Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Exploring Criminalism in the Twilight Saga

Shedding Light on Vampire Characters


by Molly Miller



I went to Barnes and Nobles this afternoon to spend a $50 gift card that I had gotten as a (VERY generous) thank you for working on Hello Dolly. As I eagerly pushed through the doorway, almost knocking down a couple people, I stopped short at the first display I saw before me. Of course, with all the posters advertising the arrival of Stephanie Meyer’s new book, it should not have surprised me to see “Twilight”, “New Moon”, and “Eclipse” propped up in the center of the store.

There were other teen vampire novels displayed with Meyer’s books. More, in fact, than I ever knew existed! And, as I walked through the aisles, I noticed that vampires had slipped into many, many sections of books. Why this fascination with the undead creatures of the night? This question made me recall some human characteristics I learned about during school.

This past semester I took an English course that focused a lot on the book “Dracula” by Bram Stoker. During the span of that class, I researched and learned more about vampires than I ever wanted to know! I will tell you right now; I am not a fan of vampires. I’ve seen too many people sucked (no pun intended) into the vampire “culture” to really have any desire to pick up Meyer, Stoker, or any of the other authors of this subject.

There seem to be enough people to disagree with me, however, to keep vampires as alive as they can be. Why? Why do people love to fall in love with vampires? Why are vampires associated with things sexy, appealing, and obsession-worthy? Why are we so intent on falling in love with Edward Cullen? Why are we drawn to Dracula? How can a monster that survives by feasting on innocent children ever appear even slightly attractive?

I think there are two reasons we become enamored with vampires. The first reason is we are hopeless romantics at the core and vampires possess traits humans, particularly females, look for in a romantic relationship. The second reason is we identify with the darkness of vampirical characters and defend their actions in an effort to justify our own.

The first is easier for people to admit. Every girl I know, who has read Meyer’s books, admitted to me that she found Edward attractive to her. In fact, most would do little less than swoon at the mention of him. He is strong, fast, beautiful, protective, and mysterious. All of these qualities women find attractive. They are also qualities commonly found in Vampirical characters. Dracula, the epitome of all vampires, possessed all of those qualities, making him an attractive figure to both Stoker’s other characters and Stoker’s audience. Dracula was also a master of unpredictability. No one knew when Dracula was about to strike. Not even Dracula’s brides knew when they were about to feel his rage; a rage that could strike fear into the heart of even the bravest creature.

As weird as it may sound, most women look for an unpredictable, mysterious, and powerful air in a man. Dracula, Edward, and other vampires possess that air and, because of that, many girls have crushes on vampires. Sometimes, they are so wrapped up in the vampire’s aesthetically pleasing features that they ignore the aspects that make a vampire a monster. If all a vampire did was walk around being aesthetically pleasing and occasionally showing a few displays of his power, he would not be a vampire. A lot of people forget the terrible actions of a vampire. In a dreamy eyed look at Dracula, Stoker’s romantic audience fails to remember that Dracula is a thief, murderer, rapist, sexual deviant, and a true monster who believes humans are his “wine-press” and who chooses children with which to feed his minions.

Now, I understand that Edward is not portrayed as being a “monster”. In fact, much of his struggle is to stay away from his vampire instincts. He does this by staying away from human blood and only drinking animal blood. Now, ASPCA thoughts aside, we must wonder why he is portrayed as making that “heroic” decision. I do not mean, why does Edward choose to forbid himself from drinking human blood, but why did Meyer choose to give him a more thoroughly intact conscience than his co-vampires? Could it be that Meyer was trying to justify vampirical actions by saying “it was not their choice”?

By siding with Edward, are we agreeing with the idea that no matter how evil you are you can still do good if you choose? Are we agreeing that it is ok to slip once in a while if you are predisposed to a certain evil act? And from where did this idea of morality come anyway? How could someone, who was brought up on the idea of vampirism and who had a calling to blood, suddenly decide all of that was not morally correct?

If we were to take the same ideas portrayed through Edward and apply them to crimes other than drinking blood, like rape or kidnapping, would we feel differently? Would someone with crimes closer to home be hailed as a hero in the same way as vampires are? The truth is vampires often did rape their victims before drinking their blood. In “Dracula” victims of vampires are raped, tortured, kidnapped (infants and children included), and eventually made into a creature that did the exact same thing to others that was done to them.

We must see vampires in truth. It is dangerous for us to ignore vampirical deeds because of how “attractive” they are. Words, as subtle as they can be, have an amazing power to either portray truth in all honesty, or cover it entirely. The latter is what we want to avoid. In 1734 a vampire was described as an evil spirit (from hell) that animated bodies of deceased persons. It is not good to glorify evil spirits. We should not make vampires seem like “good guys in disguise.” When we do, we blur the line of good or evil and that is a dangerous path on which to walk.

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