Sink Your Teeth Into This
The Vampire Renaissance
-Seven-
Gone are the garlic-intolerant, daylight-
evading vampires of yesteryear;
twenty-first century vampires have
sunk their teeth into pop culture with
a vengeance. The resurrection of the
vampire in today's books, movies, and
T.V. can be construed as nothing less
than a cultural phenomenon. But
what precisely has summoned Dracula
from his coffin and what about the
vampire legend so resonates with the
general public?
If today's blood-suckers look slightly
more humanized than the vampires
of Balkan folklore, don't rinse off
your glasses just yet. Vampires have
undergone an extreme makeover
of sorts, primarily to become more
commercialized and teen-friendly. The
fangs and slicked back hair have been
swapped for a more traditional teenage
look. In fact, the vampires of the wildly
successful Twilight series are endowed
with "devastatingly, inhumanly
beautiful" features; "they were faces
you never expected to see except
perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a
fashion magazine." As the New York
Times conveyed in their "From Flu to
Fashion; A Trend with Teeth," "rarely
have monsters looked so camera-
ready."
Aesthetics aside, perhaps the re-
emergence of the vampire points to
current psychological and cultural
trends. Assistant professor in the
department of folklore at Indiana
University, Michael Dylan Foster,
suggests that vampires "personify
real-world anxieties." Particularly
"during these post-9/11 times of
increased vigilance, representations
like the `Twilight' series reflect a kind
of conspiracy-theory mentality, a
fear that there is something secret
and dangerous going on in our own
community, right under our noses." On
the other hand, as Mrs. Emily Rose, a
performance poet in Chicago observed,
"There are monsters so much bigger
and more realistic in our day-to-day
lives. Having somebody clamp onto
your neck and drain you -- that doesn't
seem so scary anymore."
Though it is a confession we
make rather begrudgingly, we humans
have quite a lot to learn from these
immortal demons. Edward of the
Twilight Saga vacillates between loving
Bella and wanting to "drain" her of
her blood which serves as the driving
force behind the novel and also lends
to the characterizations of vampires as
"models of self restraint" (New York
Times). "I don't want to be a monster,"
Edward declares. Indeed, Edward
would deem a dinner date with his
girlfriend Bella a success- provided he
doesn't eat her for dinner. Perhaps
then the prevalence of the vampire
stems from our own familiarity with
the struggle between the right choice
and the easy choice, the perpetual
battle between our lower, baser
instincts and our elevated,
higher selves. On a more global
level, vampire specialist Thomas
Garza notes that "periods of
war, economic downturns and
cultural turmoil all give rise to the
production of vampire and fantasy
fiction, because the conflict has
indeed seemed to turn inward,
as we question our fiscal, political
and moral status. `Have we been
too excessive? Do we need to be
more restrained?' We seem once
again to be questioning these
very fundamental values."
Whatever the etiology
for "vampire fever" may be, the
vampire legend has captured
the heart, soul, and blood
stream of Americans, especially
those amongst the teenage
demographic. No longer a victim
to dawn's rays or clunky "I-vant-
to-suck-your-blood" movie lines,
today's vampire resembles the
average fifteen year old and
reflects current psychological
trends as well. So cast your
reservations and prejudices aside;
no mass of garlic cloves will banish
these monsters into the obscurity
of night.
Primary Source: New York
Times; "From Flu to Fashion; A
Trend with Teeth."
"we humans have
quite a lot to learn
from these immortal
demons"
SHALVA GINSPARG (`11)
CULTURE