Girls love pop culture and it's no wonder. It's entertaining, often daring and can be fun "” yet it also regularly undermines what Christian parents are seeking to teach their daughters about learning to respect themselves as well as others.
Sydneyanglicans.net looks at three major new releases aimed at girls and considers what message each is sending and how we should respond.Â
1. Twilight: dangerous co-dependency
Eclipse, the third film in the Twilight series, opened on July 1 and continues Stephanie Meyer's vampire-human-werewolf love story.
It's packed with the paranormal yet many Christians regard the messages it contains as harmless, or even positive. In fact Kara Martin, who lectures in ethics at Macquarie University's School of Christian Studies, says the first person who recommended her daughter read the books was the wife of a minister.
"Her angle was, 'Here is the perfect male role model' "” and in some ways I can see that," Martin says.
Why? Because Edward, the vampire, resists his desire for Bella, the human girl. "Resisting drinking her blood is resisting his desire for her in all its forms," she says. "Stephanie Meyer is a fairly strict Mormon. she wanted to address the issues she saw of people giving in to the desire to have sex, take drugs or drink alcohol."
Which sounds fine. But on screen and in the pages of the books, Martin sees two issues for parents to consider. First, the co-dependency between Bella and Edward, who each feel life is not worth living without the other. Edward contemplates suicide because he can't have Bella, and she attempts suicide to get Edward to respond to her "” which Martin describes as "very disturbing".
Second, Martin sees echoes of domestic abuse, in a werewolf who has physically scarred his wife while not in control of himself, and the constant danger in which Bella voluntarily places herself through trusting a werewolf and a vampire.
"There's that idea of 'He didn't mean to do it' or they wouldn't want to hurt her," Martin says. "If that flows over into everyday life for girls there's a really bad message there: to stay with him even if he hurts you. 'I'll forgive him, he won't do it again, it'll get better'."
The popularity of the series makes its unintended subtexts a problem for impressionable girls. With children as young as nine clamouring to read the books, Martin believes it is better to prepare our daughters effectively for what they will read (and see), then keep lines of discussion open afterwards.
"It's the unthinking absorption of this stuff that's potentially dangerous," she says, "so it's worthwhile raising the issues: what are the problems of a relationship with a werewolf; or Bella lying to her mum and dad and withdrawing from her friends "” was this a good thing? I ask quite pointed questions."
2. Real life: school of hard knocks
Only a fortnight after the third fang of Twilight hits our screens, two of its lead actors (Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning) will morph into members of a 1970s teen rock band for biopic The Runaways.
It's a true story and one filled with lessons learned the hard way by 15- and 16-year-old girls who just wanted to make music. The film's trailer pushes the success element hard, with cheering crowds and voiceovers such as, "We did what no-one thought we could do".
In real life the band's success came at a tremendous price, with the girls victims of sexual predators, emotional abuse and drug and alcohol addiction. One of The Runaways' members even attempted suicide and another had an abortion, although reportedly neither of these events is in the film.
Edgeplay, a warts-and-all documentary made in 2004 by a former band member, shows far better the lasting damage the women now carry but The Runaways still has the potential to provide valuable lessons for girls "” and parents "” if they are prepared for the content and work through it afterwards.
Be warned, however: Kara Martin expects tween Twilight fans "will be putting pressure on" to see The Runaways because of the Stewart-Fanning connection "” and it is rated MA15+ (in the US it was rated R). Â
3. Miley Cyrus: girlhood ‘pornified’
Miley Cyrus has been busy on her "grown-up" image in recent months. There has been a cameo in Sex And The City 2 (she is hardly a big drawcard for most SATC fans, so the film's producers were presumably hoping to encourage Cyrus's young fan base to see the film). Rumours are also circulating that she might appear as a teen Carrie Bradshaw should Candace Bushnell's The Carrie Diaries make it to the big screen.
In recent weeks, photos have flashed around the world of Cyrus performing at major events in little more than underwear. Then there's her new album, Can't Be Tamed "” with title song lyrics such as "Every guy everywhere just gives me mad attention. I always get the 10s 'cause I'm built like that".
Cyrus did a photo shoot for Elle in 2009, while she was still 16, with the headline trumpeting that she 'wasn't a kid any more', a cover pose with bra visible and another lying flat on a table in a short black outfit and thigh-high boots. The magazine called the photos an opportunity for the star to "take the wheel" in her life "” as, presumably, she is also doing by gyrating suggestively onstage.
Later this year, the girl who was squeaky-clean Hannah Montana "” keen to wear what fans' parents would love "” turns 18 and will officially take responsibility for her career.
But given the examples of young female "success" presented by the media in recent years (such as Britney Spears), Cyrus will probably continue to make highly sexualised performance and wardrobe choices. Right now, though, her main fan base is pre-teen girls, who are getting the message that "taking the wheel" means provocative dances and photos plus a willingness to take off most of your clothes. This is sweetened by the promise in Cyrus's lyrics that being famous is a good thing, because you get whatever you want.
Catriona Corbett, manager of the family relationship early intervention service for Anglicare, says Cyrus's actions play like a trip "down the slippery slope". Pre-teens are most vulnerable, she warns, "because they're being pushed into the teenage genre where they're being exposed to a lot of things earlier.
"It's a hard call. you have to read your kids to see how much influence these things are having and you have to pick your battles," she says. "If they're trying to copy in terms of dress and other things, that could be a problem. But kids who've got other attractive role models won't necessarily be seduced by pop stars."
Corbett believes girls should have the opportunity to observe society and learn to be critical about what it presents to them. As for parents, give praise to a star where it is due but, at the same time, "the occasional comment or a well-thought-out critique can be very educational for kids. It can help them see under the surface of what's portrayed."
