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The evolution of vampires in pop culture
The evolution of vampires in pop culture
Discuss and analyze the vampire
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The genre of gothic text tends to emerge in times of great social stress or anxiety. For many years, authors have described vampires as wealthy, culturally sophisticated, aristocrats who live decadent lifestyles. Today however, average Americans are faced with hard economic times, and are struggling to provide basic necessities for their families. When watching the movie Twilight by Stephanie Meyers, several details in the story seems to enhance these harsh cultural anxieties of today’s social world, such as, the excessive lengths people will go to achieve financial stability, the lavish life style of the modern vampire, and how themes of the economic issues society is facing, impacts and stresses basic human instinct that society has an unlimited wants. For centuries, gothic authors depict the vampires as evil, repulsive, and socially secluded “creatures”, leaving the audience terrified by the gruesome details of the murdering and sucking the blood to kill the victims, in order for the vampire kind to survive. However, the modern vampire is drastically pulling away from that negative connotation, and becoming difficult to differentiate amongst the public. Since many Americans are struggling to make ends meet, they tend to seek out alternative methods of achieving money, such as donating blood for a payment. This not only helps struggling families in their time of need, but also helps people struggling with organ failure. This source of saving human blood is represented in Twilight, as the Cullen family of vampires, feed exclusively on animal blood in order to save human life. Though the gruesome murdering of the human victims from a vampire attack has been taken out of today’s stories, the general gloomy and eerie mystique of... ... middle of paper ... ...t the people today admire, such as material possessions. Since they already are living forever, the Cullen family dreams of a normal sense of life and having their own actual expiration date. This sends the message that even the undead, relate to the living, in the sense that people have unlimited wants. In summary, when watching the movie, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, many cultural anxieties are expressed, the main one being how society reacts to economic crisis. As illustrated above, fantasies of the unattainable frustrate people such as, not being able to provide common luxuries for individual family members, addressing the human desire for money, the excessive life style of vampires, and how the economy highlights and stresses the human instinct of unlimited wants. These pressures are felt not only with the living and the dead, but with the undead as well.
In the novel Dracula, Bram Stoker shows that society alienates people that are different. The character Count Dracula reveals society assumptions by representing the idea of alienation and considered as an outsider when society won’t accept him because of his behavior.
In Bram Stoker's Dracula, the most blatant and powerful symbol is blood. He takes the blood that means so much to the believers of this legend and has it represent more than even they could imagine. Blood is the main object associated with vampires and vampirism. From a mythical standpoint, it is the basis of life for the vampires as they feed off of the blood of young, vibrant souls. From a more scientific standpoint blood is what would drip out of the corpse's mouth when family members would dig up their dead kin to check for the dreaded disease. Stoker takes the significance of this symbol and puts his own unique twist to the meaning of blood. He combines the traditional folklore of vampirism and the immense sexual undertones of the Victorian era to create a simply horrific tale which completely confuses the emotions of his readers. Stoker knew bloods importance in vampire history and used the overwhelming symbolism to convey his own personal lust and sexual obsessions. The scenes where Lucy is receiving transfusions; first from Holmwood, then from Seward, and the unforgettable vampire baptism between Dracula and Mina all have these very erotic, sexual feelings associated with them. What makes these so powerful is the combination of violence and sex. As a reader, you know that what Dracula is doing are horrific and wrong, but because they are so sexually described and associated you think you should enjoy them, but you can't. This is the confusion which stoker implements into his readers minds, especially ones of the Victorian era. This is why stoker used blood as the most important symbol in the novel; to create an intense horror that was not just in the words of the book, but in the minds of the reader.
All vampires have the craving for the blood of humans. Without this blood they could not survive. In Dracula multiple vampires drank human blood, and one was even using children to quench her thirst. The new generation of vampire is given an alternate food source to control their inner hunger. Bill Compton and other vampires from the True Blood series have been provided with an organic substitute called Tru Blood. Other famous vamps have been known to use animal substitutes. The “vegetarian” vamps of the Twilight series and Angel from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series overcame their craving for human blood and drank from deer and rats.
In conclusion, vampires impact pop culture because they embody human life. Vampires in literature and film show that they compare to human life because over time they have developed. Vampires love and lust after what they want, they aren’t afraid of showing emotion. They aren’t afraid of showing a false image in order to get what they want. Although they were created to be this scary figure, they inspire a lot of things that the pop culture sees as a good and bad thing. Vampires are not always bad, even when people try to shoot them down and say that they are all bad and all the same. It brings us back to the idea of how many people they that not all humans have good or bad intentions. These mythological figures are used to reflect humans
How would a vampire be described in today’s society? The author Abraham “Bram” Stoker is the creator of the novel Dracula. Bram Stoker was born in Dublin 1847 and Bram Stoker was born with an unknown Malady which made him not walk until the age of eight years old. The treatment Bram Stoker received from doctors was leeches, the leeches treatment was supposed to cleanse his blood. Bram Stoker then received the “University Athlete” and earns a BA in mathematics. Bram Stoker was a very intelligent man and was very interested with vampires. At a young age, Bram Stoker took interest of vampires, since the treatment he received when Bram Stoker was a child. Bram Stoker saw the leeches as an example of a vampire and he
You’d have to be living under a rock not to have noticed the prevalence of vampires in today’s culture. One of the most popular television shows in recent years was “Buffy the Vampire Slayer;” Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles continue to be widely read; HBO is currently running a series about vampires called “True Blood;” Wesley Snipes starred in a trilogy of vampire films called Blade; and one of the most successful movies of late is “Twilight,” the story of teen mortals and teen vampires in love. How do we explain the seemingly endless fascination with the undead?
