Apologies in advance for the following culture-babble (and in case I've posted something along these lines before... this is a topic that I keep coming back to in my own head
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I was at one time sort of fascinated by the whole vampire thing - not because "OMG vampires are like so totally an extension of my deep inner soul and stuff" but because I saw a lot of potential for really amazing story telling. Which is odd because the thing about vampires I think is cool is the perspective of eternity not the hole blood-sucking thing. Maybe it is just the history/anthropology geek in me that likes watching how cultures/societies evolve but I think it would be awesome to watch the world change without the baggage that mortality brings.
The problem is no one ever seemed to realize this. Most of the fiction/movies/etc I have seen regarding vampires turns them into the popular/powerful kids in school who feast on those of who are lesser. For some reason this behavior is forgivable if the feasting is real rather than metaphorical. And many sci-fi/fandom groups do the same thing to other immortal creatures such as elves. For some reason a person can be revered for there pretentiousness if they are immortal.
I actually thought that the show Moonlight came the closest to what I think good vampire fiction could be - sadly it stagnated in bad writing that jumped the shark before it even entered the tank. It had potential though. I have stopped my quest for good vampire fiction while the Twilight series runs rampant because it glorifies the victimization.
You raise an interesting point though - why do we as a culture idolize something that prays upon us? Firefly barely made a full season and that was a sci-fi show where the little guy got to be the big damn hero. *huh*
Twilight series runs rampant because it glorifies the victimization
But the vampires glitter!! THEY GLITTER!!!
why do we as a culture idolize something that prays upon us?
It is interesting, but does certainly seem to parallel our economic culture of stomping till you are king of the hill. If you are not back stabbing someone to get ahead, you are not a valued member of society. So does it reflect our nature, or does our nature reflect our culture?
I always liked Forever Knight... but I can't imagine going back and watching it again... oi, the 80s...
I agree that the idea of a character out-of-time offers great potential (one of my very favorite vampire-ish books is an odd novel by C.S. Friedman called 'The Madness Season' - well worth a read, if you don't mind a little scifi on the plate with your bloodsucking.)
The problem is no one ever seemed to realize this. Most of the fiction/movies/etc I have seen regarding vampires turns them into the popular/powerful kids in school who feast on those of who are lesser. For some reason this behavior is forgivable if the feasting is real rather than metaphorical. And many sci-fi/fandom groups do the same thing to other immortal creatures such as elves. For some reason a person can be revered for there pretentiousness if they are immortal.
I actually thought that the show Moonlight came the closest to what I think good vampire fiction could be - sadly it stagnated in bad writing that jumped the shark before it even entered the tank. It had potential though. I have stopped my quest for good vampire fiction while the Twilight series runs rampant because it glorifies the victimization.
You raise an interesting point though - why do we as a culture idolize something that prays upon us? Firefly barely made a full season and that was a sci-fi show where the little guy got to be the big damn hero. *huh*
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But the vampires glitter!! THEY GLITTER!!!
why do we as a culture idolize something that prays upon us?
It is interesting, but does certainly seem to parallel our economic culture of stomping till you are king of the hill. If you are not back stabbing someone to get ahead, you are not a valued member of society. So does it reflect our nature, or does our nature reflect our culture?
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I agree that the idea of a character out-of-time offers great potential (one of my very favorite vampire-ish books is an odd novel by C.S. Friedman called 'The Madness Season' - well worth a read, if you don't mind a little scifi on the plate with your bloodsucking.)
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In other 80's nostalgia though, Lost Boys is still awesome, and hilarious to revisit the 80's fashions that seemed like a good idea at the time...
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