The television show, The Vampire Diaries, first aired in February of 2010 based on the book series by L.J. Smith. The show stars Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder as the three main characters Elena Gilbert, Stefan Salvatore, and Damon Salvatore, respectively. The summer after the death of her parents, Elena tries to fall back into teenage life of school, dating, friends, and social events only to discover that she is no longer the same person. After meeting Stefan, a new student, and eventually his older brother Damon (who are both vampires from 1864), Elena soon learns that her small town of Mystic Falls hold dark, mysterious, and supernatural secrets from the past that involve vampires, witches, and werewolves. Throughout the series humanity and free will play a major role, illustrated through the two vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon. Two episodes that are prominent in showcasing these themes are "Blood Brothers" in season one, episode twenty, written by Liz Friedlander aired on April 29th 2010 and "The Descent" in season two, episode twelve, written by Marcos Siega. These two episodes illustrate specific key existential themes such as Sartre's Bad Faith, existence precedes essence, "en causa sui", and Nietzsche's Ubermensch.
The episode "Blood Brothers" raises the question “does one’s past define who they are?” As illustrated in Sartre’s No Exit it is made very clear by Inez that “you are—you're life and nothing else” (Sartre, 43).Through the character of Stefan free will and humanity is exercised proving that life is what an individual makes of it. After going on a (blood) drinking binge, Stefan is locked up in his own cellar by his girlfriend Elena and his brother Damon, until he has gained control over himself....
... middle of paper ...
...d going against their predetermined fate prominently showcases the main idea of existentialism, which is "existence precedes essence". There is no question with regards to what the vampires "essence" might be and there is an obvious struggle between humanity and vampirism, their existence verses their predetermined essence. The two brothers both alike and different are walking examples of existential themes. They both question their existence and struggle to overcome physical limitations, yet take very different approaches. One brother is fighting for humanity whiles the other fighting to deny his. The Vampire Diaries existential storyline goes unnoticed and unappreciated due to the prominent love triangle between the three protagonists and its fantastical genre, but stripped away to the bones, this television show is truly about free will, humanity and existence.
Meat head, dumb jock. These are just two of the many derogatory labels given to football players. Is it possible for me, a meat head, to hear the criticisms dealt to the sport of football? Is it possible for me, a dumb football jock, to understand and be objective about the issues raised in the book, Friday Night Lights? Yes, because I'm not the stereotypical football player like those described of Odessa, Texas.
Vampires have been viewed with fear and fascination for centuries. Of all the vampires in literature, Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula is probably the most prominent vampire. Recently, there has been an upsurge of public interest in socially acceptable vampires, like the Cullens in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. This essay will contrast Stoker’s Dracula with Carlisle Cullen, one of the newer vampires from the Twilight series. They will be examined in terms of their origins and how they dealt with immortality.
Similar characteristics of vampires are evident in The Vampire Diaries, The Twilight Saga, and Stoker’s Dracula. Vampires in The Vampire Diaries become immortal, live, and die in similar ways to Stoker’s Dracula. In The Vampire Diaries, to become a vampire, a human has to die with vampire blood in their system. In the first episode, “The Return,” of season two. Caroline Forbes is in critical condition with her health and her friends, some of which are vampires, decide that to restore her health, she needs to ingest Damon, a vampire’s, blood. Katherine Pierce, the evil doppelganger of Elena, then murders Caroline to make her presence in the town known to the Salvatore Brothers. This ultimately makes Caroline a vampire. Life as an immortal being in The Vampire Diaries allows vampires to compel human minds, manipulating them. Katherine Pierce often used this technique to get what she wanted. Despite the longevity of life that has power perks, to kill the vampires, a wooden stake driven through the heart will suffice. These characteristics are apparent in Bram Stoker’s Dracula as well. Dracula compels Lucy to sleepwalk and come to him while unconscious during the night. He obtains the ability to compel or
Beresford, Matthew. From Demons to Dracula: the Creation of the Modern Vampire Myth. London: Reaktion, 2008. Print.
However, the vampire Irina misidentifies Renesmee as an "immortal child", a child who has been turned into a vampire. Because "immortal children" are uncontrollable, creating them has been outlawed by the Volturi. After Irina presents her allegations to the Volturi, they plan to destroy Renesmee and the Cullens. In an attempt to survive, the Cullens gather other vampire clans from around the world to stand as witnesses and prove to the Volturi that Renesmee is not an immortal child. Edward telepathically connects with Jacob and his Quileute pack, with the full realization of Jacob's imprint with Renesmee forging a new family connection of an unbreakable bond and mutual pact of protection between the Cullens and the Quileute, ending hatred between the races. As local and foreign vampires arrive, the Cullen house becomes the headquarters and training ground for the assorted vampires and the Quileute wolf packs. Information pieced together from the many visitors reveals the Volturi's ulterior motives for power through the acquisition of vampires with special abilities, turning the gathered vampire witnesses into self-aware rebels intent on defending their freedoms. Faced with the Volturi's ruthless killing of numerous vampires, many of the guest vampires reveal secret talents, which they know the
In Twilight, Edward Cullen presents the question; “ But what if I’m not the hero? What if I’m the bad guy?” The role of vampires is very controversial. Back in the day they were evil, soulless monsters and people genuinely feared them. However, in the present day it seems that we have grown to love them and even hope to one day be them. There are a plethora of vampire stories and many of them have become immense hits. With so many vampire stories, it is not uncommon that readers are able to identify a vast amount of similarities. Although similar in aspects, there are still many differences between the classic and modern day vampires. Two highly popular stories, in which we can easily identify similarities and differences, are Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.
