So i finally remembered to take the copy of entertainment magazine (yes, yes I know) with the best of vampires cover home and read a bit of it this morning. It's got short interviews with most of the authors who're writing vampire books these days including the big few who're now movies / tv / etc.
A while ago while we were watching true blood I'm pretty sure I blamed Anne Rice for the cute and cuddly vampires of today. Her answer to one of the questions:
What vampire cliche should be retired?
The vampire bullying helpless humans. It's always the same: The vampires gleefully descend on some bikers and smash them to pieces. I think a self-respecting immortal isn't going to bully humans endlessly.
I don't even think it's possibly to say that last sentence without sounding prissy, and I have to ask, "Why not?" Humans do it to other humans because it's fun. Immortality and being super strong isn't going to change that it's just going to widen the empathy gap between the vampire and his lunch. In the same way that most of us humans don't care how happy a life our cheeseburgers had your average vampire won't care how much pain his lunch dies in, if it's more fun to chase down all the better. This is the one thing I think twilight got right, the "vegitarian" vampire, most wouldn't be like that.
Then there's the other thing, a vampire attack is at it's most basic a story about a rape. There's the physical analogs of penetration and blood, a victim being overpowered and in some storytellers even the emotional violation and loss of will. It's a story about something dead inside that looks like a man that either flat out attacks you or lures you in and then attacks you and might leave you alive or dead, or in a state where your will is subverted to his. You're safer in daylight, and in houses as long as you don't invite him in.
There's a quote attributed to G. K. Chesterton, there's many different forms floating around out there but my favorite is this: "Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed."
More and more we don't tell them that the monsters can be killed, now we tell them that it's something cool they want to have sex with.
A while ago while we were watching true blood I'm pretty sure I blamed Anne Rice for the cute and cuddly vampires of today. Her answer to one of the questions:
What vampire cliche should be retired?
The vampire bullying helpless humans. It's always the same: The vampires gleefully descend on some bikers and smash them to pieces. I think a self-respecting immortal isn't going to bully humans endlessly.
I don't even think it's possibly to say that last sentence without sounding prissy, and I have to ask, "Why not?" Humans do it to other humans because it's fun. Immortality and being super strong isn't going to change that it's just going to widen the empathy gap between the vampire and his lunch. In the same way that most of us humans don't care how happy a life our cheeseburgers had your average vampire won't care how much pain his lunch dies in, if it's more fun to chase down all the better. This is the one thing I think twilight got right, the "vegitarian" vampire, most wouldn't be like that.
Then there's the other thing, a vampire attack is at it's most basic a story about a rape. There's the physical analogs of penetration and blood, a victim being overpowered and in some storytellers even the emotional violation and loss of will. It's a story about something dead inside that looks like a man that either flat out attacks you or lures you in and then attacks you and might leave you alive or dead, or in a state where your will is subverted to his. You're safer in daylight, and in houses as long as you don't invite him in.
There's a quote attributed to G. K. Chesterton, there's many different forms floating around out there but my favorite is this: "Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed."
More and more we don't tell them that the monsters can be killed, now we tell them that it's something cool they want to have sex with.
xylah:
hummmmmm i like your point of view! Nice Rouge!