Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
To say "a one hundred year old falls in love with a teenager" may be a strictly correct statement but it misses so much of the premise behind the story as to be essentially irrelevant. (Whether the premise behind the story works for you the reader is quite another matter ... and I suppose if the premise didn't work then perhaps you do fall back on the age thing.)
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I think that the average reader misses the fact that she does the same thing with the werewolves. Remember when a teenage boy “Impresses” on a toddler, a girl naturally (no homosexual werewolves or Boy Scouts). He of course, is planning on waiting for her to grow up before they get married. There is a mystical aspect to Romantic Love which recalls the Greek idea that god splits perfect souls in half and when they meet their predestined mate they are complete again. It ties back to the sanctified nature of marriage and procreation in the Mormon religion.
Ultimately the book is fairly harmless fluff and once you explain that Edwards controlling behavior might seem romantic but it isn’t a good idea in the real world you have done your job as a parent. We aren’t talking about Porn or B&D it is just a hormonal romance that speaks to hormonal teenagers. The same way cheesy romances that take place in the Scottish Highlands speak to older girls.
Older people pull more from Twilight, the same way we pull more from Jane Austen than we did as teenagers so we worry. I do think the “Family Friendly” stamp that the books got should be re-examined but if religious conservatives gave it then that does make some sense.