Why Fundies don't read Twilight

[sleepygirl1]

One of my fundie friends posted this on facebook. :roll: carrotsformichaelmas.com/2012/06/20/why-you-cant-read-twilight-a-letter-to-my-daughter

[dairyfreelife]

Well...I can't say much. I would advise my future daughters or sons to avoid Twilight too. Nothing to do with the "god", but because it's one of the shittiest book series ever. They can read better than that and children of mine will have much better literature than that at their fingertips. Sorry, but I can't stand the series and her criticism of the series is well-deserved. I could say much worse.

I can't snark on her, sorry. She is encouraging her daughter to read some read books. Anne of Green Gables, Lilith, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter. She has entire post on why people should read Harry Potter, which is wonderful. And I am totally not saying that because I think Harry Potter is awesome. :snooty: She is clearly against her daughter ever being a doormat and wants her daughter to read strong female characters. Seems rather feminist actually.

[kaetrin]

She may be a fundie of sorts, but her reasons for avoiding Twilight are pretty much the same as non-fundie criticisms I've heard: Really crappy writing and really negative female/romantic relationship model. No "OMG fantasy and romance! Shun! Shun!"

[littlemommy]

I liked that, too! I have to admit, I read "Twilight". It's dreadful, but harmless, in my opnion. But I want better for my kids. It's a lot like how I make them eat vegetables and then go to the kitchen and sneak a handful of M&Ms. ;)

[emiliawasframed]

This woman seems pretty spot on to me. It's badly written literature and a centers on a creepy relationship passed off as romance. Check and check. She even gives solid, well-written fantasy alternatives when she mentions Chesterton and MacDonald. I may not share her religious objections, but this is at least someone who argues well and is an informed reader, not someone who heard it had a vampire in it and ran the other way.

[laura oz]

I tried to read the first book, but I just wanted to smack the girl upside the head and get her to a shrink. How is this popular? :shrug: I usually don't agree with fundies just on principle, but i have to admit she makes a well reasoned argument.

ETA It seems to be quite the fad here for teenage girls to have bites tat'ed on them. Is this common or are there more die hard fans in my neck of the woods?

[No Cure for Stupid]

Because Twilight is one of the worst series ever penned and has an astonishing fandom that just makes most people wonder about the future of society. I read the post, and I agree wholeheartedly; just seeing the quote: "I quickly rubbed my hand across my cheek, and sure enough, traitor tears were there, betraying me" made me want to cry at how horribly bad it was.

[miffy]

Twilight and its adult 50 shades version is a terrible book.

I get why Harry Potter is so popular. Its entertaining for young and old and free from a blank annoying protagonist. The series rates as highly for me as the Faraway Tree and The Little White Horse.

[No Cure for Stupid]

Twilight and its adult 50 shades version is a terrible book.

Well, considering that 50 Shades of Grey started as an erotic Twilight fanfiction in which the author had originally published online and only decided to Find-Replace "Bella" with "Anastasia" and "Edward" with "Christian," it's only proper that it should be as bad as its inspiration.

[Loveday]

Well...I can't say much. I would advise my future daughters or sons to avoid Twilight too. Nothing to do with the "god", but because it's one of the shittiest book series ever. They can read better than that and children of mine will have much better literature than that at their fingertips. Sorry, but I can't stand the series and her criticism of the series is well-deserved. I could say much worse.

I can't snark on her, sorry. She is encouraging her daughter to read some read books. Anne of Green Gables, Lilith, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter. She has entire post on why people should read Harry Potter, which is wonderful. And I am totally not saying that because I think Harry Potter is awesome. :snooty: She is clearly against her daughter ever being a doormat and wants her daughter to read strong female characters. Seems rather feminist actually.

I can't snark on her, either (at least not for this, I don't know about anything else as I haven't read the rest of her blog yet). Her Harry Potter post is one of the best I've read on why Christian parents should allow their kids to read HP. :clap:

[Minerva]

I tried to read the first book, but I just wanted to smack the girl upside the head and get her to a shrink. How is this popular? :shrug: I usually don't agree with fundies just on principle, but i have to admit she makes a well reasoned argument.

ETA It seems to be quite the fad here for teenage girls to have bites tat'ed on them. Is this common or are there more die hard fans in my neck of the woods?

You didn't miss much, besides the series devolving into badly written propaganda by the last book. I'm glad I learned how unhealthy Bella and Edward's relationship was before I began any relationships of my own.

[Jeneric Duggar]

Twilight and its adult 50 shades version is a terrible book.

I get why Harry Potter is so popular. Its entertaining for young and old and free from a blank annoying protagonist. The series rates as highly for me as the Faraway Tree and The Little White Horse.

The Faraway Tree! How I loved that book! Thank you for mentioning it. It's all rushing back to me now.

