Twilight

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I've been reading the 'Twilight' series of books over the past couple of months.  A friend convinced me to read them because she was really into them and wanted to talk about them with someone else (vampires aren't really a favoured genre of mine).  I also thought that with three girls it would be good to read them so I know what's in them.  

Some Christians have been worried about these books but in general I thought they were fine.  I think they are like Harry Potter (which again some Christians don't like) in the sense that you enter a make believe world/fantasy type world.  That's what makes the books enjoyable - they are escapism (apparently they are very popular among women aged 25-35 - women revisiting the intensity of adolescent relationships is my guess).  

One aspect bothered me.  The first book is very 'lusty'.  There's a lot of longing looks and repressed passion.  The main character and her vampire boyfriend have a VERY intensely romantic relationship from the minute they meet.   I found it quite painful (but then I'm not a teenager!).  I wonder if it creates unrealistic expectations about how intense and connected relationships should be from the first minute - many romantic relationships develop from good friendships. 

There are other things I liked though.   It very strongly promotes the value of not having sex before marriage which is so counter-cultural it really stands out.  And it is promoted by the man/vampire in the relationship - it was great to see a strong male character.  (probably what makes it very attractive to grown women).  I've heard of young men reading the books to find out what women want in a man!  

Personally I'll try to put off my girls reading it for as long as possible simply because there are some quite adult concepts about relationships, sex, marriage and pregnancy.  I'd like to read it 'with' them - talk to them about it while they read them.  Hopefully I have a few years up my sleeve.  Luckily the 11 year old boy is totally uninterested!  

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