Thursday, January 15, 2009

Why do we love Edward? Is this the Answer?

My wonderful Mother-in-law sent me an e-mail with this article in it. Lorrie, I hope you don't mind me blogging this:) You should know that she recently finished reading the entire Twilight series after listening to all of us go on and on about it. You should also know that she was contemplating putting an "I heart Edward" widget on her blog page. Oh, I also failed to mention that my father-in-laws name is Edward.

Anyway, I found this article VERY interesting. The author gives you something to ponder. She may be on to something here. I found it very enlightening. After you read this article, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts and comments about it.

8 Thoughts:

ab5cgang said...

Well I have to admit it was REALLY LONG. I didn't read it as well as I should. But I do agree we can all learn from Edward. And that is to funny about Lorrie. I love that she got into the books with us all. I love this family.

ab5cgang said...

So I went back and reread some of the article. I do agree that men have a huge role. Kindof neat. Maybe men should read this also. I love to see Brent when he is teaching our children about life. And this article makes you look at your love life in a different way.

AOlson said...

I agree with you Cindy, in that I think men should read this article, too. I might print it up and have Kevin read it.

Heather said...

Yeah, I think the reason so many women love the idea of Edward might be because he is so different from what a "typical guy" is portrayed as today.

This article was really interesting thanks for sharing.

Jodi said...

I'll have to read the article and get back to you. Thanks for sharing.

MadMadameMim said...

First of all I did really like that article, it seemed well written and insightful. There are things that we can all learn and embrace from what the author said.
However, I can't help but play the antagonist here (please forgive me Amy). It seems those traits are wonderful, if millions of teenage boys were running out to read the Twilight books. But that isn't so much the case. The problem with the girls getting this picture stuck in their heads is that we wouldn't want to teach them to depend so much a a guys self restraint abdicating all responsibility for self control and and chastity. Edward doesn't exist, even the best of guys aren't perfect and have a breaking point. We wouldn't want our girls pushing for the point in the hope of finding an Edward. They are doomed to failure, if not in tempting a boy past his ability to resist then certainly in chasing a good boy away. For what truly righteous young man would want a Bella?
Also while the first book does portray this miraculous level of restraint and self sacrificing attitude we see in the subsequent books that both Edward and Bella take this to an unhealthy level. It is for this reason and many others that I feel these books are not appropriate for teens and as such should be left on the shelf where they belong, fiction - not a teacher of important life lessons.

Personally I did enjoy reading the books but I really feel it was against my better judgment, and I discourage all my young women and young sisters from reading them.

I hope this didn't come off as too preachy or too contentions. That was not my intent. I guess I just feel there is a hidden danger in these books and I hope we can all be on our guard as far as their distribution among our impressionable youth.

AOlson said...

As a married woman, I really enjoyed this article and the ideas that it brought up. Edward is a fictional character that has caught the eye of many women, both married and not. It helped me to see all of the Edward-like qualities that my own husband has. This article certainly is not meant for a teenager to read. It's an article meant to strengthen and better understand our married relationtionships.

The books were fun to read and get wrapped up in knowing that it is a fictional world with fictional characters. I do not think that the books are appropriate for readers under 16. And even girls bewteen 16-19 I think need to be mature and adult enough to handle these books.

It was a fun series to read and get wrapped up in and I enjoy the "girly/giddiness" that I feel when talking about how amazing Edward is. It's all in good fun.

Alicia Leppert said...

I agree, Amy. I refuse to look at these books through the eyes of a teenager because they were not written for teenagers and teenagers should not be written them. I, a 29 year old married mother, enjoyed them tremendously because it reminded me how exciting and passionate relationships can be.

And to answer your original question, that is part of the reason I love Edward so much, but the main reason is that he will stop at nothing for the girl he loves and he is an old-fashioned, romantic gentleman. Who is hot.