Otis Taylor CGAA Unit name: Time Machine Time Machine: How vampires have stayed relevance Throughout

many generations.

Contents Page: Page 3: Introduction Pages 3-7: Main Body Page 8: Conclusion Page 9: bibliography Page 10: List of illustrations

Introduction This assignment will critically analyse how vampires have been able to evolve and also stay relevant in contemporary visual culture throughout many centuries. This essay will also investigate about how vampire culture relates to Romanticism. The purpose of time machine is to go back and see where the beginnings are. This essay will be investigating what the beginnings are of the popular books and films of The Twilight Saga and of the TV series True Blood. It will also investigate how every age embraces the vampire that it needs (Gordon and Hollinger 1997:1) the vampire can be changed to fit the audience of the time. It will be exploring the historical context of vampires; the early origins of vampires and compare different aspects featured in modern and historical depictions of vampires and the popularization of vampires in todays modern culture.

Main Body Today the vampire stands as a metaphor for the civilized, cultured human being who is still at heart, prey to dark, irrational forces that he or she cannot always control. (Montague, 2010:11) In this quote Montague is expressing that there is something underneath the vampire that is something that we might not want to think about.

Bram Stoker created the character Count Dracula in the 19th century in 1897. Bram Stoker was researching for his book and came to find about Vlad the Impaler who was a 15th century Romanian prince. Peasants at the time called this man Vlad Dracul because of the ceremonial dragon flags he and his family used. Many people thought the dragon was a sign of the devil and Dracula also means devil. Vlad Dracul was a very ruthless and terrifying man who impaled many enemies and people, this eventually lead to the reputation and name Vlad the Impaler. Romanticism The movement was originally created somewhere within the second half of the 18th century in Europe. The movement was mostly used in art and literature, and was also used as a reaction of enlightenment. Author Jacques Barzun expresses, Boredom, it should be added, is not a purely intellectual response: it is also an indication of energies repressed, so that in the great turning from reason and enlightenment to the different reasoning and more varied lights of Romanticism, one finds the rediscovery of old memories and desires underneath the new interests and perceptions (Barzun, 1986: 355) Today many People still love to be thrilled and also imagine in things like vampires. As years go on Vampires always add excitement, in fact vampire films are an extremely thrilling experience. Romanticism created the Gothic, an interest in the irrational. The book The Castle of Otranto brought in the new genre The Gothic is part of Romanticism and became a factor behind the evolving popularity and finally the many changes within vampire culture.

...The rise of the Gothic literature based on ghostly and other horrors occurred about the middle of the eighteenth century and that it was due to a more or less conscious dissatisfaction with the prevailing mood of Neoclassicism, with the cult of Reason, which pretended to bring everything under its clear white light and civilizing influence Chief among the symptoms expressing this resurgence of old feelings were The toying with old superstitions and their train of goblins, witches, and ghouls. (Barzun, 1986: 355) In Victorian times the vampire threatened normal human life. Freud had a few theories that there are symbols of the unconscious everywhere today. There was an idea that Dracula was part of a sexual fantasy because this was not allowed and also forbidden in Victorian times. Women should not enjoy sex especially; after the heroine featured within Bram Stokers book Dracula is attacked by the creature Dracula, who then starts to be very lustful and then she eventually has to be killed, because this cant be allowed. At the time of this book vampire culture was about totally repressed sexuality. Vampire culture became a very important part of cinema at the beginning of the 20th century. The film Nosferatu The vampire in this film is made to look really terrible and very forbidden to be around. In another film, which was made in 1924, Bela Lugosi is the actor for Count Dracula; where he looks elegant and very aristocratic. The film Dracula made in 1958 which stars Christopher Lee continues this image of Dracula with the pale face and peaked dark hair, which was also a description in Bram Stokers Dracula.

Fig2. Christopher Lee 1958 The act of vampirism is very intimate since it uses two sexually related zones, which are the mouth and neck as well as involving blood to bite and suck the victim. The sexual side of vampires has always been important. Some might argue that vampires of the end of the twenty first century give people the opportunity to experience the primal side of their sexuality including what could be a violent aspect. Of course in

the present day women in particular are free to enjoy the sexuality whereas in Victorian times this was the usual image. The Twilight Saga films, which are based on the books, and the True Blood TV series, are both very popular. True Blood won a Golden Globe and also an Emmy. Individually they are very popular to different audiences and the use sexual behaviour are clearly very different. One big similarity they both still have the same Dracula type looking characters but they are seen as more of the heroes. Once depicted as grotesque and repellent, now vampires in popular culture are anything but. They're alluring, irresistible, almost inhumanly beautiful and virtually always sexual in nature. (Gray 2011) In her article Emma Gray makes clear how vampires have been changed for our time.