Iconic vampires in pop culture include Dracula, Angel, and Edward Cullen, but the lore can be traced back even further than the earliest thought of each of these icons. Doctor Guiley, a paranormal enthusiast, has researched countless tales of vampires, and has been able to divide her research into five different generalized areas. Doctor Murgatroyd, a professor of humanities at McMaster University, has studied references to vampires and other supernatural creatures throughout the literary history of our world. Doctor Jason Dittmer, a professor of Geology and Geography at Georgia Southern University, speculated on why Dracula was centered in Transylvania, and how it represented the mindset of the world at that point in time.
In response to a period full of rapid social changes and technological progress, apprehension about the future of English society arose. Oftentimes, such misgivings spilled into literature, posing the extreme cases of a particular concern, which is why vampirism is utilized as a vehicle to explore nineteenth century anxieties, before becoming quickly extinguish, in Bram Stoker’s 1987 Dracula and Le Fanu’s 1872 Carmilla. Both literary works feature a titular character who subconsciously embodies social angst. While Dracula follows a series of accounts concerning a proud, vampiric count and his attempt to subjugate mankind and Carmilla is presented as casebook entry in which a woman narrates her encounter with a predatory, yet affectionate vampire,
When the word vampire is said it evokes Hollywood images of handsome men and beautiful women, seductive creatures with fangs that lure in their prey with their hypnotic stare along with their good looks, wit and charm. Once the prey is seduced the vampire goes straight for the throat, biting down and draining their blood and ultimately their life. More recently the images may be of the sexy Vampire who is trying to pass as human in some high school setting that is amazingly fast, and strong, yet trying to be sensitive. Some sparkle in the sun and others must avoid it altogether, while still others wear some enchanted ring or jewelry in order to walk in sunlight. Oh yes, and let’s not forget their ability to go on living forever because one of the most incredible qualities is a vampire’s immortality, unless they have a wood or silver stake driven through their heart, or end up decapitated and burned, which would swiftly end there immortal rain. Whichever version of vampire you envision will depend on the most recent book, movie, or television series you are intrigued by. These images are the glorified Hollywood images that are spoon fed to us daily, but these are not the true definitions or characteristics of a real vampire. As much as most people believe that the image of the vampire was spawned from the story of Dracula written by Bram Stoker that is certainly not the case, the story of the vampire started thousands of years ago and span the globe, and continue to engross society today. Every culture has their own story and origination point and these stories have spawned a growing fascination with vampires. It is important to look back and see where it all began in order to uncover the truth of real vampires today.
Vampires have come out of the dark and into the Hollywood spotlight by dominating best-selling books, movies, and television shows. The media has transformed the vampire over the years from what they look like, their emotions, what kills them, and most importantly, what they eat. Originally, they were creatures who hunted only at night because the sunlight would burn them so they could quench their thirst from human blood. The tables are slowly turning on the original vampire and changing it into a Hollywood heartthrob.
The Twilight series is a bestselling series written by Stephanie Meyer that has captivated millions of teenage girls. Twilight diverges from the vampire lore quite a bit and contains very little information about any other supernatural beings. Most vampire stories stress that vampires are night dwellers; that they cannot remain “alive” when the sun rises. Nevertheless, Twilight ignores that known ...
Contrastingly, Laurell Hamilton’s novella, Guilty Pleasures, varies in the sense that it tells the story of Jean-Claude, a vampire, who although physically is a vampire, decides to mentally be what fits in the circle of society. Jean-Claude, although a vampire, believes he can be “cured” if he continues to a...
Vampires and vampire legend play significant roles in the cultures of many areas around the world. These blood-sucking beings are most common in the cultures of Eastern Europe, although similar manifestations are reported in some Asian cultures as well as some ancient cultures. Vampire legends have a distinct background bridging several cultures and eras, making them some of the most compelling stories ever told.
The author’s op-ed piece was published in 2009, the very peak of the vampire contagion, where one could find these creatures wherever they looked. This pandemonium that arose from vampires is what drove del Toro and Hogan to pen “Why Vampires Never Die.” Furthermore, the purpose behind this essay is to give an abridged description of the past of vampires for the people who had become fanatics of the creatures. Also, this essay showed how vampires have persisted in pop culture. They suggest that vampires have been remade by diverse cultures at different times, and this change echoes that society's angst and concerns. The novelist’s imply that Stroker’s Dracula may mirror an exaggerated human on a prim...
The initial surge of Vampire-like folklore has existed for thousands of years, with various cultures around the early word creating mythological creatures that drain your life essence, while simultaneously explaining the effects of entropy on the body, as well as missing children, sudden bouts of illness or death. The Mesopotamians, Ancient Greeks and Herbrew cultures all had references of such creatures, such as the Greek myth of a Vrykolakas, the Mesopotamian Lilitu, or the Herbrew Lillith. In this section I shall briefly explore various interpretations of the vampire before honing in on the more recognizable European variation, focusing on its traditions, superstitions and powers.