Vampires - How Hollywood transformed Literature's most repellent Monsters into most Seductive of Corpses
And an analysis of them over-all
Hollywood is like all other film-producers by now has been well-recognized as a place where American propaganda is produced. In the 1930s many movies were made that lacked any real propaganda, while those in the 40s were anti-Nazi as America after all had a war to fight. The 50s was an odd era, a transitory one, with the 60s and 70s being an age of adaptation and a fascinating era in film-making history. Cinema underwent a massive PR era shift in the 80s when films became bigger and ‘badder’ so to speak than before, with the 90s simply the 80s on steroids. Just as the early 00s was the 90s on steroids, and the 2010s a disgraceful era.
We all know that film is a beloved tool by propagandist, we don’t need Lenin’s quote about how they can be used to mould people’s perception of reality to inform us of this fact. We need only observe the last few years of Disney, or of any other studio and how insane they’ve gotten, with shoving forward strange messages and ideas.
And yet the truth is this has its roots in an earlier era. Certainly to-day’s American cinema is really peculiar and has been abused to push forward more propaganda than ever before, but what if I was to tell you this has its roots in the seemingly innocuous 1930s? Strange? Maybe.
I’m of course referring to the first Dracula movie. In it, Bela Lugosi played the titular character to perfection, there’s no denying it. The trouble is that this more romantic imagery of what is supposed to be a force of evil, one with the name of ‘Son of the Devil’ as a moniker.
The trouble is that this spin on Dracula, stayed and was later to be adopted in the 50s by Hammer where the implication that Dracula could better please Mina than Arthur could (they wife-swapped Mina & Lucy for Jonathan and Arthur, and had Jonathan killed off for some reason). This is shown in a scene when she wakes up one morning and smiles happily after spending a night with Dracula, and was noteworthy for betraying the heroes by hiding Dracula from them.
The implication being that women should get with and hide Dracula, and that in some strange way there is nothing strange about this.
Later film history and cinema was to show-case, more of this sort of thing. The later Hammer movies continued this trend, and with tv shows like Buffy where the lead prefers corpses to living men, the message was clear that; dead guys be better than living ones. Bad boys over good men.
Each monster represents a different sin. Certainly, some such as a Homunculus is in some way representative of pride (the Monster of Frankenstein is born from Pride as an example), a Werewolf gluttony. So what does a Vampire represent? Well it is representative of Lust one could argue.
This is obvious to you the Reader I’m sure, however what is so funny is that originally it was not treated in any way as being appealing. In Nosferatu, the Count of that particular movie is presented as repulsive looking, and as a leering, disgusting individual.
Something that is to an extent consistent with the novel written by Bram Stoker. It is Stoker who in his Dracula novel presents the titular character in a pretty unlikeable manner. Sure he’s charming initially, which is fitting as he’s something of an abusive boyfriend who seeks to seduce and lure to his side Jonathan Harker, only to turn about and begin torturing the man.
Dracula climbs walls, he looks old and decrepit initially with blazing eyes, and ultimately revels in the torture of others.
The lust he has is more than just for pretty young maidens, but also for the blood of others and for the suffering of others. The nature of Lust can be more than just for the young flesh of a pretty maiden, but also for blood as stated and for the pain of others.
Lust has fathomless depths and perversions to which the most monstrous of men can turn to, this is exemplified by figures such as Caligula of the Ancient Roman Empire, or of the likes of Dong Zhuo from Chinese History. These two had orgies and ruled over courts that were the most debauched in ancient memory, with few royal courts or imperial ones ever coming close to the wickedness of these two individuals.
There have been those such as Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra from before them, or those such as some of the less able Ottoman Sultans, or the later Bourbon Kings such as Louis XIV and XV who have neared their level of lustfulness. Just as there have been the likes of Genghis Khan who could be no less debauched, and yet even more cruel. Hungering for the blood of his enemies, he was to leave a mountain of corpses all across Asia and the Mid-East, so that what was left was an Empire of Blood.
Then there are those such as Custer who lusted after glory. Hungering for glory could fall under the sins of Gluttony, Pride and Envy certainly, but it can also be argued to fall under Lust. This is because the individual wishes to prove themselves and often feels overshadowed by another sexually or otherwise, and so longs to prove themselves greater and larger (in every way) than other men or women.
The hunger for glory is one that many men suffer from, it cannot be denied. When humble as Prior Philip is in Pillars of the Earth, or as in the case of Goku from Dragonball, or in the case of Balian from Kingdom of Heaven, it is the glory of others that they seek. This preference to give another glory, is one that is a mystery to some, and yet it only adds to theirs though they would prefer to demure from it.
