Friday, November 21, 2008

Reality Bites


Many upon many teenage girls have been waiting for this day, because on this day Twilight comes to theaters. A lot of the girls that I teach every day already have tickets to go tonight. In case you don't know what this phenomenon is all about, Twilight is based on a book of the same name written by Stephanie Meyer, and has spawned three sequels. These books are about a girl named Bella who moves to a small town in Washington state, who falls in love with a stange guy named Edward who just happens to be a vampire. These books have been flying off the shelves. Some would even compare this series popularity to Harry Potter. I would disagree with that assesment, but that is a topic for another time. Being a high school teacher I have seen many female students with these books under their arms, trying to grab any spare minute they can to read a few pages. When I've asked about these books, I find that I get the same answer, which is that they are a "Vampire Romance." When I ask more questions, I find out that girls are attracted not to the story, not to the characters, but to this idea of a perfect romance that lets nothing stop it, not even the need to drink blood, avoid sunlight, and go easy on the garlic. I have some concerns about this, especially because of its popularity among young girls. It has nothing to do with vampires. I actually like vampire stories, but for other reasons. Vampires are simply a plot device for these books. I also want to make it clear that this is not a knee-jerk reaction like the one that so many gave about Harry Potter. I like Harry Potter and again that is a discussion for another day. Harry Potter did not make kids think that they could go to school and become a wizard. What is dangerous about Twilight for girls is the same thing that is so dangerous about pornography for boys, well, one of the things about pornography that's dangerous. That danger is in unreal expectations. Pornography builds this idea about sex for boys that is completely unrealistic and dangerous because it makes them expect certain things about women and sex, and when the real thing comes around, there is a big letdown because expectations were so high. The same is true for the perfect romance. Just like guys want perfect sex, girls want the perfect romance, and books like Twilight make them think that it is possible. Then those expectations are never met, which can lead to many a problem later in life. What's harder about things like Twilight is that you can't just make a blanket statement about it like you can pornography. I don't think that I would say don't read it, but I would say let's read it together and talk about it, because any unrealistic expectations hurt the one who has them, but it really hurts the one they are put upon. Marriage and romance and sex for that matter can be hard and diffiucult at times, and it takes work for them to work. The best thing to do then is put a stake in the heart of unrealistic expectations. Sorry, but the pun was there so I had to use it.

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