Comments on: Leave them kids alone

By: A Free Man

A Free Man — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:07:21 +0000

God, the Twilight thing and all the vampire junk that it has spawned drives me nuts. Though I’m not sure that is really a ‘teen’ thing. I loved the Harry Potter books and I didn’t have kids at the time. But I think that it’s important to try to relate to your kids as much as possible, will make the teen years more tolerable. If that means that I have to feign interest in whatever teen book/movie/music they get into at the time, then I’ll give it my best shot. One of the many reasons I started to drift away from my parents around 13 is that they didn’t take my interests seriously. I know that that drive to independence is unavoidable and healthy, but if I can relate to my kids on more levels I’ll do it.

By: Jessica - This is Worthwhile

Jessica - This is Worthwhile — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:38:38 +0000

I agree with @FeministBreeder re: Twilight, it’s not really fare suitable for tweens or even teenagers. I *might* consider letting my teenager read it, but with discussion about obsession, codependence, depression, sexual tension and desires, soul, and fidelity. I would be very concerned for her to read that (or even my son) and have her think that this was all normal – much like romance novels of the Harlequin variety, fiction like that on a young and impressionable mind can really do some damage to real-life expectations.

The reason I think so many adults, women in particular, are drawn to the Twilight series is because we know it’s a fantasy and can wrap our heads around it. We don’t think dating a gorgeous 17 yo with the mind of a wizened 107 yo (or however old he is) is even remotely feasible, but it’s a delicious thought based solely in its absurd fantastical flair. A young woman, its intended audience, might not realize that. So there we have two demographics loving the books for two totally different reasons: one for fantasy, the other for hope.

Anyway, I know I went a bit off course, but I just had to throw in my two cents about Twilight. Personally, I was on Cloud 9 reading them and really do recommend every grown woman, especially married ones, to read them. It’s like a hot bubble bath, glass of wine, foot rub, and full night’s sleep all rolled into one.

By: Liz

Liz — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:25:01 +0000

Hiya NS,

I may well have to disagree with you strongly about teenagers needing literary separation from their parents! Maybe I just have an abnormal relationship with my family, but enjoying things together has always been a big part of our life. Perhaps because my mother was a librarian! We’ve always been interested in the same things – literature, movies, tv, food…Of course there are things from my teenage years that were private and personal and I needed that, but I don’t think I could ever have hated my family for appropriating ‘my stuff’. Everyone’s different I spose

By: To read or not to read? « An alien voice under a duvet of dreams.

To read or not to read? « An alien voice under a duvet of dreams. — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:24:10 +0000

[...] Harry Potter, Neil Gaiman, Twilight. trackback This post is generally a reaction to a post on Noble Savage’s blog about Twilight and young adult literature. Now, while I was not offended per se, I did [...]

By: Linda

Linda — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:38 +0000

Hannah Montana and High School Musical are for ‘tweens’ (don’t you know) so there won’t be many parents ready to admit any ‘fan’ feelings towards them, though Zak Efron is becoming a figure of lust for some since 17 Again as he ‘crosses over’.
I think it’s worse with music too. Years back I remember a new word being coined in newspaper reports – ‘kidults’ and this was used to describe people who liked ‘boy bands’ and Saturday morning telly – can’t be many of them left!