"Vampires are always bad."
He tends to be the one to throw that comment around, although I have found myself using it more and more in recent years.
Thankfully, our kids have not become enthralled with the Twilight series. To be honest, I'm not sure that I could have handled it as I steer clear of all things vampire. Pretty much avoid vampires and zombies as much as possible, they just creep me out. I am definitely not a horror film fan, can ya tell?
Hubby was the one who read the Twilight series when our eldest daughter was considering doing so. She decided against it, having possibly inherited my innate vampire aversion. Hubby was thankful, that she did not feel the need to see the movies, because he obviously would have been the parent nominated to watch them all with her. Of course, he did take every opportunity while he was reading Twilight to remind us, repeatedly, that "In books and movies sometimes the vampires are good or beautiful or friendly, but in real life, vampires are always bad."
He has used this as a teaching tool with our kids to show them how society likes to take things that are typically portrayed as evil and make them seem good. We see our culture redefining terms and retelling stories in an attempt to make something bad or horrible into something attractive or appealing.
These stories are quite popular because they do creatively turn the expected upside down. Vampires are good. The Wolf is misunderstood. Red Riding Hood has a hidden agenda. The new slant on old tales does make for thrilling plot lines full of unexpected twists and turns. We have enjoyed watching and reading these types of stories with our kids....minus the vampires of course.
As we encounter these upside down and inside out tales we enjoy the ride, but also take advantage of the teachable moments they provide. It's an opportunity to remind our kids that there is objective truth in the world. There is good and evil. It is our job as parents to teach our kids the difference between right and wrong.
Sometimes this lesson can be easily, and humorously, conveyed to them. As we see all the Trick or Treaters out and about next week, you can be sure our kids will be hearing, repeatedly, "Vampires are always bad."
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