How Twilight and New Moon Aren't Negatively Affecting Today's Youth by Larson Hill
It's no secret that the Stephenie Meyer based Twilight Saga and the upcoming second book sequel New Moon are the most popular movie topics on the internet, along with Twilight stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Nikki Reed, and Peter Facinelli. There are two sides to every debate, and at some point I’ll explore the other side, but since so many fans love Twilight, it’s bound to have an impact on a new generation of curious romantic geeks and star-crossed lovers. As the demand for Twilight and New Moon has been soaring to new levels of popularity by the day, gaining more and more momentum by the week as the Twilight locomotive speeds along the cinematic track toward the November 20 release of New Moon, it's clear that something unique is taking place among young movigoers and fans of the Twilight books. But how is it affecting the youth of America and beyond?
In recent months and weeks a few articles have appeared online questioning whether the Twilight Saga at large, including New Moon, is having an adverse affect on the American youth due to it's sexual underpinnings, both a lack of and lots of it later in the saga. As well, other articles that have suggested that the Twilight Saga - Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn - is sending the wrong messages to both a pre-teen and teen audience that have read the entire series who shouldn't be consumed with romance and sex at such a young age. Yet despite the concerns some may have, a brand new generation of teens, tweens, and young adults can't get enough of Twilight.
A Twilight Trip Back in Time
So is the Twilight Saga having an adverse affect on the youth of today? It's not that simple to paint an answer on such a huge New Moon canvas. It's a question that in some ways doesn't have an answer, especially if you go back in time to see how the youth of America turned out throughout a century of romantic and sexually suggestive novels. Were your parents, grandparents, and great grandparents tainted and irreversibly damaged as young kids by certain romantic novels of the past? Did The Blue Lagoon, for instance, have an adverse affect on America's youth? I don't mean simply the 1980 remake, starring Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins and the previous remakes, I'm also referring to the very book that the films were based on that was written in 1908. I'll say that again - 1908, over a century ago.
As far as popular books that any young person could have gotten their mitts on throughout an entire century, somehow The Blue Lagoon got a free pass. Well, not quite at various points in time, it did have its fair share of controversy. But it's interesting how time has a funny way of making it all go away. In terms of romantic novels that have a certain appeal to a young audience, did the fact that the two Blue Lagoon lead characters were COUSINS have an adverse affect on the youth of the world? Years removed from the popularity of the 1980 movie and the book, it's okay for people to look back fondly on a book and movie about two shipwrecked COUSINS who get stranded on an island and end up having a baby, yet the Twilight books and movies are somehow doing damage to today's youth?
I mean, seriously, think about it for a second. It kind of makes Twilight, with vampires, werewolves, messages of restraint and sexual tension not so worrisome, doesn't it?
Sex and demand within an even younger generation
But given the controversy surrounding the nudity of a then 14 year old Brooke Shields in Blue Lagoon (which actually wasn't her), the times have changed in that the image of sex and "sexy" is being used to sell even younger female actresses and pop-stars like never before. Has a 16-year old Miley Cyrus in semi-nude Vanity Fair photos been having an adverse affect on the nation's youth? When did that become acceptable? I don't have the answer, but I have an opinion. And for every person that has a similar opinion, there are 20 that have the opposite view. Did Elvis and The Beatles have an adverse affect of the youth of the '50s and '60s with their "devil music"? I guess our parents and grandparents were heavily tainted. But wouldn't that mean we're tainted, too? Like I said, I don't know. I'm just asking. And there's also huge demand among a new generation of fans. Obviously throughout time, kids, teens, and young adults have proven that they'll stop at nothing to get what they want if they want it bad enough. And you can't stop it, either. In the case of adults, it's throwing all compassion for other human beings out the window once a year on Black Friday to stampede into a strip mall to get a flat screen TV. There's an even worse adverse affect in there somewhere, and it's not the flat screen's fault.
A New Moon World Order and Distant Memories
But the Twilight generation is one of the first, if not the first generation to be raised entirely in an age where what they see on the internet is much more real and suggestive than anything a movie could attempt to reproduce. It offsets the debate that New Moon and the Twilight Saga at large are having an adverse affect on a young population. To large degree, the Twilight generation has already been exposed to much, much worse than anything Stephenie Meyer could ever put in a novel. That's not a point of condoning or disapproving anything either, it's just a fact.
As related to Twilight and New Moon and books that some say may have an adverse affect on the youth of today, I'll tell you a personal story. When I was 12 years old and away for the summer, I stumbled across a novel in a drawer with a scantily clad girl on the cover. I had no clue what it was, never read a book with a half naked girl on the cover before, but throughout the summer I read it cover to cover. To this day no one knows I read it, I've never told anyone. Not my parents, friends, or anyone. Well, that is until now, and only to you and the world. I won't tell you the name of the book other than years later I learned it was also a movie with an actress named Linda and it had A LOT of love in it. If you figure it out, great, don't tell anyone. It makes Twilight, the book, look like a coming of age version of Declaration of Independence. Did I understand it at 12 years old? No, how could I?
