Watching Buffy vs. Dracula I started to feel more than ever that Vampires are embodiments of all those deep, dark feelings we as humans feel the need to hide away in order to function in society. It seems that when humans become vampires the self is lost, giving way to the rather less than savory traits of lustfulness, hunger for flesh, and guilt-free crime sprees that are characteristic of vampires. While Van Helsing and the others may claim that Lucy as a vampire is no longer Lucy, what may truly be the case is Lucy is now the embodiment all of the dark qualities she previously had to suppress to be accepted by her fellow humans. There are certain parallels: for example, Lucy as a human attracts essentially every man who looks upon her, and Lucy as a vampire is a seductress.
We also see a few examples of this in Buffy. The best is when we see Willow as a vampire in the parallel universe wished for by Cordelia and created by Anya as a vengeance demon. Willow is seductive and cruel, but also has a bit of that shy smiley quality we see when she's a human (although with an evil twist... it's difficult to explain but if you see the episode she almost has a sweetness to her seduction). In the episode Doppelgangland, when Willow's vampire self ends up in our dimension and terrorizes Sunnydale, she demonstrates and unrefined sexuality, even towards herself (as in her doppelgang, our friend human Willow). Human Willow notices this and makes the comment "I think I'm kinda gay." Spike says that when vampires are turned they keep certain characteristics of their human selves, and it seems likely that the parts they embody are those darkest desires we keep hidden from other. Indeed, not long after meeting her seductive and homosexual self, Willow develops feelings for Tara. This suggests as a vampire a dark urge was awakened, which Willow lets show through eventually. Similarly, when Willow turns evil after Tara is murdered and seeks to avenge her lover's death, she even uses the catch phrase of her vampire self, "bored now." This also suggests her vampire doppelganer tapped into as of yet undiscovered dark powers, which Willow was capable of from the beginning.
This is likely why the characters are so attracted to Dracula, because of all that he represents. In fact, in any vampire story I'm familiar with, the vampires are always dark and brooding, personifying our hidden desires to explore the darkness in our souls.
I really like the idea of this attraction to darkness. It accounts nicely for the "thrall" that we talked about extensively in class. I think it also comments on a societal standard. This idea that people are naturally attracted to the unknown, that people are drawn to the tall, dark and mysterious type. And in my limited perspective on the Gothic, I have found the genre to rely heavily on social commentary.
ReplyDeleteTotally true. Dark Willow DOES say 'Bored now' before she skins Warren, just like vampire Willow! I never noticed that. I also like this idea of an attraction towards the unknown / dark, though I'm pretty sure it's bordering on the unexplainable / irrational.
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