Loving or Losing Literacy?

Ha, you probably thought I already forgot about my "1 coherent thought a week" venture! I never said I'd do it on the same day every week, right?

This week's topic spawns from a conversation with a soon-to-be-former (again) coworker at your friendly neighborhood (if you live in Westwood) Borders. We were discussing overrated books and authors; it began with Dan Brown and spiraled outward from there. Naturally, in talking about something unworthy of attention in the literary realm, we had to get to Twilight. Both of us whole-heartedly agree: It's crap. Terrible writing, less-than-fluffy story, I'd rather read barcodes all day, etc. (And it's not just us; I think there's only 1 Twilight defender in the entire store, and she only restocks Paperchase.) There is, however, one point on which we diverge. She said:

"As long as it gets kids reading, I suppose. It's better than if they're not reading, right?"

I have given this a lot of thought, both before and after this comment. My response is a big, emphatic, NO.



Let me first of all say that while I certainly can be a snob about literature, I don't believe that everyone has to read only fine literature all the time. Trashy books generally aren't my thing, but I've been known to give into trashy (read: tabloid-y, not porn-y) magazines. Often, in fact. And I have my share of films and TV shows I enjoy that will never be considered high art except in the most ironic sense. So what, you are probably asking, is my problem?

My problem seems very specific to this book. My complete thoughts have been made quite explicit in a previous post, so to put it as succintly as I can: It's bad for you. And I don't mean any bullshit about vampires and demons and the occult, either. I'm talking about the disturbing cultural phenomenon of Bella and Edward. From reading these books (and only recently from watching the movie), young women have become infatuated with a twisted notion of so-called romantic love. As a result, I'm predicting that very, very soon we are going to find a generation of battered women on our hands. Bella is, putting it nicely, a pathetic image of frail femininity. She does what she's told unquestioningly. She relishes being stalked--don't even try to justify it, watching a girl sleep through her bedroom window without her knowledge IS stalking. Did everyone miss the fact that she clings to a guy who has openly acknowledged that he wants to kill her--because they're "in love"?? The lesson that you get from this book is that everything is okay--stalking, hitting (if I recall, he hits her in the second book?), abandonment, and rape (Having sex with someone who is unconscious? Yeah. That's rape)--as long as he says he loves you.

To get back to the original point: Would I rather have someone read Twilight or not at all? My answer is not at all, particulary if that reader is an impressionable young girl. The intrinsic value of literacy is lost if reading does nothing to enhance the reader.

My argument expands beyond Twilight, by the way. I mean, Mein Kampf would probably have kids reading. I'm just saying.


~The Original Fong~
**You wish you could pull off being me**

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