Twilight

I don't have a daughter but I have read the books and have seen 2 of the movies. Yes, it's about a human girl and a vampire falling in love. They never have sex, they never even do anything but kiss. The books are actually geared towards traditional values of waiting until you are married, true love, loyalty, the man protecting the woman, ect. The only thing that bothered me about the second book/movie was how depressed and then reckless Bella was after Edward left. It made her seem really pathetic.

I have friends who love the movies and the books and think they are wonderful. My daughter is 11yrs old and I am not allowing her to see the Twilight movies. Personally I don't like them and until she is older, she will not be seeing them due to adult content - teens who don't seem to like each other and are therefore attracted to each other which is why he shows up in her bedroom at night, etc, etc.

My advice -' just because everyone jumps off a bridge, will you go too?' Even if everyone else has seen them doesn't make it appropriate. I would wait until she is much older- 14-16yrs old.

Twilight isn't bad at all - its a cute tweeny movie in my opinion... maybe a tiny bit grown up for an 8 year old... but if she watched Avatar then Twilight is no biggie at all..... the problem you are going to run into is the sequels. The relationship between the characters gets more sexual, and they eventually do the deed and get married and have a baby.... SO - depending on how that movie comes out - you may not want her watching it.... which will lead to some drama since she will have seen the first one or two (the first few movies are all okay, in my opinion.)

Its your call as a mom. Keep tabs on trailers that come out for Eclipse and Breaking Dawn... just to be sure you're not shooting yourself in the foot.

PS I agree with the first few posts - you should watch it first before you decide. Some of the elements to it are very sexually tense. She may not really pick up on it yet - but it will open up some conversations you may not want to have just yet. 8 is a wee bit young.... but again, its your call as a mom. Good luck!

http://www.kids-in-mind.com/
Not a specific answer to your question, but it's a great site to check out for details about what is in each movie. I use it all the time.

I have no girls, only boys...but we have all seen it and read all the books. The movie should be fine for your daughter to watch. Why don't you watch it some night w/out her so you can decide for yourself?

It is basically a love story...a pretty sweet love story, actually! Bella is a girl who moves to a little town and falls in love with a mysterious handsome boy at school, named Edward. They fall in love and Bella figures out he is a vampire...but not a bad vampire, a good vampire...they do not feed off humans, only animals. The other books get more involved but Twilight is pretty tame and like I said, just a love story!

I have seen both movies (And waiting impatiently for the 3rd to come out), My best friend has read all the books and seen both movies... They really aren't that bad. Of course we are 18. Haha

Honestly, there are much worse things your daughter will be exposed to.

Watch the movies and see what you think if you are really worried about it.

My 6 yr old and 4 yr old daughters both have seen Twilight and Avatar and loved em both! I watched both the Twilight movies before I let them watch them and figured they see the same stuff on those stupid cartoons they watch! The new Twilight coming out looks like it maybe a bit darker than the other 2 so I will watch that movie for sure before letting my girls watch it! Hope I could help! Good luck!

My daughter is 9. I let her see Twilight last year when she was 8. She loved it. I also took her to see New Moon. We just sat and discussed things afterwards.
There is no intamacy other than some kissing.
My daughter is a bit mature in her ability to handle and process these kind of things.
However, I am not going to let her read the books just yet. I have read all 4 books. The books are much more intense than the movies. (intense in the description of their feelings and such) The author upheld her belief that certain things shall remain for marriage (which happens in the last book) - but even then it is not gratuitously written out - it is simply implied.

You know your daughter. If she can discern between reality and fiction - and the two of you can communticate and discuss these kind of things - then you make the call. :)

My daughter will be 8 in a couple of months and she's seen Twighlight & New Moon. Also she's seen Avatar. If you let your daughter watch Avatar then Twighlight is no biggie. In the 1st movie, it's really nothing.. No curse words, no sex. Some violence, but my daughter loves that kind of stuff (not in a weird way, lol) - she just doesn't get scared. I did watch it 1st just to be sure before I let her watch it. But, we went together and saw New Moon. Like someone else said.... as the story goes on .. the sexual stuff gets more intense and towards the end they do have sex and have a baby. So... I'm not sure if I'll let my daughter watch the very last movie (if it comes out .. I'm sure it will) but...I'll probably watch it first then decide.

Twilight isn't so bad, New Moon isn't so bad. But I've read all 4 books and in the Eclipse book, the themes get pretty adult. Bella always yearns for Edward to "go further" with her. Definitely more for teens than tweens. I'm not sure how this will be covered in the movie, they will all be PG-13. And in the 4th book, Breaking Dawn, Bell and Edward are married and having sex and it gets pretty graphic around Bella's giving birth. The honeymoon sex is all done very tastefully, not like a trashy romance novel at all, so I was OK letting my 10 year old read it, but would want to preview the movies before allowing an 8 year old to Eclipse or Breaking Dawn. My 8 year old has seen just Twilight (because it was rented for older DD's slumber party), but had no interest in seeing New Moon. I'm waiting for her to be old enough to appreciate the books (they ARE wonderful) before encouraging her to see the movies.

In my opinion Twilight isn't that bad, of course I would recommend you see it first, you and only you knows what is best for your daughter. I would recommend you read the book as well, I loved it.

In my opinion I would let her see it, go with her, of course, and have a great time together. Good luck.

I will probably get some flack for this but I let my 3 yr old girl and 5 yr old boy watch both Twilight and New Moon and they LOVE them. We also read the graphic novel together. My kids are more obsessed with the Twilight series than I am. I also explain that vampires are not real and the whole story is make believe. They have never had any nightmares about vampires and they love to play out the scenes so I don't see any problem with it. the story was written by a Mormon woman so there is no sex, no drugs, no blood and guts, the vampires don't have fangs, and there isn't a whole lot of violence.