[Shoes Grace]

Well, considering that 50 Shades of Grey started as an erotic Twilight fanfiction in which the author had originally published online and only decided to Find-Replace "Bella" with "Anastasia" and "Edward" with "Christian," it's only proper that it should be as bad as its inspiration.

I was discussing 50 Shades with a friend who'd only read the first book, he said it was harmless, I said it was disturbing how 50 Shades and Twilight described abusive relationships from the point of view of the abuser, and someone should maybe check up on the authors who clearly don't recognise abuse. Later, I Facebook messaged him a quote from one of the scenes from the third book. Because of the way Facebook formats, he read it without the preface I gave and thought for a few horrible moments I was telling him I'd been raped. Totally abusive relationships, patterned very much on what I think of as the godly headship role. Doug (is a tool) would have been Edward's best friend if he'd been a vampire- go out in the woods every few months and wrestle down some animals and act like a total jerk while believing you're God's gift to women. He'd even like the dressing up to go play vampire baseball.

[docmom]

The Faraway Tree! How I loved that book! Thank you for mentioning it. It's all rushing back to me now.

Oh me too, me too! Sadly I can't get any of my own children interested in it.

[fundiefan]

I don't know her or how deep she is into fundie-dom but, I agree with her anyway. Twilight is awful and there are millions of other reading choices that don't suck your eyeballs out of your head as you read.

[AVENues]

I'd sooner ask someone to shoot my face off than watching Twilight. I can imagine Mom's silly reasons, without actually looking at her petty little letter. I hope she also forbids her from J.Bieber, OneDirection and other crap. They bore and annoy most children to death.

[lilwriter85]

I agree with others, the Twilight books are poorly written. I have heard of fundies banning the Twilight series. Years ago, when the first Twilight movie came out, I read a blog by a Christian mom who seemed fundie lite. She said that the Twilight series was banned in her home because of the vampire and supernatural aspects. I was raised Catholic and I remember during my teen years in the early 00s', I had a few Catholic friends that weren't allowed to watch horror movies or read horror books.

[Sobeknofret]

Here's the Botkinette's take on Twilight: visionarydaughters.com/2009/11/how-twilight-is-re-vamping-romance.

Personally, I thought the books were brain Twinkies; ok for a quick snack, but totally unfulfilling as a meal, not to mention gives you acid reflux after it.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

I hope like hell my daughter is too smart to get pulled in by Twilight, but I would never tell her she can't read them. Instead, I'd read them too, and discuss the points listed by the blogger. It seems like a good opportunity wasted otherwise, not to mention banning the books will likely send you tween/teen off to read them in secret. I'm not down with banning books.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Oh me too, me too! Sadly I can't get any of my own children interested in it.

You think that's bad? My 11yo read the first five Harry Potters and doesn't want to read the last two. Who does that?!

[Mela99]

I don't know much about this chick, but man, do I wanna high five her. NO Twilight but encouraging Tolkien and Austen? That's a great Mom.

[sheltonLE]

Really, I agree with her that there are better books than Twilight. But anyway, I liked reading it *duck* ...

Still I can NEVER understand parents that don't allow their children to read certain books (as long as they are age-appropriate). Anything they read is good, as long as they are reading!

[Shoes Grace]

You think that's bad? My 11yo read the first five Harry Potters and doesn't want to read the last two. Who does that?!

Won't read Half Blood Prince?! That was my very favourite of the series until the last one came out (because speculating on the material in HBP was way more fun than the book Rowling wound up releasing). But, if she's 11, could be all the relationship and general angst stuff in Phoenix is a turn off for her. Maybe in a couple years, she'll pick up the last two? Or she knows there are more character deaths and she's not prepared to lose some of them? I can see not feeling ready for the last two.

[singsingsing]

Won't read Half Blood Prince?! That was my very favourite of the series until the last one came out (because speculating on the material in HBP was way more fun than the book Rowling wound up releasing). But, if she's 11, could be all the relationship and general angst stuff in Phoenix is a turn off for her. Maybe in a couple years, she'll pick up the last two? Or she knows there are more character deaths and she's not prepared to lose some of them? I can see not feeling ready for the last two.

Totally possible. I was lucky enough to be one of those kids who basically grew up alongside the Harry Potter characters... I read the first book when I was 10, and when the last one came out I was 19. I don't know what my reading experience would have been like if I had them all at hand as a preteen...

[formergothardite]

Twilight is a shitty story with a ton of disturbing things in it(how did she think having an adult fall in love with a baby was a good idea?!), but I won't ban my kids from reading it. Banning books just makes them more desirable. Sometimes it is just fun to read a fluffy book with a terrible plot so her point about them being a waste of time is stupid, IMO.