If anyone has read my previous Twilight post regarding the books and movie, you know that the books were suggested to Mini-Me by a friend of hers when they were in the 5th grade. Also, as anyone who knows me, knows that I don't censor a lot of what my kids hear, watch, or read. I have an open-door policy which I started with my son, who is now twenty-two, and have kept it going. I feel that if I'm open enough with my kids, that they will make informed decisions no matter what they see, hear, or read. It goes way beyond that, but for now I'm keeping it relative to the Twilight books.
As you all know, I was obsessed with the books and movie for a short while. But as time went on, I became less and less fascinated for the simple reason that I FINALLY thought about the subject matter more. First, there's this obsessive love thing. Bella feels like she can never live without Edward. She's whiny. She's not emotionally strong. She's needy and clingy. Her whole life has become Edward. In other words, she's a hot mess. I have spent all of my girls' lives, since they could understand, that their happiness is dependent upon them. Their happiness is not dependent on a man. Whatever they want in life, whether it's success, possessions, money, etc., is all up to them. Maybe I hate the character of Bella so much, because she is codependent, as I was somewhat raised up to be by my parents. My parents always did for me. I always got what I wanted. I don't want that for my girls. It didn't help me learn how to not always get what I want, to be alone, etc. I learned how to be alone and doing things for myself after my ex and I split up. I was 36. I was too old to be learning that lesson.
The abstinence issue, which some have pointed out, is good to a fault. Why are they abstinent? Basically because Edward gets rough, as all vampires are apparently when they have sex, and could kill her. If not for that, they probably would have went at it in the first book. Abstinence in my eyes is not totally realistic, but I totally admire those who can do it. Then you have to look at the age issue which a lot of people have pointed out as well. He's a hundred year old vampire in love with a seventeen year old girl. It's obvious that, being around so long, he has far more experience than her. Even had the age gap not have been this big, a man in love with a young girl, is just a little too much. We know how much society freaks out if even a twenty one year old man is with a sixteen year old girl. There are probably a few more things, but I don't want to give away too much to those who might still be reading the books.
I did not read the books previous to Mini-Me starting Twilight. Would it have made a difference if I had? No. I didn't feel like there was any subject matter that was too strong and no strong language. When the movie came out, Mini-Me, Miss La-Di-Da-Di, and I went on the night of it's release. I knew it deviated from the book a little bit, but not so much that I was upset about it as some people were. The subject matter of the movie didn't really weigh heavily on them. They are able to distinguish fact from fiction pretty easily, and because I have the open-door policy, I know if they have any questions about the subject matter in books or movies, they can ask me about them. We can discuss how they feel about it.
As for the status of Mini-Me and her venture into reading the Twilight books? She's been only half way into New Moon for about a year now. lol She likes Twilight, both movie and book, but she says she is bored with New Moon. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that the books are fourth grade level reading! She's twelve and reads at about an eleventh grade level. Miss La-Di-Da-Di hasn't bothered with the books at all. She shows no interest though she liked the movie. Of course I'm wondering how much her love for Twilight is because Mini-Me likes it. A lot of times it's the little sister always trying to be like the big sister.
Obviously you can see that I would and have let my girls read the books, however, I always believe that it's up to the parents on whether they let their kids read certain books, watch rated R movies, listen to parental advisory music, etc. I can't tell any parent how to do something, but I think that if you keep lines of communication open with your kids, that these types of books shouldn't be too much of an issue. Breaking Dawn is probably the only book I would contemplate on whether a young lady could read it or not.
Teens, when it comes to the whole Twilight phenomenon, are quite calm compared to their mothers and other middle-aged ladies! lol So guys watch your ladies, though in some cases, it could help your sex lives. LOL Moms, remember, our kids think we're already embarrassing enough. Let's not do this, k?:
(I'd be embarrassed if I was this lady's kid)
Check out other dad bloggers Twilight post:
Zerzix
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