Hello all! First time writing, in the blog, though not the first time I’ve ever written/ranted/spoken about the various things I will talk about.
Apparently, people who don’t know me all that well are very shocked to discover exactly how much of a nerd I am, or, that I’m even a nerd at all. Yeah, I know, I don’t get it either, but, hey. People are silly sometimes. And I guess I just don’t seem that overtly nerdy?
Well, I decided to take some time every week, to share with you all some of my favorite nerdy things, and also the reasons why I like them. Yes, I’ll admit it. I, Angel in the Mirror, am a nerd. And I have been for several years now (I’ve lost track of how many exactly….but that’s hardly the issue here). So, think of this column as a type of share time…..of a sort. One nerd to another.
Okay, so, today’s confession. Or, share time, if you would. I have one word for you all. Vampires.
Now, before you jump down my throat and bombard me with questions like, “Well, there are so many different types of vampires, which ones are you talking about?” “What about True Blood?” “You’re NOT a Twilight fan are you???” (and then jump onto the requisite negative statements about Twilight) I ask you all to take a deep breath, and take a little bit of a step back and hear me out.
A bit of backstory for you all here. When I was a small child, I enjoyed reading those “Great Illustrated Classics” books. You know, the ones where they took classic books, like Treasure Island, Moby Dick, and Dracula, edited them a bit to be kid friendly, and threw in awesome pictures every 20 pages or so. (Do they still even do those anymore? If not…I feel kind of old. But, not the point.) Well, as I mentioned Dracula on that list, I bet it’s easy to see where my first exposure to Vampires was. Yup. I was probably around 7 or so when I read it, and I was very fascinated by the concept. As I grew older, I got more into various vampire-themed literature, tv shows, movies, universes, what have you. I got very into “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” during its last few seasons, and, thanks to my older brother, I now own most of the show on DVD. Well, the seasons that matter anyway.
Mostly, what I find interesting about vampires are the different interpretations various creators seem to take of the general lore, especially what features stay constant, and what features don’t. I will admit, I’m a little behind on my vampire lore (all the history of Transylvania and Vlad the Impaler and what have you), so forgive me if I don’t talk about that as much. In case you’re not sure about the various changes and differences across stories, that’s all right! Because I’m going to conveniently list and describe some of my favorite vampires in series’ and some of my least favorite.
Since I already mentioned it before, I’ll go ahead and talk about “Buffy” for a bit. It was an interesting series, with its good sides and downsides. General premise, for those who don’t know it. Buffy is the Vampire Slayer (go figure…). Basically, in every generation, there is a single female known as the Slayer. She has all kinds of super strength, and general awesomeness. She uses her slightly superhuman powers to kill vampires, demons, and other general forces of darkness that threaten to overwhelm humanity. Oh, and she’s usually a teenager. Sounds fun, right? Well, as the name would suggest, there are lots of vampires in this show. And, the vampires were certainly relatively standard. They are mobile during the day time, and can venture outside, as long as they remain covered by a thick coat, or a thick blanket or something. They don’t have reflections in mirrors. They drink blood, but for the most part they can eat and drink other foods. And, they die from a stake to the heart, or beheading, or direct exposure to sunlight. They’re also not very good friends with holy water and crosses. Not good friends at all. And, I think on a final note, you have to invite them into your house the first time, but, after invited, then can come in whenever. And they’re pretty strong, so, a simple lock wouldn’t do much to keep them out. There is a spell that can reverse the invitation though, in the event that you didn’t want them in your house anymore. So, all in all, like I said, pretty standard vampires. And Buffy’s a cult classic. It’s a good show for someone who doesn’t know a lot about vampires, but is interested in learning more. And, it’s mostly fun for the whole family….kind of.
Next series I want to talk about, is the True Blood universe, in the original books for now, (I will potentially have a later post comparing the books and the show. Possibly). This is series that I have gotten into in the past few years. The original books, known as the Southern Vampire Series, and True Blood (the TV show) both operate under the same premise: the Japanese invented some type of synthetic blood. Because of that, the vampires have “come out of the coffin” and revealed their existence to the rest of the world at large. They argued that because of the synthetic blood, branded as True Blood, they don’t need to drink human blood anymore, and are no longer a threat to humankind. In comes Sookie Stackhouse, the average waitress at a bar from Northern Louisiana, who just so happens to be a telepath. She meets Bill, a vampire, and is shocked (and quite happy) to discover she can’t read his mind. From meeting him, she moves on to dating him, and then suddenly finds herself completely immersed in vampire culture and society, mostly because all the vampire important people want to use her ability to read minds for some reason or other. There are also other supernatural creatures in this universe, and, she gets involved in their problems too. There are a couple of interesting differences between the mechanics of the vampires: for instance, they are incapable of moving out during the day, if fact they’re usually asleep, or, you know, dead, until the sunsets. Silver is also quite painful to them, though not necessarily fatal. And sadly, they can’t eat any of our food.
