The Culture: Vampires get a bad rep, but we’re still obsessed

There’s admittedly been some backlash against vampires since the onset of the Twilight phenomenon. But it’s unlikely they’re leaving the entertainment industry anytime soon.

Supernatural fiction involving vampires is all over the place. And while some may argue that other stories just piggyback off Twilight’s success, I think there’s a bit more to the issue than that.

In fact, we’ve been enthralled by the sexy undead for a long, long time. French poet Charles Baudelaire referenced vampires as early as the mid-nineteenth century. And Bram Stoker’s Dracula — perhaps the pinnacle of the genre — comes from the Victorian Era.

In the 20th century, the vampire in fiction became even more powerful. The soap opera Dark Shadows — which was recently made into a movie with Johnny Depp — features vampire Barnabus Collins. Then there’s Anne Rice’s epic Vampire Chronicles. These prompted the 1994 film, Interview with a Vampire, which starred Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise.

So clearly vampires are nothing new. But why do we like them so much?

Obviously, there’s the eternal youth thing. Also, vampires are cooler, scarier versions of regular people. They have limitless opportunities and no boundaries—they get to live above ordinary rules. Vampires could kill you, but (in love stories at least) they choose not to.

In addition, vampires are a very useful plot device — they up the tension in any love story. They are excellent “bad boys”; some lucky girl usually gets to help them overcome their evilness. Vampires are also good vehicles for symbolism, as they literally prey on other people.

Today, the public fascination with vampires has given us a variety of stories to choose from. If you ask me, these multifaceted monsters have never been treated better than in Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Having been introduced to the vampire genre by way of Twilight, I was reluctant to try out Buffy. To those who recommended it, I replied, “But she just kills the vampires, right?” This is true enough, except for the glorious exceptions of Angel and Spike. Finally, one Christmas break I gave the show a shot.

Now I can honestly say that it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen. At first I thought it was a little strange and overly self-conscious, but these qualities quickly become part of its charm. Buffy is great because it works on so many levels. It’s cleverly hilarious. It’s exciting. It’s a commentary on the demons of young adulthood. It’s tragically romantic. And its firm placement in the supernatural vampire realm is what allows it to really shine.

Buffy was the first action-packed show where I could actually get into the fight scenes. (I think it had something to do with a little blonde girl killing all the demons.) As Buffy says, “I am the thing that monsters have nightmares about,” and rightly so. She is the most aggressive, inspiring female character I’ve yet to see on TV.

After Buffy, Whedon gave us Angel. This spin-off follows Buffy’s vampire-with-a-soul ex-boyfriend as he heads out to exorcise LA. It’s not as good as its predecessor (few things are), but it’s still a worthwhile show. Angel is no Buffy, but he’s a vampire, so he’s compellingly dark and conflicted. Perhaps Angel lays the groundwork for the remorseful, self-hating vampire that has taken over the genre in more recent years.

Besides Whedon, other authors have managed to come up with some great series, most remarkably, Charlaine Harris. Her Sookie Stackhouse novels are among my favorite books. Harris takes the monsters out of their teenage wasteland and brings them into the “grown-up” world. Her stories are charming, funny and thrilling. They’re so good they’ve inspired HBO’s True Blood. This show — as a typical HBO program — is, of course, gory and graphically sexual. This not being so much my thing, I like the books a bit better. But True Blood is great too; if you watch it, expect wild twists and turns. It expands on the novels and then takes the characters in entirely new directions.

Now for the show that is presently occupying my brain’s obsessive section: The Vampire Diaries. Yes, I’ll admit that the title is horrible: it suggests immature pre-teen vampire angst. And if that’s what you’re into, you should try out the original books by L.J. Smith. But the current TV series is much better. It uses vampirism to discuss issues of empathy and self-control.

The show centers on a tense love-triangle between Elena and two undead brothers, Stefan and Damon. These vampires have very different methods of dealing with their condition. Stefan tries for martyrdom and complete self-denial (with the inevitable slip-ups). Damon has a more lax attitude, but he is able to avoid the pitfalls of destructive self-abandon. Now that Elena has become a vampire as well, she seems to be turning from staid Stefan to the more exciting Damon. It’s going to be an entertaining season.

Lastly, I have to say that I do like Twilight. I know it’s not cool, but it’s true. I agree that the whole franchise has been blown out of proportion. And the movies showcase some of the most awkward acting you could ever hope to see. But the core love story and the strange self-sacrificing psychology of the protagonist kept me entertained throughout my senior year of high school. And though I have yet to see the final film, I’m sure that when I get around to it, my expectations of pleasant mediocrity will be met.

Anyway, now that Twilight is over, people can stop complaining about how much they hate it, and I can go on un-self-consciously loving vampires.