The best (most interesting) comments I've read about Twilight have come from teen readers (or adults relaying the unalloyed views of a teen reader in their household) because it's clear those readers have agency and are making adjustments in their own minds about what appeals to them about the books and how they can enjoy those things while being aware of the things that they find less appealing.

So - yeah, agreeing with you about agency.



And now I further reflect that politically and worldview-wise, my views are very very like those of my parents. And my husband's like his. We're all left wing, although I'm the most religiously-inclined person in either of our families, an inclination I have had since a very young age. So I still dunno.

I just last month had an exchange with a relative who described, with a proud smile, how her son (a senior in high school) had "his own" political views (I think she meant he was rather more conservative than either of this parents). And I was, like, "I dunno, my kids have the same political views I do; maybe I did something wrong?"