There are several things I like about this series. For one: the vampires are publicly acknowledged as vampires. Everyone knows vampires exist. It creates a very interesting dynamic between humans and the vampires, for several reasons. On the one side, there’s a more than slight allegory between vampires and homosexuals. Between the entire issue of vampires fighting for rights and acceptance in mainstream society, and the reaction several churches had to the vampires coming out (in the opening credits of the TV show there’s a church that has on its sign ‘God Hates Fangs.’), and, you know….the whole “coming out of the coffin” terminology…..yeah. Very clear allegory. There’s an antagonist church that creates all kinds of trouble for the vampires, they’re called the Fellowship of the Sun. They hate vampires and everything that vampires stand for. I won’t tell you more about them, because that risks spoilers.
Further reasons the dynamic between humans and vampires in interesting: the issue of feeding. Let’s be honest here…the vampires aren’t going to completely rely on bottled blood for all of their blood needs. Several of the vampires in the series comment on how part of the thrill is the act of drinking the blood from the victim. That being said, there are all kinds of laws in place to prevent vampires from preying on humans: any biting has to be consensual, behind closed doors, and the humans must be legal adults. In case it wasn’t obvious….vampirism, blood, and sex are very closely intertwined, and, sex between humans and vampires happens quite frequently. The desperate humans who seek it out are called ‘fangbangers,’ and the rest of modern society highly disapproves of the behavior.
Now, perhaps the most interesting thing about this series, to me at least, is the other dynamic of the relationship between humans and vampires. In this series, vampire blood has a very powerful effect on humans. When humans take vampire blood, it helps them heal any injuries they may have, gives them a bit more energy and strength, and also acts as an aphrodisiac of sorts, usually making them more attractive as well. Because of all this, vampire blood, in this universe, has suddenly become a very profitable, very expensive, and very illegal black market drug. The older the vampire, the more powerful the blood, but, sometimes people go crazy or die from the blood. Humans who capture vampires for their blood are known as ‘drainers’ and will usually get killed if they’re caught by vampires, or if they lose control of the vampire they’ve captured.
Most of what I like about this series is the interaction and the social side of it. The vampires themselves are also not particularly interesting, but the way they conduct themselves in society, and all of the drama, wheeling and dealings that go on are very fascinating. Plus, the idea of vampires having things to fear from humans is another concept that is well thought out and well established in this series. There are some inherent differences between the books and the show. The show is a bit more……..I guess insane would be a good word, than the books, but both are worth the time. However, if you don’t like books or shows (particularly shows, as it’s an HBO show) with copious amounts of sex in them (most of the books aren’t bad), you should probably avoid this.
Another series I’ve been watching recently is the UK series Being Human. The most noteworthy thing about the vampires in this series, at least to me, is the addiction like aspect of vampirism. The show clearly portrays drinking human blood similarly to being a drug addict. The main vampire of the series actually tries to help his fellow vampires, at one point, go ‘on the wagon’ (yes, they use that terminology), just as he has done. He even creates an AA type group for them.
So yes, there are lots of ways to do vampires, in various series. And to me, most of them have their merits. My biggest problem with Twilight vampires, since, you know, I kind of have to mention it, is the whole sparkling issue. The fact that they’re essentially made of diamonds, which is why they sparkle…..yeah….no….I’m not okay with this.
I leave you all with a final note. There are plenty of series out there that feature vampires in their universes, but the vampires are not *usually* the main focus of the plots. There are two that I will mention in particular, mainly because I will probably feature each of these series in a later post: The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher, and both series from Cassandra Clare: the Mortal Instruments and the Infernal Devices.
So, that’s one confession off my shoulders. I hope you all enjoyed it; I know I enjoyed writing it.
Angel out!
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