High school athletics leave a major impact on everybody that is involved with them. It also can even leave a mark on people who aren’t associated with them. There are many conflicting opinions on whether high school sports are a positive or negative influence on a student’s life. Athletics in high school can have an effect on the community as a whole. In H.G. Bisssinger’s highly regarded Friday Night Lights, high school football is accurately portrayed as the most important thing in Texas; it receives much more attention than academics. Football players are often treated like celebrities; yielding confidence, and at the same time creating pressure.
We've come to a point where television has become so loaded with “vampire-this” and “werewolf-that,” that each show has begun to look like the reruns of another. Luckily, this definitely isn't the case for creator Vince Gilligan's, Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad follows the life of Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston), an ordinary high school chemistry teacher. With a loving wife and teenage son at home, over time, Walter has formed an exceedingly mundane routine for his life. After soon discovering that he had been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, Walter decided to take extreme measures in order to secure his family financially. Eventually, he would descend into a world so dark and utterly twisted, that it would eventually consume him. Walter White became Heisenberg; the greatest drug lord the streets had ever seen. As he ascended in status within the drug cartel, the love and trust he had from his family and friends quickly descended. There are thousands of reasons that explain why millions of people tune into Breaking Bad. This series offers a much needed relief from the Dracula descendents, which frankly, are slowly diminishing any scope of variety existing on television. Because of the outstanding acting, seemingly distorted reality, and uniquely relatable storyline and characters, this hit show tops the charts as the best modern-day television series that cable has to offer.
The influence of the media on women is not unknown, but it was especially prevalent in the 1960s. According to David Croteau and William Hoynes, both professors of sociology, “Media images of women and men reflect and reproduce a whole set of stereotypical but changing gender roles” (quoted in Mahrdt 1) and, as society changes and opinions are altered, television shows adapt. However, the television show Mad Men is unique because it does not show life today, but the life of the 1960s. It shows what life was like for the women who lived during a time when the “feminine mystique” controlled society.
One Tree Hill is an American series that started back in 2003. It is set in a fictional town Tree Hill in North Carolina. One Tree Hill is a nine season story that starts off junior year in high school. Each episode focuses on relationships with friends, partners and parents. This is a hit TV drama, what makes it great is the message behind each plot, relatability, interesting actors, unique soundtrack, and good use of camera angles.
In the book Dracula the vampires would be killed by a stake to the heart, and then the removal of the head (411-12). In The Vampire Diaries however there was many ways to kill them. For example you could use a stake to kill them, but it would have to be a White Oak ash dagger or stake. Also instead of the decapitation you could also burn then to ash. However the easiest thing for the vampires to die from was a werewolf bite. To the vampires the werewolf bite was like a poison to them. Next in The Vampire Diaries they had some vampires called the originals. These vampires are the oldest, and they were the first to ever walk the earth. So if one of the originals were killed then everyone that they turned would also die along with them. This is because there blood has the DNA of the original. Finally we do not truly know how Dracula was created he was the very first vampire. Then over the many years he was alive he made new vampires by feeding off people. In The Vampire Diaries however we do know how they were created. A witch created the vampires in The Vampire Diaries. She later regretted the creation she made, and wanted to undo what she had already
What lies in the world of politics is a world of fear. Or so for the ones who cross Francis Underwood, the main character in the Netflix original series, House of Cards. As season one starts off, Francis Underwood captures the true essence of what the entire show is about, “There are two kinds of pain. The sort of pain that makes you strong, or useless pain. The sort of pain that's only suffering. I have no patience for useless things”(Script: reddit.com). As he finishes this line he brutally kills a dog lying on the street, who had just been injured after being hit by a car. He continues on, “Moments like this require someone like me. Someone who will act. Who will do what no one else has the courage to do. The unpleasant thing. The necessary thing” (Script: reddit.com). Through persuasion, manipulation and down right corrupt politics, House of Cards displays a unique spin on the world in Washington, one that some may believe not to be far from the truth.
... are thought to be demons by the people who catch glimpses of them. It takes place over a two hundred year span showing how a vampire remains hidden. It displays how humans are viewed from a vampire’s eyes and how vampires view each other. This series was such a phenomenon because it is from the vampire’s point of view and shows all of the good and bad things about being a vampire. It also exhibits how a vampire feels about living for eternity.
Both del Toro and Hogan affirm that beings such as vampires will never die, but not because of their immortality, but how they illustrate one’s desires. The authors of “Why Vampires Never Die” exploit numerous rhetorical components to convey this notion to the reader. So do vampires flare and then fade forever? No they do not. For as their impurity grants its nightly endowment, vampires alter humanities abominable finite identities and bind it to the treasure of infinity, and therefore impart within people their inner desire. As long as they express societies lust, they will forever be immortal.
“Year after year, twenty-something women come to New York City in search of the two L's: labels and love” is the very catchy line that opens the film with Fergie’s ‘Labels or Love’ as the soundtrack and The Big Apple as its introductory shot. The scaling deduced from the bird’s eye-view-point of New York City, showing its Metropolitan atmosphere with skyscrapers and the famous Brooklyn Bridge; to the urbanites of the City; then to the lead actors of the film. A fifteen year-old girl watches the film, mesmerizing the ecstatic city while admiring the skinny white bodies of the ladies. And last but never forgotten, she gets carried away with the funky upbeat rhythm of the song emphasizing “Gucci, Fendi, [and] Prada . . .” That is the introduction of Sex and the City and the focus of its cinematography. With its elements, the movie can honestly influence teenage girls. Yet as much as critics such as Maya Gordon of Psychology of Women Quarterly say how media contributes to the sexual objectification and values women “based on their appearance,” this film should be an exemption.