Confessions Of A Twilight Mom

Official Twilight Movie Trailer

Virile Vikings, Dark Hunters, Dragon Lords – I love them all! Paranormal romance with its supernatural alpha heroes, fantastical heroines, magical twists, and requisite happy ending is my favorite escapist reading.

I’m a big fan of Paranormal Romance, but when it comes to Stephanie Meyer’s phenomenally successful Twilight Saga, I probably wouldn’t bother to read them if not for my daughter.

I like my romance heroines to be adults, with a little history and worldly experience under their belt. And, I like them to be old enough to engage in steamy scenes, legally.

Nevertheless, my twelve-year-old daughter just had to read the series, and I let her. She is old enough that I trust her to handle reading most books. Of course, that means that I have to read them as well so that we can discuss them.

The Twilight Saga – Books One Through Four (Spoiler Alert)

1. Twilight (2005) – Bella Swan moves in with her dad in Forks, WA after her mom remarries. At first, she hates living in dreary Forks, until she falls in love with her high school biology lab partner, Edward Cullen.

Edward is the stereotypical romantic lead: rich, handsome, and hard-to-get. He is also a vampire who forgoes human blood for catching his animal prey in the wild.

As an educator, I can’t help but despair that Bella is a former advanced student who is making no effort to prepare for college in the critical Junior year, and her love interest is a 100-year-old, Harvard-educated vampire, who is merely coasting through 11th grade. Neither shows any desire to develop interests or to do anything with their lives. What a waste of human, natural or supernatural, potential!

2. New Moon (2006) After a birthday party mishap where the Cullen Family vampires nearly lose their resolve to abstain from human blood, Edward decides to leave Stella so that she can have a normal life.

Pathetic Bella falls into a deep depression over the departure of her teen soul mate, and can’t manage to do anything until a new love interest – Jacob Black, the shape shifting Teen Wolf – helps her out with her suicidal mission to ride a motorcycle.

Bella and Edward reunite when he threatens to kill himself in a melodramatic showdown with the all-powerful Volturi vampires in Italy.

Again, it’s Bella’s senior year in high school and she is doing nothing to prepare for college, or any other aspiration. Even worse, she blows her college fund on renovating a motorcycle deathtrap. She is so entirely dependent on the men in her life that she can’t imagine anything on her own. How can any mom read this without wanting to smack some sense into the girl?

3. Eclipse (2007) As Bella anticipates her high school graduation, she is torn between conflicting love interests. She can choose death and immortality as Edward’s vampire wife, or life with Jacob the wolf shape shifter.

At the oh-so-mature age of eighteen, she is determined to make an irrevocable decision. Not once does she consider pursuing any other interests, life ambitions, or an independent life.

Of course, she chooses to forsake all her friends and family, and possible career ambitions, to become a vampire. The only thing holding her back is that Edward insists on marriage, before sex or vampirism.

The amazing thing is that Bella’s mom is even more idiotic than she is. Renee, the mom, tells her that she is wise beyond her years, and that she is making the right choice in getting married right out of high school. As I read this, I couldn’t help imagining that this was a Teen’s interpretation of what an ideal mom should say – and not what any real mom would actually say.

4. Breaking Dawn (2008) Bella and Edward finally get married, and consummate their union on their honeymoon. Or, at least, it’s suggested that they have had sex as Bella gets pregnant.

Then, again, as Bella ends up full of bruises, perhaps it’s not surprising that my daughter thought that she got pregnant from being punched by the vampire.

Not only are they expecting a baby, it’s a fast-growing half-human, half-vampire fetus that is expected to kill its human mother. Unsurprisingly, now Bella puts all her energy, and life expectancy, into protecting her baby.

Yup, can’t tell you how thrilled I am that the heroine is a young mother, with no life ambition, who just wants to be a wife and mother and spend an eternity doing nothing in particular. Exactly the role model that I want for my daughter – NOT!

Fortunately, my daughter could care less about the romance aspect of this story. She just likes the idea of supernatural beings with magical gifts. Oblivious to the male/female interplay, she was interested in scenes where the Cullen clan displayed other-worldly powers.

I suppose I should be grateful that my daughter’s interest is in acquiring even more gifts and talents, and not so much in being swept away by Prince Charming.

Questions I’m Discussing With My Daughter

1. Is it smart to forget about school and focus all your attention on one boy?

2. Why do you think Charlie, Bella’s Dad, wanted Bella to spend time with a variety of friends?

3. Should you depend on a guy to sweep you away and support you for the rest of you life? Like a Prince Charming or Wealthy Vampire?

4. Does Bella have a healthy relationship with Edward, Jacob, or any of her friends?

For more Book Club Discussion Questions, see Twilight Questions, New Moon Questions, Eclipse Questions, or Breaking Dawn Questions.

What Do You Think? Would you allow your 12-year-old to read it? Why or why not? If so, what would you discuss with your child?

Want more from On Living By Learning?

Follow me On Twitter or Facebook.

Sign up to receive free articles from On Living By Learning by Email. (Click this link. Fill out the form. Don’t forget to click on your verification Email. Look for this in your mailbox.) You can also click here to receive updates on a RSS Feed Reader.

Tagged as: Paranormal Romance, Stephenie Meyer, tweens, Twilight, YA Books