Pop Culture Thursday: Flowers in the Attic

If my Twitter feed is anything to go by (and really, my Twitter feed should be the arbiter of everything), many young women read, and continue to read, V.C. Andrews books. V.C. Andrews wrote Flowers in the Attic, which makes Lolita seem like a book about a well-adjusted family. She also wrote a bunch of other books, but we'll get to that in a minute. 

Image courtesy of Wikipedia. 

She looks creepy, doesn't she? 

Lifetime (of course) made a movie of Flowers in the Attic that aired last Saturday. I did not watch it, because I got over my horror fixation at 14. And yeah, the books are horror. With a lot of sex. And some disgusting patriarchal notions thrown in. The other author I avidly read in those days was Stephen King, and thank god I did. 

I was pretty innocent at 12 and 13, except for my reading material. And if my reading material had solely consisted of V.C. Andrews books? I would have developed a lot of psychological issues and become terrified of sexual attraction. It seems weird to thank the man who wrote Carrie for writing about normal women's sexuality, but I do. 

Anyway, I read the whole Flowers in the Attic series, but the book that really fucked with my head was her standalone book, My Sweet Audrina (link to best book review ever). If Flowers in the Attic makes Lolita look like the Waltons, than My Sweet Audrina makes Flowers in the Attic look like Little House on the Prairie. I think. I could be wrong. It's been like 30 years since I read this crap and there's no way I'm reading it again. 

In fact, I'd rather my kids didn't read it. Ever. It's not that I've suddenly become anti-trash; if they want to read Lace or some Jackie Collins in a few years (holy hell, it really is only a few years until Ironflower might want to start reading this crap!), that's fine. Though they have options like Hunger Games (or even Twilight) that I didn't have. But still, I'll just be happy that they're reading for fun. But V.C. Andrews' stuff is so filled with sexualized violence and twisted patriarchal views of 'love'.  My Sweet Audrina actually gave me nightmares. When discussing this on Twitter, one woman pointed out that the books may be a good outlet for a teenager going through similar things. 

But I feel like the message in Andrews' books is to put up with abuse for the sake of love and I don't think any teenagers need that message. No one needs that message. There are other books, better written books, that talk about incest  and sexual violence. 

I'm not saying we should ban V.C. Andrews' books or even that I'll forbid my kids from reading them. But I definitely don't think we should be recommending them. Also, oh my God, I had no idea exactly how many other series there were after the Flowers in the Attic ones. Yikes.