You've probably heard about the widely popular teenage vampire series called Twilight. The books have been flying off the shelves and fans are anxiously awaiting the second film to open next month. But what is the Twilight series really about, anyway, besides unconsummated desire between two abstinent teenagers? What is the appeal of the vampire who would rather kiss you than kill you and why are we seeing a trend of chivalrous, animal-bloodsuckers who want to kiss and cuddle instead of suck every last ounce of blood out of your body?
The earliest legends of vampires depicted them as disgusting abominations of human flesh. They were believed to be malevolent spirits who possessed corpses and tried to infect those around them. The fear of vampires created such mass hysteria that public executions were held for people believed to be vampires.
In the nineteenth century; however, vampires were reborn in fiction as charismatic and sophisticated man-beasts. Stories such as The Vampyre by John Polidori, and Bram Stoker's Dracula provided the basis for the modern vampire legend. They were less beastly and more refined, but just as menacing to the living, especially young women.
In modern fiction, films, and television, vampires tend to be suave, magnetic, and seductive anti-heros (see HBO's True Blood). They repress their animalistic desire to feed on humans and look for human mates. With this important evolution in the vampire genre, the question of why we turned vampires into somewhat restrained beasts remains.
The vampire and human make-out scene in the recent vampire movies, books, and television tend to go something like this: He caresses her neck with his lips, rubbing his fangs lightly along her skin. She closes her eyes in ecstasy and pulls his face to hers. Their lips meet, sending her body into a series of uncontrollable quivers. He restrains the urge to throw her head back and rip deep into her flesh. The urges grow stronger and he breathes harder and faster, but he stops himself from biting her flesh.
The power and sexuality of the vampire is intoxicating, but this is a very different beast from the unrestrained vampires of the past. Nosferatu would eat women without remorse. He'd fling aside his victims as if they were meaningless food, merely objects for him to consume. The modern vampire, it seems, has been influenced by feminist ideals. His women are not disposable, but rather, they are the key to what remains of his humanity. Even his love interests and potential victims have changed. No longer are they portrayed as terrified, weak little twits who barely put up a fight. Now they are strong, capable and insightful women who can throw a mean upper cut if provoked.
A friend pointed out to me the other day that vampires are really only appealing to heterosexual women. He claimed that when it comes to wooing women, men are disadvantaged because they lack both the beastly masculinity of their vampire competitors, and the stylized, inflated gender role needed to attract the jilted lady vamps "unless they seek puny human males out of pity." If that's the case, perhaps vampire hunters are born of emotional emasculation. When you think about it, vampires are like rock stars with god-like powers. That's some tough competition. One can't help but feel sorry for poor emasculated Van Helsing.
Female Vampires are at a disadvantage as well. They are easily stereotyped as either weaker versions of their male counterparts ("The Lost Boys") or femme fatales ("From Dusk Till Dawn"). They tend to serve as sexy one-dimensional characters whose only purpose is to lend validity to the main male vampire. There are obvious exceptions, such as Kate Beckensale in "Underworld" for example, but those characters are few and far between.
And yet, there is a Swedish film called "Let the Right One In," about a vampire girl who falls for a puny, bullied little boy and protects him from harm. Perhaps with movies like this, the vampire genre will become more inclusive to female empowerment.
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I disagree that the modern vampire is less sexist than the traditional ones. Nosferatu was a monster; he simply killed for blood lust. His victims were both male and female (remember?). He didn't care. A true vampire.
Modern vampires tend to be sauve, handsome young men (stereotyping what women desire), and they feed upon weak and helpless women.
Compare the vampires of Twilight to Nosferatu. Half of the freakin' book, I mean series, I mean 99%, was comprimised of the female character rambling on about her love for him. Stereotyped much?
I kind of like True Blood as a feminist series. The main female character is awesome- very headstrong and not weak at all. The other main female character (Tara) is also awesome in the same way, except she does have killer delts. The other main female character (Miriam) is stronger than all the vampires. Well, I haven't watched it in a while anyways. /ramble
Great point. I should have mentioned that Nosferatu's victims were both men and women.
I agree that modern male vampires tend to be stereotypes of heterosexual female desire, but I don't see that as such a terrible thing. The vampire genre certainly has tapped into something that many young girls and women desire, even if it’s a flawed representation as a whole.
The modern heroines in the vampire genre have also evolved into more powerful characters. Look at “Buffy The Vampire Slayer.” Buffy's not an all-powerful vampire, she's the hunter and she’s pretty bad ass. As you already mentioned, the same goes for some of the “True Blood” female characters. Strong female characters seem to keep sprouting up in the vampire genre, and they are a far cry from “weak and helpless women.”
Does the modern vampire genre still contain sexism? Yes, but I believe it’s slightly shifting towards a more feminist approach.
Lestat is pretty gay.
What I think is so fascinating about vampires today is that their power is supposed to be a replacement for their sexuality---but slowly they're getting all their mojo back.
They can have sex---heck, Edward can have kids! (The vampires in Buffy couldn't have kids)
Vampires were originally created through the fear of foreigners (and probably more aptly, foreign men).
Vampires aren't so foriegn anymore.....they're much more literal now, but still highlight the perceived danger of male sexuality.
Here's a brief on female vampires:
http://www.answers.com/topic/women-as-vampires
I completely disagree that vampires only appeal to heterosexual women. There are lesbian vampire stories (see the anthology "Daughters of Darkness") and gay vampire stories (see "Blood Lust") and they sell.
I apologize for the confusion. "A friend pointed out to me the other day that vampires are really only appealing to heterosexual women." The comment my friend made was aimed at male Hollywoodized vampires (such as Dracula, Edward Cullen, etc) who generally only mate with women. I should have specified that and I should have taken into account gay vampire stories as well.
My friend said all the Twilightesque vampire-dream-boyfriend stuff was a rape fantasy. I was too uncomfortable to ask her to elaborate.