Twilight a parent’s dream come true

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This article was published 19/11/2009 (6107 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Vampires aside, it’s really just a simple love story.

The reason teenage girls have fallen hard for the Twilight book and film series has to do with its portrayal of a traditional, romantic relationship, new research from the University of Missouri shows.

In the series, vampire Edward Cullen doesn’t want to harm or bite his teen love interest Bella Swan, which means they can’t have sex.

"With teens, we actually found that they appreciated the messages of abstinence," said Melissa Click, an assistant professor of communication who surveyed 4,000 Twilight fans, aged 11 to 70.

Click and her co-authors’ research primarily addresses the reasons behind the teenage-madness for Twilight, a four-book series with two films so far. The newest movie, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, opens Friday and has already busted Cineplex Theatres’ records by selling $1.5 million in advance tickets across Canada. The first film, Twilight, grossed more than $190 million in North American revenues.

The Missouri research found many teen girls — who make up the core of Twilight’s audience, along with a few moms — are drawn to the story about love beyond the physical.

"The media environment is saturated with teens in sexual relationships," said Click, who plans to publish the findings next spring in a collaborative book, Bitten by Twilight: Youth culture, media and the vampire franchise.

"(Twilight) does provide something different for girls. I’ve had girls say to me, ‘I’m going to wait for my Edward.’ And they think that’s really cool."

Her colleague, Jennifer Stevens Aubrey, called the series a "backlash to the ‘hooking-up’ culture."

Edward represents an anomaly in the minds of many teenage girls.

He’s romantic, protective and, most important, cares deeply for who Bella is and not just what she looks like.

And for 18-year-old Twilight fan France-Renee Miron, that’s a good thing.

"Most boys now around our age, all they want is to get you in bed. They don’t care about the romance part," said Miron, who is from Green Valley, Ont.

"In the book and in the film, (Edward) doesn’t want to have sex. It’s really different."

Miron’s friend, Valerie Lefebvre, 18, said she found solace in the book’s messages about abstinence.

"By reading the book, we find out we’re not the only ones who could have a good relationship without being sexually active," said Lefebvre.

Click said many girls interviewed felt a sense of relief Bella and Edward couldn’t yet have sex.

"They liked that it was the man putting the brakes on sexual activity. For them, it probably highlighted the development of the relationship — the romantic relationship — between the two, instead of the sexual relationship," said Click.

The study is comprised of online surveys and in-person focus groups.

Researchers found 70 teens for the focus groups at a fan convention held in Dallas last summer. About one-third of those surveyed were teens.

Xania Khan, editor-in-chief of Toronto’s Vervegirl teen magazine, said the hysteria surrounding Twilight may blind teens to real-world relationships.

"Some girls have a hard time distinguishing fact and fiction," said Khan. "They might look for something that’s not real."

 

— Canwest News Service