Just a quick one this time - and sorry for being so absent. Hopefully things will improve after Christmas - going back to the subject of Twilight. I was told by someone at work that Meyer is approaching her plotlines 'from an abstinence point of view'. That is, the idea of the honourable vampire who won't drink the blood of another human is a manifesto for sexual abstinence.
It is certainly true that Edward and Isabella, despite being close to adulthood, don't have sex or even come close to it (although I don't know about subsequent books); they never discuss it or suggest it, although Edward suggests at one point that his feelings for Isabella are the same as any other man's - by which I presume he means sexual, judging by the context. The fact that he longs for her blood more than any other is shown as a cause of his love for her, not parallel, so the metaphoric link between sex and vampiric violence is arguably present in Meyer's mind as well as more generally in folklore.
Is this really a responsible thing to be suggesting to our teenagers? I sell people this book, and I'm crying a little inside as I do it.
L&R
2 comments:
I'm not sure I entirely get what you're saying. Are you suggesting that its wrong that EC's lust for BS's blood is the cause of his later love? IE it shouldn't be teaching that lust later leads to love? Or are you suggesting that its wrong for fiction to advocate abstinence?
The latter, I'm afraid. Of course it's just my view. But I do feel very strongly that to advocate abstinence is to sweep the need for proper education under the carpet. The Pope's attitude to Africa provoked exactly the same reaction from me.
Of course fiction can do what it likes; that's why it's called fiction. But I think sometimes children's fiction forgets its responsibilities towards - or, in my view, abuses its power over - young minds.
Apologies if you disagree with me. I'm a product of a British school culture tht hands out condoms to its teenagers, and proud of it.
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