I did not spend 23 years getting educated without learning how to talk about books I won't read and movies I refuse to see. The latest such movie is Twilight, which has not only teen-age girls, but some Moms (as distinguished from Mothers) lining up at midnight in matching tee-shirts and squealing with glee when the clerk takes the tarp off the stack of novels.
What is surprising about this? The vampire novels of Anne Rice have been solid bestsellers for many years. In general, the vampire myth falls in line with the romance novel: an innocent girl is swept away by the allure of a clearly dangerous guy. Recognize Wuthering Heights? An anthropologist studying the culture would suggest that these stories mirror the submission expected of women, and make it much more glamorous than actual ordinary oppression and domestic abuse.
It gets worse. These stories train girls to see masochism (danger, getting hurt) as sexy. I really recommend your kids stick with Harry Potter. Or is that old economy? The question unfolds another line of enquiry -- is this phenomenon in some oblique way actually about what the wealthy have done to the rest of us?
The picture (from the film) suggests that he is longing to see her bare neck. Maybe the neck (modestly concealed) will be the next erotic zone. A refreshing idea. I, for one, have lots of scarves.
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