I would watch first and make sure it is something you want your child to see and communicate with your child about the things you don't agree with and why (if there are any).

Twilight isn't all that bad, but there are some things in it I wouldn't want my daughter to think are okay. While it may be presented as a love story, in my eyes Edward comes off more as a creepy controlling stalker. With the whole trying to control what Bella does, following her around to "keep an eye on her", sneaking into her bedroom at night to watch her sleep without her knowing.

Then in the second book, Bella has no life whatsoever when Edward is gone and does a bunch of dangerous, foolish, reckless things because she feels like it brings Edward closer to her and she doesn't really care if anything happens to her because there is no life without Edward.

The best thing you could do really is watch the movie by yourself first and see if there is anything you wouldn't want her to see. If you do let her watch it or read the books, definitely talk to her about how those types of things aren't part of a healthy relationship.

I have seen the movie and I don't think I would allow my 8 year old to watch it. As Krista said, it has some sexual situations and has some violence. The storyline is more mature than I would want my 8 year old to see-intricate relationships, vampires, sexuality, graphic violence when one of the vampires attacks Bella and is subsequently killed, very tense scenes when they are trying to escape the vampire. Our kiddies grow up fast enough and that's just not the kind of stuff I think one so young needs to be exposed to.

It is a "tween" movie.

I have a 15 yr old and she has read all the books at least 2 times (LOVES the books) and we have seen all the movies as well.

We will be at the midnight premiere as always later this month.

I read the books as well and used that opportunity to talk to her, do something with her and have something we could talk about which in turns helps with communication and helps with her loving to read.

I did not find the movies offensive, however, my daughter is older than yours. Communication is key.

One of my daycare moms is a twilight fanantic and she lets her 4 years old watch it with her. J.

I would suggest that you watch it first- pretty graphic and addresses some issues with teen relationships and sexuality that you may not be ready to discuss with your daughter.

If after you watch it you are comfortable having your daughter view it, then watch it together. If you are not comfortable with it, then tell her that she can watch it when she's old enough!

I am not ultra conservative (in fact I am rather liberal), but I am shocked with how many Mommies let their children watch movies that are made for adults. My whole point is that we should let kids be kids. Why expose them to more? What is the point?

I am a Twihard... and I would not let my children watch those movies until they are teenagers. I will never let my daughters read the last book or watch the last movie (when it comes out). Twilight is the lighter of the two movies but I think the 2nd has some scary scenes. But I also think that Avatar had too many scary scenes for my girls too. I just don't want those things in their heads (at least for as long as I can prevent it).

Hi Mama-
I am 30. 2 years ago, the books rushed into the market because of the first movie. So I read the books after seeing the first movie. The movie does not really do the details of the books as much justice as it could, but at the same time, it is good. The gist of the story is that it is a love story.
Start with the Cullen Family. The father, aka the doctor, was a 16th century son of an anglican priest. He went out on a hunt after vampires and witches to please his father. He got bit and realised what was happening to him and because it was a supposed damnable thing and tried to end his life. He realised that he did not know how and took up with the royalty of his new species. He then decided that it wasn't what you were, but what you did with the cards you were dealt that made you who you were and decided never to feed on humans. Long story short, he became a doctor and studied for hundreds of years, always wanting to serve humanity. Skip forward to the 1900's and Edward is born. He ends up dying of the flu and his mother begs Doctor Cullen to save him, like she knows what he is and will give her son life. So he takes Edward as a son.Skip forward, Bella is born in the 80's, her mother and father split due to marital issues, her mother re-marries while she is in highschool and Bella goes to live with her dad in Washington so that her mom can freely travel with her baseball player husband.
Bella meets Edward and falls in love with him. Then it becomes the story of how do make an immortal and a mortal love last...can Bella be changed...is it the right thing to do? Will she lose her soul or be as the doctor believes, whatever she chooses- good or bad? And, will it violate the treaty with the wolves, protectors of humans who keeps human feeding vampires away....but the Cullens are an exception and have agreed to stay off the Wolves land.
It's a great story, but the books delve into Bella and Edward's married relationship, they do have sex but there are no details, and the struggle is to keep both Bella and Edward alive and well and to have that happily ever after that people love to read.
It is a little dark, and I am not sure that 8 years old is really old enough to read it. I would rent or borrow the movie when she is not home and watch it first. However, I think also that I would say not yet, but it is dependant on her maturity level. Avatar was a fantastic film, but the story stuck to a pure motivation to save a culture from the greed of another. Twilight, while I love it, is not really in the same category. Maybe you should read the books first, and read them with her....but beware of letting her grow up too soon. I say wait a few years. The buzz from the movies coming out will be over, but then you can purchase them all at once, discounted, and her maturity level will be a little higher. It's just not a kid story- it's an older teen story at a younger teen reading level, so an easy read. But beware the poularity and don't let it suck you in. Read it and see it first for yourself and then make your decision and stick to your guns.
I hope this helps. Good luck.
-E. M

Personally, I think 8 is too young for this movie. I read a few of the responses of even younger kids like age 5 seeing it. A 5yo wouldn't be able to grasp what's fully going on. It's kind of like some of the Disney movies that have adult humor in them. Just out www.commonsensemedia.org for more info.

I agree with it being a good opportunity to teach your daughter about love and relationships, not changing who you are for someone else, and that movies are not reality. My 5 year old daughter thought the love scenes rolled her eyes at the love scenes in the first movie, but liked most of it. I look forward to watching movies like this with my daughters as they get older!

A lot of it also depends on the child, and what they can handle. My younger daughter is more easily spooked by even some cartoon movies, so I would wait longer with her than with my dark comedian of an older child :)