Schools Begin Banning Twilight
I’m going to have to offer a total spoiler alert here for those of you who haven’t read Twilight. Because one of the reasons Australian schools are beginning to ban the vampire books with a feverish tween fan base proves they haven’t taken a bite out of the books themselves.
The Daily Telegraph reports school officials are concerned with the “sexual themes” in the books.
They do realize the characters in the first three books never actually have any sex, right? Mormon writer Stephenie Meyer makes a point repeatedly of bringing up abstinence until marriage. And it’s only after main characters Bella Swan and Edward Cullen wed in book four (Breaking Dawn) that they consummate the relationship.
So no sex, m’kay?
Next up: they want the kids to understand that it’s fiction.
Considering we’re not talk about four- and five-year-olds here, I think it’s a pretty safe bet that kids know vampires don’t exist. Except Count Chocula, natch (do they have crappy cereals in Australia too? Must ask friend who used to live there stat).
The school officials were also quoted by the Telegraph noting that the popularity of the movies is pushing the kids to read the books, and they’re not able to handle them. Having read them all and seen the movie, it’s the latter I’d keep from a tween because of the intensity of the violence in certain scenes. The movie was graphic. The book not so much. And what are you doing letting your kid watch a movie based on a book you wouldn’t let them read? Talk about putting the cart before the donkey.
I’m aware it’s fluff at best, so we don’t need to add Twilight to the curriculum anytime soon. But I’m going to fall back on the same old mantra: it’s up to the parents to determine whether their kid’s book choices are appropriate and discuss them with the kids.
Ban Twilight, and you just created a piece of forbidden fruit they’ll love to sink their teeth into.
Related Posts:
Related Posts:- Kids Comics This Week - Twilight Action Figures
- Scholastic Backpedals On Book With Lesbian Moms
- Are You There, (YA Fiction) Goddess? It’s Me, Amy
- Kid Books Lose Battle to DVD Spread
- Warner Bros. Shuts Down Mom’s Harry Potter Party
Tags: Australia, Bella Swan, children's books, Edward Cullen, Jeanne Sager, reading, Stephenie Meyer, twilight
8 Comments
ugh commented on Sep 14 09 at 3:15 pmI’d be WAY more concerned about the emotionally controlling aspect of Bella and Edward’s relationship than any sexual themes (which are tepid and puritanical at best.) It’s as light and innocent as they come–and badly written to boot.
beep commented on Sep 14 09 at 3:27 pmThe abusive dynamic of the relationship has distinctly sexual undertones and is way, way more concerning than any overt sexual acts… the more so because of its subtlety and how it is presented as proof of the strength and rightness of the relationship.
Citizen Mom commented on Sep 14 09 at 4:02 pmWhy aren’t schools ever launching campaigns about the aliteracy (the ability to read, but choosing not to) in their respective districts?
As for controlling relationships in required reading: Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, The Tempest, Jane Erye, Wuthering Heights, The Glass Menagerie and The Scarlet Letter, to name a few. No, not all are romantic in nature, but it doesn’t take much to find a reason to leave out any book from a school or curriculum.
It may come as a shock, but there was a time when reading any novel was considered detrimental and a waste of time.
TMC commented on Sep 14 09 at 4:06 pmThe relationship between the hero and heroine is the main reason that I would not let my children read the series. It is a very obsessive and unhealthy relationship and not one that I would have them model in any form. I am still amazed that they are marketed towards tweens when I would imagine in gives even older teenagers the wrong impression of a healthy loving relationship.
Robyn commented on Sep 15 09 at 1:21 amTwilight references the Bible, Romeo & Juliet, and Wuthering Heights. I don’t think Bella & Edward’s relationship is any more all-consuming than R&J, and that’s required reading in most high schools (at least in the US).
ugh commented on Sep 15 09 at 7:36 amI have a hard time putting Bella and Edward in the same category as Romeo and Juliet. Bella is no heroine (she isn’t even interesting!), and Edward is a controlling a-hole. Not to mention, Meyer sure as hell ain’t Shakespeare.
That said, I wouldn’t forbid my kids from reading Twilight or anything else I can think of. But would I talk to them about it? You bet.
puasamanda commented on Sep 15 09 at 3:30 pmI’m so glad I’m not the only one who is uncomfortable with how controlling and bossy Edward is to Bella, and how much she kowtows to his every whim. I really thought I was an oddball there. As for comparing the quasi-abusive relationship between Edward and Bella to, say, Romeo and Juliet - no one is suggesting that fiery LOVE is wrong for teenagers - just that Edward’s casual, dismissive manipulation of Bella (and everyone else who loves her, family included) is not a model for the “perfect boyfriend.” Which, by the way, is how many young girls seem to think of him.
Knitt commented on Sep 15 09 at 8:43 pmSomeone asked me if I’d named my daughter after the lead character in Twilight. I had no idea what that person was talking about, but later visited the library and checked out the first two books in the series because I was curious. And OMG, my curiosity turned very quickly to sheer horror. Bella is the absolute antithesis of the role model I’d pick for my daughter. She’s stupid, shallow, selfish, whiny, and has absolutely no interests or ambitions aside from spending eternity with her equally vapid vampire lover. I found the second book so boring I couldn’t even believe it got published. Seriously, I was 300 pages into that drek when I realized that *absolutely nothing had happened* aside from a whiny brat being dumped by her boyfriend, woe woe woe. I’m praying that the Twilight-madness is over and done before my little one is old enough to read YA fiction, because there is FAR better stuff out there.