But the point is that despite stumbling on something extremely sexually explicit in nature that I wasn't supposed to read as a 12-year old (more so than Twilight will ever be), I can honestly say (and you'll just have to take my word for it) that it didn't have an adverse affect on my youth, my direction in life, my morals, values, and ethics, or even my future as a person. And my parents didn't know either, and still don't, so how do you explain turning out okay as an adult? Flip that to today where the same 12-year old can not only go on the internet and find the real deal and more, but also a slew of literary material not fit for anyone. Why learn how to build a bomb when you can read Twilight? And you have to give Twilight fans and today's New Moon generation respect for actually wanting to read a book instead of investing 12 hours a day in any number of online time wasters.
Home, who you are, how you got there, and what you want
Further complicating a search for a perfect answer to the "adversely affecting" question, contrary to popular belief, not everyone has the capacity to interpret things in the same way. Maybe it is to a select group of the population. But everyone's different, all with different views and opinions, formulated around unique sets of life events. Is it really Twilight or something else? Is Twilight having an adverse affect on the youth of America? Some say, yes. Some say, no. Some say, I don't know. Some say, maybe. Others say, what's Twilight? Is the sky blue? Not to some people, and I know you already know what I’m talking about. Opinions, morals, values, principles, and ethics vary from person to person. What's acceptable for one person isn't so for another. Also, how people were raised, level of education, intellect, the ability to reason and discern right from wrong plus other genetic and environmental factors play a part, too. But it's not the same for everyone. People interpret different things whether right or wrong.
Since young kids are exposed to ongoing tidal waves of information and imagery that pervious generations weren't - think of anything violently harsh or sexually explicit on the internet, TV, the news, you name it - Twilight is by far the least of someone's worries. But if parents aren't teaching and educating their 12-year old kids about the rights, wrongs, and appropriate behavior for a 12-year kid, at least as a foundation for life, in some cases it's not Twilight that's having an adverse affect on young people at all. As I related in my own personal story, kids are going to stumble upon things in life, good or bad. In the case of Twilight and New Moon, it's clear that kids, teens, and young adults are the ones responsible for the huge demand in response to what Stephenie Meyer created. If they didn't like it, they wouldn't respond.
But is the Twilight Saga having an adverse affect on today's youth? Based on the history of cycles, the times we're living in, the differences of backgrounds, the limitations of each person's scope, the evolution of society and what people are exposed to beyond the Twilight Saga at any given time on a daily basis, not from this perspective. Is Twilight for everyone? Of course not. That's just common sense.
And most of all in relation to the Twilight Saga and New Moon, it's really not this serious.
Like Nicole, Stephanie Meyers succeeded in engaging my own reader appetite. After two days, I finished Twilight. Over my spring break, I could barely put a day's pause between each of the next three novels. Why? Had to catch up with my 12 year old daughter--who'd read them first, and my 19 year old daughter who'd read them before her.
Like Katie in Virginia I appreciate the gentlemanly example Edward--and Carlisle provide. I can appreaciate the down-to earthiness that Jacob embodies.
I cannot disagree with you Larson, given all the truly horrid, torrid time wasters that girls can stumble into on the web... That both my daughters gravitated to Meyers' work is telling. For them to be able to engage in and sustain reading not just one but four novels with characters who promote family, loyalty, tenacity, persistence, self-control, friendship, honor!
It gives me a measure of satisfaction that I must be doing something right. That they can come back to me and say, "Mom you gotta read this." And when I have, the stories become common knowledge to draw from as needed.
Nothing adverse about it. Thanks for articulating my own thoughts.
katie – herndon, va
April 22, 2009 - 15:41
Subject: i agree
the twilight saga is not only not affecting the youth, it is giving them a better sense of how men should behave. edward is the perfect gentleman. if all girls expect someting close to what edwad is like, my generation of guys is going to have to shape up, and fast. jacob is probably more realistic, though. he seems like a guy who could go to my school, minus the werewolf thing. jacob isn't prefect, but then, who is? thank you for this wonderful article.
Reply to katie
Yovonne – Washington state
April 22, 2009 - 16:29
Subject: Edward and Jacob are the very last people men should emulate
Katie in Herndon, VA's response is exactly why I utterly loathe the Twilight books, beyond the bad writing. Edward is emotionally abusive and overly controlling and Jacob feels he has the right to force himself on Bella because he loves her.
Is this really what you want in a man? Talk to women in battered women's shelters across the country and they will tell you that this is how abusive relationships start and how badly they go from there. Wise up. The Edwards, Jacobs and Heathcliffs (Wuthering Heights) are not what men should aspire to be, nor are they who any woman with a sense of self and self-preservation should want to be in a relationship with.
Reply to katie
Katie – Forks, Washington
April 22, 2009 - 19:30
Subject: I agree!