Fig 3. The twilight saga Poster

Fig 4. True Blood Poster

Stephanie Meyer, the author of the Twilight Saga books, is actually a Mormon and sometimes the Twilight Saga expresses very strong specific messages and believes for example the concept of no sex before marriage. The main character Bella the heroine; shows her strong sexual desire for Edward Cullen, the vampire. But He will not allow them to have sex until in the most recent film Breaking Dawn they are finally married. The Twilight Saga expresses female sexual enjoyment while at the same time, distances itself from the audience. The reason why this happens is to cover/ censor any strong sexual physical contact. Many parents and people may really like the message the films seem to give out. Especially about no sex before marriage. The films have an exciting edge because Edward is a vampire and Bella be around. The feeling of being in a dangerous and risky position excites people and some may see it as very sexy and alluring.

The Twilight Saga can be compared with the True Blood series. In True Blood the sexual behaviour is very strong; the vampires of True Blood show modern sexual fantasies; which are thrilling, dangerous, extreme and sometimes a bit violent. The series also includes scenes of lesbians making love. What is different to Victorian vampires is that there is no shame and the vampires dont have to die. This is the same for the males and females. They are also very attractive, in her article Emma Gray says about the heroine named Sookie, Although she starts off as a virgin, just waiting for the right man, once she has sex, she doesnt end up pregnant -- or dead, as so often occurs when women are sexual beings in horror films. In fact, she becomes emboldened, asking for what she wants in and out of bed, allowing (and thoroughly enjoying) being bitten by her vampire companion. (Gray 2011) Because of the series intense sexual concepts, there have been reviews, which have been very against the sex scenes in the films. For example, Olivia Lichenstein wrote in the Daily Mail and said she thought the series was a shocking tale of depravity, explicit sexuality (bordering on pornography) and vile language. This can be compared with what Simon Chilvers mentioned in the Guardian. He called it comically vigorous sex and that rather elegantly bounces along the fine line between extreme and extremely funny.

Conclusion The Twilight Saga and True Blood have evolved from a long history of vampire culture. The focus on sexuality which is in both of these series perhaps has always been there early on as part of repressed fear and it was a main part of Bram Stokers Dracula. At that time the vampire was not supposed to be attractive and was still a repulsive creature in Nosferatu. Films from the Bela Lugosi film and from the 1950s made Dracula look attractive. The Twilight Saga and True Blood have evolved vampires for the present age and for particular audiences. The Twilight Saga has one kind of sexuality for adolescents with an American idea of abstinence. True Blood has another very full on sexuality for adults and the 21st century.

Bibliography: Barzun, Jacques (1986) The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, New York, Viking Penguin Inc. Ferber, Michael (2010) Romanticism, A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press. Melton, (1999) The vampire Book: The encyclopaedia of the undead. USA visible ink press. Joan Gordon, Veronica Hollinger, eds (1997) Blood Read: The Vampire As Metaphor in Contemporary Culture Vampires And Sexuality: What Are 'Twilight' And 'True Blood' Saying About Sex? Emma Gray The Huffington Post October 28 2011 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emma-gray/vampiressexuality_b_1063907.html "Twilight": Sexual Longing in an Abstinence-Only World Sarah Seltzer The Huffington Post August 9 2008 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-seltzer/twilight-sexual-longingi_b_117927.html True Vampires and the explicit TV sucking the innocence out of our children Olivia Lichenstein Daily Mail 5 November 2009 True Blood: A Tale of glamour, sex and vampires Simon Chilvers The Guardian 9 November 2009

List of Illustrations: Fig 1 Vlad The Impaler http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Count_Dracula Fig 2 Christopher Lee http://italianizeyoursel.hubpages.com/hub/christopher-lee Fig 3 Twilight Saga film poster http://www.twilightsagalayouts.com/ Fig 4 True Blood poster http://lovingtruebloodindallas.blogspot.co.uk/