31st
Why the current obsession with Vampires?
I’m strangely fascinated these days by our obsession with Vampire stories. I think the current run began with the wildly popular “Buffy the vampire slayer” from a few years back and has since migrated to shows like “Trueblood” and, of course the insanely popular “Twilight”.
So what’s the whole obsession with Vampires all about?
I think it seems to stem from this fear that people have that if they give in to the charms of another, that this person will somehow take something from them. In the case of the vampire stories, you’re going to lose your life, your sense of moral direction, your blood, your soul… the list goes on.
In the modern vampire stories, these fears tend to be partly, or entirely misplaced. Inevitably, the Vampire (or demon) turns out to be a ‘good person’ on some level, despite appearances. We see this in “Buffy” in the case of Angel, and in “True Blood”, Bill Compton, the 173 year old vampire, comes across as a rather dashing and very misunderstood anti-hero. A similar theme is reprised in “Twilight” via the Vampire Edward Cullen.
It was not always this way. The original Vampire stories date back hundreds of years to Eastern Europe, before making their way to Western Europe in the 18th Century. Back then, the Vampire was clearly a villian who would use his or her charms to cast a spell on people in order to manipulate them for their nefarious ends. In fact, the original definition of the noun “glamour” meant a spell or enchantment designed to trick or deceive its subject into some sort of submission (presumably, in the form of putting out against their better judgement). “Glamouring” a victim was typical vampire trick in older vampire stories and received an honorable mention in the not-for-primetime “Trueblood”.
Despite the evolution of vampire stories, there are some consistent themes that audiences seem never to tire of. They all seem to be tied to fear of loss of emotional, spiritual or physical control when falling for the charms of another. It’s that same loss of control that neuropsychologists have identified as the somewhat irrational phase when people first fall in love.
Therein lies the charming ambiguity of all Vampire stories. On the one hand, “falling” for the Vampire entails terrible risk, but also a terrible thrill of release that comes from the act of surrendering to the Vampire. Take away the risk and you lose the frisson and the thrill. And then what are you left with? Cecil.
