While your chillin with the hot chocolate after your five mile run deciding if you really want to stand in line for a movie from a series of books geared toward adolescent girls, girls whose limited fantasy revolves around doing it with a vampire (the thinly disguised bad boy, different boy, prince charming, we all love so much), and while you’re pondering why books geared toward females still steer girls to a fantasy world where, unspoken or clearly understood, the girls want nothing more than to romanticize about doing it with “that guy”.
I haven’t read the books nor do I have the time or desire to do so, and despite my admitted lust for Heathcliff I gag when I see the term “breathless anticipation” used to describe the feeling teenage girls had on awaiting this movie premiere.
I’m totally down with immortality though, but I suggest another book for your daughter.
American Government 2008: Continuity and Change . Sure it’s expensive, but she may come out the other end a little wiser, and with something more than a vampire fetish.
More than 2,500 randomly selected Americans took ISI’s basic 33question
test on civic literacy and more than 1,700 people failed, with the average score 49 percent, or an “F.” Elected officials scored even lower than the general public with an average score of 44 percent and only 0.8 percent (or 21) of all surveyed earned an “A.” Even more startling is the fact that over twice as many people
know Paula Abdul was a judge on American Idol than know that the phrase “government of the
people, by the people, for the people” comes from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
No shocker here, if you’ve spent time around the humans in this country lately.
If you’re so inclined you can take a quiz on civic literacy at Our Fading Heritage.
“Our children should learn the general framework of their government and then they should know where they come in contact with the government, where it touches their daily lives and where their influence is exerted on the government. It must not be a distant thing, someone else’s business, but they must see how every cog in the wheel of a democracy is important and bears its share of responsibility for the smooth running of the entire machine.”
Eleonore Roosevelt
peace
Not a good movie, not only for the reasons above. We took my boyfriends little sister and three friends. It really was pointless. The 12 year olds loved it.
The marketing is genius, both books and movies, but the sole market is the ditsy little teenage girl, like you said.
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That’s what i heard.
Everyone I know who’s read the books has hated them. I can’t imagine a mass-marketed motion picture was what was needed to save the franchise.
Wish I could say I was surprised. I remember doing a similar survey in high school wherein I was actually asked afterward by the respondents, “why should I care?” It was 2001, when we were all making overblown and occasionally grotesque shows of patriotism. No one was listening when it was suggested that actually understanding the mechanism of government by the people, for the people, and of the people was patriotic.
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It’s a wonder we’ve survived this long. Ignorance may be bliss after all.
I liked the questions, but some of the questions might seem like advocacy, particularly to progressives. Whether it’s a good test or not needs testing.
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I’m sure a test for the test is in the works.
Though I’m pretty sure the results are not a surprise it’s easier and far cheaper to make another test than to actually teach the right stuff.
I can’t see all the fuss over the movie, haven’t kept up on it, but some girls at work were speaking of it the other night, they were around twenty three or four years old.
Isn’t the teenage vampire played by some old guy with kids or something?
I still have my Harry Potter books.
i took the test. You will be happy to know I scored better than the average. The average was pretty bad so that isn’t saying much, and I over thought the question, most easy, about income.
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I can forgive you the Harry Potter. I don’t think there is any comparison.
Can’t take the quiz on one cup of coffee after seeing Maryland loose their game last night, but as soon as the coffee hits I’ll take it.
Twilight isn’t Harry Potter, there was substance to Potter, the books and the movies, this series is not on that level. I haven’t read them but that is what I’ve heard.
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You’re right, always two cups of coffee or at least one and a half – that seems to be the magic number.
They’re for girls my niece’s age. She says she’s obsessed with them
Meyers claims the first book came to her complete in a dream. Would love to dream like that, remember or have what she’s having
Yea, I thought they were for almost children and was surprised to see some many people my age actually discussion the movie as if it were…anything at all…
The Tweener read all of them and she absolutely had to see the movie. But I refused to let her go at midnight on a school night. So Friday night at a reasonable time it was. She invited some friends, I made sure they had tickets and she forgave me for not letting her go the prior midnight.
For her, the flick was fabulous. That’s all that matters. The actors, saw them on The Today Show, seem a bit vapid.
You mention Heathcliff… and I am reminded of Kate Bush. Running up that hill. Now… where did I put that CD. …
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ha, ha,
Love your suggestion for a better book. I think everyone should have a copy of it. And then buy a copy of America (The Book) by Jon Stewart. That has to be the best book in print today.
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I don’t know why it never occurred to me to read a book by John Stewart I guess it’s time constraints. I’ll have to check it out.
What’s interesting is I’ve seen interest from our contemporaries, those your age and mine, people going gaga over the movie – anticipation of it anyway, That surprised me because it isn’t something I’d be interested and I wouldn’t expect most people in their early 20′s to be interested in it either.
It’s because they never read that government book. ;)
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I got two wrong on that test.
Yea, well maybe next year someone will realize it and purchase their daughter a better book series.
Civics test? As in “who is the vice-president?”…easy…that’s Biden, right? Crap, I’m getting ahead of myself.
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Possibly not quite that easy. lol
You weren’t kidding. $174 for the book!!!(Used, only $70!)
I took that test. I missed 2 which at 94% is hopefully an A. (Missed the Plato question and Lincoln-Douglas, I knew it but changed it to the overall slavery issue from the territory concern. Dumb.)
Anyways, I agree with your last comment on my blog. We did get fat, lazy and consumed at the behest of those silly free marketeers. People always hated Carter because he told them too much of the truth about themselves as Americans. (We normally can’t handle such truth. We get mad and blame the truth teller.)
As soon as Reagan got in there, he torn down those pesky solar panels Carter was interested in, not that a nuke engineer wouldn’t be interested in energy. As it turned out, an opportunity lost.
Have nothing on Twilight. What teenage girls do or read is kinda not a high priority unless you’re raising one or more of them.
Have a good Turkey day. This Turkey is going to gobble up Pizza tonight before I deliver those holiday ads to all you expectate customers/consumers as Paulson puts plans in place to get us to spend more via consumer loans…crazy ain’t it? Also, going to the Barnes and Noble for the books and the quiet before I go to my fav watering hole for a glass of Merlot. Cheers.
Have yourself a consuming little Christmas.
May your shopping bags… be light.
Have yourself an uneventful litte Christmas
Not filled with pricks… or uptights…
Have yourself a Merry little non-consuming Christmas… night!!!!
(Ok, it’s early. And you prob. celebrate Kwanzaa.)
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