Vampires Don't Sparkle

The vampires in (film we watched in class) had Christopher Lee portray the classic vampire. A creature with the desires to kill and eat humans who are helpless to resist. Nowadays, it seems that every new vampire TV show or movie is trying to be different, to show that vampires have the capacity to love a human girl. Vampires were ALWAYS part of the horror genre until Twilight. Vampires don't glitter when they're in the sun, they turn to dust. They are not to fall in love with or accepted as part of society, they should be seen a creatures of the night, and feared by the entire world, as they could be attacked without warning and become the next target of a vampire attack and would have no defense against their immense power. Humans are like a gazelle to a lion. We are the natural prey of the vampire, and we should be seen in a way complimentary of such a relationship. You don't see a gazelle falling in love with a lion, or vice versa. They are natural enemies and the lion has ways to trick the gazelle, but they aren't trying to mate with them (at least I hope not), so why is it that today's media thinks people should become the vampire's lover, when we do not find ourselves falling in love with cows (most of us).

I will admit to having read the series, but throughout I thought "I wonder when they're going to steak someone." or "I can't wait until those humans get totally eaten by those vampires. That's what they get putting themselves in such a monstrous type of company." It didn't happen. To me, modern films and novels that portray vampires in this way are less 'changing the way you view vampires' but creating a parody of them. In nearly every instance, vampires are chasing after their prey and having nearly limitless abilities that give them the upper hand over humans. They have the power to hypnotize a human into doing whatever they say, and often to get a meal with no fight. Everything about vampires is to help them kill humans, not love them. Vampires used to be humans, it is true, and therefore, it is true that some may still retain some of their humanity. For example, in nearly every version of Dracula, he has a bride, or strives to get one, but never does he keep her as a human. In fact, the girl is often very young and has no choice in the matter. It's not like she's in love with him, he forces her, and turns her into a vampire like him. Just another reason to fear vampires, not have an infatuation with them. The actors that have played Dracula in the past were all dressed in make-up or in some other way took on the appearance of an evil being. People see Robert Pattenson on the street and mob him because they think his character was so beautiful in the Twilight films, but you don't see girls running after Christopher Lee, asking him to marry them. It is true that he is much older now, but it is because he portrayed a vampire in the way they were meant to be, as a grotesque monster that should be feared not loved. With blood-shoot red eyes, large fangs, and often blood on his face, no one would not be at least startled by such an appearance.

Monster movies were made so that the audience could come to the theatre and be thrilled by the idea of a mythical creature that is terrorizing a civilization similar or identical to ours. We think, "It's good that such creatures aren't really," but if we are to desensitize the public to the creatures that used to scare the generation pervious to ours, we instill a new norm for the vampire. With this norm, the creation of believable and scary vampire movies become a challenge since they must show their target audience that these monsters are to be feared, not sympathized with and NEVER loved. These inventive monster movie creators must find a way to accomplish this in a new and inventive way that will appeal to the public, but this becomes more and more difficult as more television shows and movies portray a contradicting view of these creatures.