Apologies in advance for the following culture-babble (and in case I've posted something along these lines before... this is a topic that I keep coming back to in my own head
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I was at one time sort of fascinated by the whole vampire thing - not because "OMG vampires are like so totally an extension of my deep inner soul and stuff" but because I saw a lot of potential for really amazing story telling. Which is odd because the thing about vampires I think is cool is the perspective of eternity not the hole blood-sucking thing. Maybe it is just the history/anthropology geek in me that likes watching how cultures/societies evolve but I think it would be awesome to watch the world change without the baggage that mortality brings
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Twilight series runs rampant because it glorifies the victimization
But the vampires glitter!! THEY GLITTER!!!
why do we as a culture idolize something that prays upon us?
It is interesting, but does certainly seem to parallel our economic culture of stomping till you are king of the hill. If you are not back stabbing someone to get ahead, you are not a valued member of society. So does it reflect our nature, or does our nature reflect our culture?
I always liked Forever Knight... but I can't imagine going back and watching it again... oi, the 80s...
I agree that the idea of a character out-of-time offers great potential (one of my very favorite vampire-ish books is an odd novel by C.S. Friedman called 'The Madness Season' - well worth a read, if you don't mind a little scifi on the plate with your bloodsucking.)
Interesting. If I believed that I could change the world, I would. However, I don't believe that I can.
We do seem to idolize the parasites of society, those who strut in the limelight and whom we pay far more than they produce. I'm thinking of stars of various stripes and politicians.
In similar vein, Pakistan has a huge flood right now, the Gulf is a mess, and 1.5 Wars we are running, but people are glued to the TV for Linday Lohan's DUI trial, and Paris Hilton's (fill in the blank)
I read some interesting erotic fiction about vampirism as a blood-borne infection, sort of an AIDS analogy, back in the mid-90's. It was interesting but nowadays people don't seem to think of it that way.
You have to consider the Cold War's effects on 50's sci-fi; aliens stood in for many enemies, or at least unknown peoples.
I think you're right in that power and control play a huge part in today's stories; whether it's the economy, the overseas wars, or natural disasters, a lot of people are not in control, and maybe they relish the devil-may-care attitude of the vampires, and the long view that immortals are able to take.
It intrigues me that your instinct was to think that people empathize primarily with the supernaturals. For whatever reason, wee-zards are the only supernaturals that have ever tickled my fancy - I tend to see vampires as a pest control issue. That does change the meaning of the whole equation, though - I wonder how most people who read this sort of fiction relate to the characters?
That's different from what I see when I look at the vampire literature. I'm pretty addicted to the paranormal romance genre, but if I were to apply socio/cultural babble to the genre I'd say that the current swing is to humanize the monsters
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Interesting. For whatever reason, I almost always identify with the humans, not the supernaturals, when I read these books (Harry Dresden being the chief exception - not that the Dresden Files are primarily paranormal romance, unless I'm *really* missing something
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One of the main things I enjoyed about the first few Anne Rice vampire novels was the historical setting. I mean, Queen of the Damned was kind of a mess of a book in the "contemporary" setting but I loved the flashbacks because Ms. Rice did some decent research, or at least seemed to
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But the vampires glitter!! THEY GLITTER!!!
why do we as a culture idolize something that prays upon us?
It is interesting, but does certainly seem to parallel our economic culture of stomping till you are king of the hill. If you are not back stabbing someone to get ahead, you are not a valued member of society. So does it reflect our nature, or does our nature reflect our culture?
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I agree that the idea of a character out-of-time offers great potential (one of my very favorite vampire-ish books is an odd novel by C.S. Friedman called 'The Madness Season' - well worth a read, if you don't mind a little scifi on the plate with your bloodsucking.)
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In other 80's nostalgia though, Lost Boys is still awesome, and hilarious to revisit the 80's fashions that seemed like a good idea at the time...
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We do seem to idolize the parasites of society, those who strut in the limelight and whom we pay far more than they produce. I'm thinking of stars of various stripes and politicians.
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You have to consider the Cold War's effects on 50's sci-fi; aliens stood in for many enemies, or at least unknown peoples.
I think you're right in that power and control play a huge part in today's stories; whether it's the economy, the overseas wars, or natural disasters, a lot of people are not in control, and maybe they relish the devil-may-care attitude of the vampires, and the long view that immortals are able to take.
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