Why wouldn’t my daughter be reading Twilight?

Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight became popular due to its unique love story between a human, Isabella Swan, and a vampire, Edward Cullen. The background was missing and the characters in the book felt two-dimensional. I wouldn’t let my daughters read Twilight at all, and I’m telling you why.

Isabella Swan, nicknamed Bella, is the main character of the Twilight series. She moved from Phoenix, Arizona to a small town in Forks, Washington. At first, the lack of temperament didn’t worry me, because authors like to describe and add personalities as the story progresses so readers can learn more about the person in time. It became clear that Isabella Swan is a stubborn character. Stephanie Meyer also made Isabella accident-prone and impulsive, but she neglected to infuse character traits and, more importantly, a dream. Her lack of plans for her own future worries me, because it’s important for people to have a dream in their lives.

In New Moon, the second book in the series, Bella Swan tried to haunt Edward Cullen’s shadows by attempting dangerous activities. She first jumped on a motorcycle with a stranger and then started riding one. It was when Bella jumped off a cliff. She wondered what Stephanie Meyer was trying to teach her readers, to be reckless and suicidal in order to see her ex-boyfriend? Now that the series becomes a movie series, it would influence the mind of a young person. If I’m a parent, the thought of my loved one going on a wild ride with a complete stranger would put me in a coma.

Later in the Breaking Dawn track, we touch on Bella’s pregnancy after her marriage to Edward. Even if some mothers can relate to her need to keep her baby; but I question her second reason: to bleed to near death and Edward would need to turn her into a vampire. Either she had forgotten about werewolves, or she didn’t care if her friend Jacob of hers would die fighting for her. I wasn’t surprised by the lack of interest in werewolves until later in the book, it was obvious the fight wasn’t meant to happen in the first place.

Finally, love at first sight? It’s very disturbing how Jacob imprints, a werewolf term for falling in love, on baby Renesmee when she’s born. Although love at first sight is considered romantic, no matter how fast a child grows up, I think he is still a pedophile, because he may have grown physically, one might wonder how much he grew mentally. Scary thought.

In short, I think Stephanie Meyer had created a bad role model in the Twilight series, Isabella Swan. She is the picture of who I would not want my child to be, and I think her mother would be disappointed when she finds out that her daughter has no dream for the future, she leaves her friends forever when she falls in love, she becomes reckless when they dump him and he becomes overconfident to the point of suicide. Who needs violence when you have a life like hers?