OK, I'm going to admit from the beginning of this rant that I obsess. I am listening to Twilight as I work ... and, as I get further into it, I am deciding that it is not only not great literature, but I think it is one I would not want the young girls I care about to read. When I was an adolescent, I read everything I could get my hands on, including my mother's christian romance novels. They were also 'not great literature' but at least the message to girls was a good one: that you shouldn't settle for just any sleezebag that comes along to romance you, but should set high standards for someone you are going to build a lasting relationship with. (And setting high standards has worked well for me, by the way!)
The messages I am getting from Twilight are things like "No matter what the outcome is, I can no longer stay away from him" and "I know he's bad for me, and even dangerous, but I no longer care." Really! - in today's world, where there are men out there wanting to 'bite their pretty necks' and more, is this 'it's-OK-to-become-a-victim-for-true-love' attitude one that I want my grand-daughter's to get from what they read? What surprises the heck out of me are the number of adults who have read these books with their 11-year old daughters, and have seen the movie several times, and have told me they love it! Hey, you people, find smarter role models for your daughters! Hermione Granger may be a know-it-all, but she's nobody's willing victim! The world is a hard enough place for young girls, without them thinking they need to be victims. And to also lie to their parents to go be with this dangerous person - think about it... how is this something you want girls to read? Of course, I do admit that I haven't read the whole series - I doubt that I will. Listening to the romance scenes makes me gag. I can't keep from occasionally yelling at the dumb 'heroine' in a Transylvanian movie accent, "He vants to drink your blood, you dummy!"
OK, enough already of this morning's rant. I started the painting above yesterday, and will work a bit more on it today, in between laundry and house and garden work, which has been neglected much too long. I'm working from a very bad photo of a bakery, but I can see enough to paint by, and the lack of distracting details is actually helpful. So, back to the easel, and to yelling at this silly girl in the audiobook to stay away from vampires, or at least to stay away from horrible, poorly written books about them!
5 comments:
Totally agree! Sound off any time you like!
Arrgh! And now she's 'flattered' that the vampire has been sneaking in and watching her sleep, and stalking her to see which key opens her door! Parents! Why aren't you HORRIFIED by this book?!
(Thanks, Jennifer, for the permission to keep sounding off!)
Well put, my friend, well put. I don't understand the fascination with evil our society has today... my granny used to say if you lie down with dogs you will get up with fleas.
a long time lurker here to say THANK YOU for this post. I just can't understand why women are promoting these books and the attitudes that come along with them.
Me too! Thanks so much for that rant! My kids could read whatever they wanted, but I tried very hard to keep any "romantic" novels away from them because it always seemed to me that those were poisonous to girls. Turns out they had no interest in that stuff since I kept them supplied with really good Young Adult books, and there are SO many of them. (it was my concentration in Library School)
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