Humility is thus an enemy of Lust in a way, just as it is that of Pride. Because the meek accept their limits and accept what they have without hungering for more. The lustful want always what is in the next basket so to speak, longing always for more without ever being satisfied.
And so this is the case for Lust, which is a base desire when it consumes an individual as it does the Vampires. Dracula had three brides, and yet he longed for more brides, hence his seduction and corruption of Lucy.
Arguably Lucy suffered from it also, in that she longs for three men, 4 if you count the Count. But the thing is that where her Lusts consume her and drive her to hunt for children, Dracula hunts still for young nubile maidens. And this is precisely the problem with Vampires.
He has super-strength so to speak, has knowledge no other man has and can endure and live longer than any other man and yet what does he aim for? His ambition is concerned solely with ‘catching ‘em all’, rather than achieving what another man might imagine pursuing.
When one looks at Akivasha from Hour of the Dragon, she lives as a kind of ‘prisoner’ within the pyramid of Set, hungering for a husband to come ravish her, and join her in the shadows.
What is so pathetic about this is that the Vampire usually has power unending, strength unending and abilities that could almost match those of a Mummy/Lich, or Homunculus and yet all they aim to do is to satisfy their pitiful sexual desires. When they do think of glory, and lust for it, it is achieved not by virtue of brains and by cooperating with others, to glorify the nation or kingdom to which they belong to, but rather to satisfy their own need for greatness.
It is about the self, rather than others. This is why the Vampire is ultimately never to share wealth and glory with others. It is about them, and not others. In this way they are still keeping all the glory for themselves.
Fidelity is anathema to Vampires, as they could never be satisfied with just one person or one victory. Dracula could not be satisfied for example, with his victory over Harker at the start of the novel, and was to keep kicking him while he was down. Part of his initial intent with moving into England, was supposed to be about conquering the modern world, and dominating it. Yet what happened is that the moment a maiden caught his eye, he forgot about it and came to be obsessed with her.
Short-sighted by nature, Vampires might come up with a grand plan, but they can’t keep to it, and are easily distracted.
This can be observed in the story of Van Helsing from 2004, where Dracula in that movie is trying to break the town next door to his castle. However, he is soon distracted by the beauteous female lead (played by Kate Beckinsale) and by his former rival Gabriel Van Helsing. While he does unleash his children upon the world, he focuses too much on the two of them, and briefly forgets everything else, as he goes after short-term glory only to be undone by Helsing and his friends. So focused is he on the individual Werewolf that he forgets about the others that are running around his castle.
Then there’s the miniseries movie House of Frankenstein from 1997, in there the Vampire is a rich CEO, he has some pretty good plans to dominate the LA scene both in terms of the Criminal World and the Political World, but he screws up. The moment he sees the female lead, he forgets all reason and though she doesn’t want him, he persists.
The thing is that a Vampire is not a natural occurrence, it is in effect like all Undead the most corrupted form of a human being. The idea being that every kind of Undead is a different sin overtaking the original person, who without their soul to combat it, leave a body that is a vehicle of that one Sin in particular.
Death Knights = Wrath
Liches = Pride
Zombies = Gluttony
Vampires = Lust
It is that simple and doubtlessly there are other kinds of Undead in Fiction, and it is also because of this that the sleeping with a Vampire is a particularly repugnant deed. Because what Academics who sigh and rub themselves at the thought of Dracula violating them, or one of his Brides violating them, forget is this; Vampires are CORPSES!
I cannot stress this enough; sleeping/wanting a Vampire is to desire a corpse, and therefore Necrophilia.
This is why Stoker presented it as utterly horrifying and terrifying. To normalize the desire for a Vampire is also to normalize Necrophilia. Not just the love for evil and debauchery, but to attempt to make normal the longing for a cadavre.
You may think you are romanticizing only a beautiful maid, or handsome man but in reality what you are doing is longing for a dead woman or man. Oh but it’s just literature, I hear you say. But bear in mind that literature is an extension of philosophy and therefore a mirror to your morals and values as an individual. This is why the act of fantasizing about a Vampire is a particularly horrifying notion.
What is also to bear in mind is the knowledge that Academia has joined in, in romanticizing Vampires, look at any review they produce or the way they talk about Dracula. They function as an extension of Hollywood, and its perceptions of the world, so that the intelligentsia of much of the American Empire works in conjunction with its cinema. What is more is that this is natural, as they are subject to movies, as like the rest of us regular citizens they watch the same movies, and see the same things we do. The difference is in the conclusions they reach.