I agree 100%! I am an overly obsessed Twilight fan, and its affected me in many positive ways. Edward does set a good example of how every guy should treat a girl,and I dont let guys push me around anymore. Im so much better than that, and theres another way nicer guy out there waiting for me.(one positive affect) I also heard this from others, but a lot of girls decided to wait to have sex until after marriage, because thats what Edward and Bella chose to do. (i think that is a very positive affect) It has also taught me to be more responsible, and given me hope. Bella (the protaginist) is quite responsible and everyone tells her that she acts much more mature than her actual age. I always thought of myself like that. And Bella isnt some blonde cheerleader, she is a normal plain girl who doesnt enjoy wearing make-up. I think that shows that you dont have to be the girl who piles on the make-up and does her hair perfect everyday, just for people to notice you and like you. Its given hope to many people,incluing myself, that they will someday find there soulmate, there one true love, and thats also postivie, dont you think? Twilight is definetley one of the best things that happened to me, and if it did change me at all, it was for the better.
Nicole
April 22, 2009 - 12:23
Subject: Twilight
What a great way to look at this! I am a 37 yr-old mom of 3 children. It may seem childish, but I absolutely love these books. Stephanie Meyers has made them so easy to read and want to keep reading. I have been fighting with myself as to whether or not my 12 yr-old daughter should read "Breaking Dawn" and although I am not commiting to an answer as of yet, this article brought up so many valid points. Thank you for helping me see that there are many other sides to that question that make a lot of sense. For now, she is only finishing New Moon so I still have plenty of time to weigh my options. Thanks for such an informative article.
tristan – ces
April 22, 2009 - 07:09
Subject:
hey watz up
Jenn – honolulu, HI
April 21, 2009 - 13:35
Subject: Twilight
Twilight is the greatest noval and movie. I can't wait till I see the New Moon movie. I hope it continues on.
It's no secret that the Stephenie Meyer based Twilight Saga and the upcoming second book sequel New Moon are the most popular movie topics on the internet, along with Twilight stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Nikki Reed, and Peter Facinelli. There are two sides to every debate, and at some point I’ll explore the other side, but since so many fans love Twilight, it’s bound to have an impact on a new generation of curious romantic geeks and star-crossed lovers. As the demand for Twilight and New Moon has been soaring to new levels of popularity by the day, gaining more and more momentum by the week as the Twilight locomotive speeds along the cinematic track toward the November 20 release of New Moon, it's clear that something unique is taking place among young movigoers and fans of the Twilight books. But how is it affecting the youth of America and beyond?
So is the Twilight Saga having an adverse affect on the youth of today? It's not that simple to paint an answer on such a huge New Moon canvas. It's a question that in some ways doesn't have an answer, especially if you go back in time to see how the youth of America turned out throughout a century of romantic and sexually suggestive novels. Were your parents, grandparents, and great grandparents tainted and irreversibly damaged as young kids by certain romantic novels of the past? Did The Blue Lagoon, for instance, have an adverse affect on America's youth? I don't mean simply the 1980 remake, starring Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins and the previous remakes, I'm also referring to the very book that the films were based on that was written in 1908. I'll say that again - 1908, over a century ago. 
But given the controversy surrounding the nudity of a then 14 year old Brooke Shields in Blue Lagoon (which actually wasn't her), the times have changed in that the image of sex and "sexy" is being used to sell even younger female actresses and pop-stars like never before. Has a 16-year old Miley Cyrus in semi-nude Vanity Fair photos been having an adverse affect on the nation's youth? When did that become acceptable? I don't have the answer, but I have an opinion. And for every person that has a similar opinion, there are 20 that have the opposite view. Did Elvis and The Beatles have an adverse affect of the youth of the '50s and '60s with their "devil music"? I guess our parents and grandparents were heavily tainted. But wouldn't that mean we're tainted, too? Like I said, I don't know. I'm just asking. And there's also huge demand among a new generation of fans. Obviously throughout time, kids, teens, and young adults have proven that they'll stop at nothing to get what they want if they want it bad enough. And you can't stop it, either. In the case of adults, it's throwing all compassion for other human beings out the window once a year on Black Friday to stampede into a strip mall to get a flat screen TV. There's an even worse adverse affect in there somewhere, and it's not the flat screen's fault.
But the Twilight generation is one of the first, if not the first generation to be raised entirely in an age where what they see on the internet is much more real and suggestive than anything a movie could attempt to reproduce. It offsets the debate that New Moon and the Twilight Saga at large are having an adverse affect on a young population. To large degree, the Twilight generation has already been exposed to much, much worse than anything Stephenie Meyer could ever put in a novel. That's not a point of condoning or disapproving anything either, it's just a fact.
Further complicating a search for a perfect answer to the "adversely affecting" question, contrary to popular belief, not everyone has the capacity to interpret things in the same way. Maybe it is to a select group of the population. But everyone's different, all with different views and opinions, formulated around unique sets of life events. Is it really Twilight or something else? Is Twilight having an adverse affect on the youth of America? Some say, yes. Some say, no. Some say, I don't know. Some say, maybe. Others say, what's Twilight? Is the sky blue? Not to some people, and I know you already know what I’m talking about. Opinions, morals, values, principles, and ethics vary from person to person. What's acceptable for one person isn't so for another. Also, how people were raised, level of education, intellect, the ability to reason and discern right from wrong plus other genetic and environmental factors play a part, too. But it's not the same for everyone. People interpret different things whether right or wrong. 