OK, everyone here is going to think this is coming completely out of left field given the glowing praise I’ve given Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series recently.

However, since I finished the three books, something’s been bugging me. Until about 15 minutes ago, I couldn’t put my finger on it.

While I believe the series is great for its plots, characters and writing – all the normal stuff that people like about books – I’m growing wary of the message it’s sending to its target audience. I realized this after listening to the audiobook version of “Twilight” (Hey, sometimes I get tired of listening to music while I’m working; give me a break) and listened to the scene where Edward and Bella first become a couple.

Here’s what bothers me: Meyer first shows us that falling in love and rushing into marriage can be a bad idea, as exemplified by Charlie and Renee’s hasty marriage nearly 20 years prior to the book’s opening.

Then, she throws Edward and Bella together, having them profess their deep, undying love for one another very shortly after they even begin talking with any regularity.

Now, I’m not at all saying that this sort of thing doesn’t happen. Having been on the receiving end of such a relationship, I know it does and it can be the best thing in your life.

However, couple the suddenness of Edward and Bella’s profession of love with their incredibly deep commitment at a fairly young age and – when we’re talking a wildly popular series with the teenage girl crowd, who aren’t exactly all that hormonally stable to begin with – you have some potentially dangerous consequences with the picture you are giving them of relationships.

In my research on this series (I’ve been trolling MySpace and other teen hang-outs in preparation for an article on the series prior to the release of the fourth book), I’ve found scores and scores of young girls – some not even in their teens – pining for “my Edward.” They gush about how great he is and how they hope, someday, they can find someone as perfect as he is; someone who loves them so completely.

Now, I’m not saying that this is impossible, nor am I saying this isn’t what all girls should aspire to find (since a lot of girls seem to settle for whatever comes along just for the sake of having a significant other). I am, though, saying that young girls are already feeling a whole lot of peer pressure when it comes to relationships. They’re dating in elementary school and having sex in middle school. They’re saying they love someone before they can really know what love is because they just don’t have enough real life experience behind them yet. They’re bombarded with movies and TV shows and songs and books telling them that all guys should be perfect or else they’re not worth anyone’s time.

Why can’t we just see a more realistic portrayal of a relationship in books? I’m not saying that Meyer couldn’t have created something incredibly deep and engaging, but she could have allowed Bella and Edward to slow down a little.

Not to mention the fact that they get engaged barely one year after first meeting. This may work for some people, but I wouldn’t make it a widely-held belief that everyone gets married quickly.

This has been long and rambling because, well, I’ve worked far too many hours this week and really need to go to bed.

All I’m saying is that I hope our young girls can critically analyze the relationships they are seeing portrayed in the fiction people are putting in front of them – whether it be in books or movies or whatever – so that they do not end up living their lives disappointed that they haven’t found their perfect vampire lover.