How should a writer depict a Vampire in his works? Female ones can be bewitching, and sexy sure but remember that they are sirens in a way. They seek to lure away the hero from his proper path.
They will seek to imprison, contain and control their targets even as they are gluttonous with blood and have little regard for others. They are self-centered and will laugh at the pain of others, and revel in their suffering. Likely they will not seek the glory that their male counterpart longs for, be jealous of living women (especially more beautiful ones) and will seek to tame those men around them and keep them to themselves.
If you need a model or three, look to Lucy and the Brides of Dracula. Even the Hammer movies do well to present them, and to show-case how violent, selfish and eager to satisfy their Lusts they are. Brides of Dracula is the best of the lot, so do watch that one when going to write a female Vampire (that one and the following one with Paul as a lead, are quite good for analyzing female Vampires).
Male Vampires are like Dracula from the epynomous novel, and are likely to consider themselves the new Alexanders, or the new Caesars of the world. In reality they are very much slaves to the world’s whims. They are selfish, short-sighted and materialistic and prone to catering only to their own desires.
They are possessive yet will throw away their brides when bored with them. They are obsessed only with their hunger for blood or new flesh, and no they do not ‘glitter’ like in those horrible Twilight novels. The only thing those things did right was in depicting the short-sightedness and selfishness of Vampires (and teen-girls). Vampires hunger for glory, sex and the domiantion of others, and yet they are also seemingly insecure.
In this regard they are akin to young women, as Dracula seeks to domiante Jonathan, who does not perceive himself as a kind of threat to Drac, and yet the Vampire treats him as one, seeking to break him psychologically and tormenting him. What is more is that the moment later in the book Jonathan picks up the kukhri and seeks to make a fight of it, Dracula runs the other way.
And this gets at the heart of the Vampire; he is a coward. He has known death, and lacks the courage of a Death Knight or Headless Horseman. He has tasted death and thus fears all around him, and seeks to hide or run away the minute there’s a demonstration of true masculine courage.
This is because he represents the darkest shadow of man, he is a monstrous perversion of the Shadow Lover Archetype (the Hedonist to be exact) and fears the courageous man. Because a courageous man is unbound by temptation and hedonism, and will fight for love and faith with a passion the Vampire knows all too well and deep down fears.
Just as he cannot resist the Cross, the symbol of the Saviour, he cannot resist a man who has risen above petty wants, to embody Chivalry and the peakness of his culture. Therefore Dracula flees from Harker, since though he has super-strength he cannot resist Harker, cannot fight him and cannot win because a Vampire like all Hedonists live in fear. Fear is all they know, and therefore he cannot risk a fight. Being a corpse he is a shadow of the living man, he can never be the Lover or Warrior in his fullness, while a living man can be.
A Female Vampire might long for a Conan in her desire to be dominated, but the truth is that if he is truly a man in his fullness he will not give in. In this way she will despise him, and seek to undermine him and seek to destroy the one he loves, out of jealousy.
Vampires are petty by nature. They think in short-term ways, and are materialistic, they like rich establishments, rich surroundings and yet they always lust for more. Why? Because they are slaves to Lust.
To desire them is to Lust for Slavery. To Lust for Necrophilia/cadavres. To Lust for say Jonathan and Mina respectively, is to Lust for life, love and faith.
Vampires think they have eternal life. They really have eternal death.
The more I read articles like this, and Tolkien's and Lewis' works, the more mythic my once grounded fantasy world becomes.
I was thinking about what you said about Hollywood and vampires portrayal, and I think it hearkens back to things we are seeing all the time. Good is Bad and Bad is Good. Turning things on their heads firstly for just the shock value, and later for other reasons.
So, If Vampires are Lust - it started with the Vampire's Lust and seduction, whether for blood, morality, etc. But Hollywood (And later books) turned it to the young women, and maybe men in books that have the Lust as the sin. So, taking the villain and making them the victim, and the victims and making them the sinners/villains.
Like Anita Blake's vampires are all about seduction and temptation (more like an Incubus) and they eventually corrupt Anita Blake and cause her to be "one of the monsters" herself. And then she is the one infected with the Lust, etc. And they are then portrayed with all their sad backstories that "caused" them to be the way they are. So, again, they are victims, it's "not their fault". There are a couple of vampires in those books who strive to return to the light, I do have to give credit, and so gain a redemption arc.