Not a Twi-Mom

I have a 14 year old daughter, so I am sadly all to aware of such things as the current status of Bieber's paternity suit, the latest antics of the Kardashians and worst of all, Twilight.  What I find most disturbing about the whole Twilight phenomena are the MOMS going nutso for this PG-13 vampire/werewolf/dull as dishrags human love triangle.

I read the books a couple of years ago and saw the first movie, mostly to keep an eye on what it is that my daughter was so fascinated with.  I am glad I did, because those books frankly scare the living daylights out of me.

SPOLIER ALERT (though, frankly they are so formulaic that if you don't see the endings coming, I am a little concerned about you)

The entire book series shows our heroine, Bella, as a constant damsal in distress.  She finds herself unusually attracted to a wise but oddly pale boy who throughout the book saves her from numerous scrapes, all resulting from her clumsiness or bad choices.  Surpise!  This pale boy is a vampire from the turn of the century who loves her so much that he sneaks into her bedroom to watch her sleep at night.  Oh, and can't read her mind like he can most humans, so to also listen to her talk in her sleep.  This is presented to tween girls as a perfect high school relationship.  And we are supposed to think this is OK, because the book tells us that Bella (that naughty human) wants to sleep with Edward, but becuase he is so old fashioned, refuses sex until they are married.  Oh and that apparently pre-marital (vampire) sex will kill Bella. 

Along they way, Bella makes friends with the vampires mortal enemies, the werewolves and a love triangle ensues.  Despite knowing that the wolf isn't going to win, I still rooted for him as it was the closest to a healthy relationship I could see in that book.  Apparently, boys who allow you independence, admire your intelligence and respect your personal thoughts and space are dogs.  Go figure.

The books and movies go on, including an entire 400 page novel of a 17 year old girl essentially sulking over a fight with her boyfriend with the continued theme that girls need to be saved, sex is bad and vampires are sparkly.  I'm not saying there isn't a certain level of entertainment here, but this is certainly not the lesson I want Abby to take away from any book or movie.

This is why I am so shocked at the number of moms going nuts over this franchise.  If any of our daughters had a boyfriend like Edward, we would obtain restraining orders against them.  We scream and yell at the over sexualization of Miley Cyrus, but these adult women are throwing their undies at Taylor Lautner (the werewolf boy for those out of the Twi-loop) who is younger than Miley.

I'm not saying the Twilight franchise isn't fun or entertaining.  It just concerns me that this love story that is being sold to my daughter is what I would consider borderline abusive, and I think that is irresponsible of the author.  Her main female character doesn't save herself until the very end of the series.  Too little, too late.  I let my daughter read the books and see the movies only after I read them myself and could talk to her about all the things I object to in the story.

Fortunately, Abby has moved onto the Hunger Games trilogy.  No discussions needed about the role of smart, strong women there!