask any couple who have been married for 20, 30, 40+ years and they will be more th
Katelyn, and everyone else: Please give me a list of three... no, one - just one - of Bella Swan's admirable qualities that you would like to see in yourself some day. ANYTHING. And please keep in mind that "being in love" is not a character trait.
Bella is not a "bad example" nor "not for children" Bella Swan simply is in love. She meets this handsome boy at her new school and it is simply "love at first sight". I agree with Adriana. Romeo and Juliet, everything they do has to have each other in it and or around. They can not simply spend a second away. To the point of suicide is unbelievable. Bella Swan is in love with Edward Cullen and has never experienced anything like it before. at first, she thought that it would be good to be with her dad while her mother and step father tour. Twilight inspired me, as a 14 year old teenager, to believe that no matter what, there is somebody out there for you. There is always hope and sureness that you will always make it out in the end if you just believe.
It's a book. In real life there are people like Bella. The protagonist doesn't always have to be a brave, independent hero. This book is meant to be written in the point of view of an average, teenage girl. She's not meant to be a role model for teens. She's a fictional character. Remember that it's foremost a love story, and Edward is just as weak as Bella in the sense of his need for her. It is true that the books are not for young children, I have to agree. But Bella Swan's character is not the reason for it. If we base the quality of books upon the qualities of their characters then a lot of great books would be considered bad. What about Romeo and Juliet? They're both completely devoted to each other to the point of suicide. Yet, we're still required to read it in Freshman year of high school.
im 14 years old. it is a book, fiction. Twilight is awesome it makes u dream. wen we get older we stop dreaming, but bella is a roll model, she shows us to be couragouse and smart. she has had a hard life and a lot of girls can relate to it. i see that she relise on edward a lot but right wen she is about to get over it he comes back into her life. she would have been fine if the book didnt bring him back. also it is love, it is her first boyfriend tht she truely loves, what do u expect? it teen love! everyone experiences love evenchually and it is hard to get over it. i didnt even notice the "bad" example bella is until u mentioned it and i bet a lot of other girls dont notice it either. wat i noticed in reading it was love and it was like a fairy tale. they went through so much but in the end there was hope. it showed me that there is hope as long as u put your mind to something.
I'm not familiar with the Twilight books. But from what you say, these books do seem to portray a distorted view that women are not complete unless there is a man in the picture.
Sophie
I wholeheartedly agree with your statements here. I read the entire series, hoping that Bella would somehow become interested in books, music, beekeeping, ANYTHING but obsessing over a boy. What a terrible example for impressionable young girls. Great article.