We Love Vampires!

I belong to a generation that can only be defined by its lack of definable characteristics.  We are Generation Why?: the generation of facebook, texting and general apathy.  Current events are hardly a blip on the perpetual computer screen, but there is a bloody war raging between teams Edward and Jacob.  So what is it about vamps that has caused such a stir in pop culture in the past few years?

Here is where I introduce this crazy theory I'm working on that I like to call The Vampiric Reverse Mirror Stage. This is the idea that if we, as humans, all go through the mirror stage then there must be a similar process for vampires.  I propose that the first time a Vampire looks in the mirror after the transformation, the opposite effect occurs.

According to Lacan, "We have only to understand the mirror stage as an identification, in the full sense that analysis gives to the term: namely, the transformation that takes place in the subject when he assumes an image."  So the VR Mirror Stage, is a fragmenting process rather than the identification that Lacan is talking about here.  In this case the subject loses its image, rather than assuming one.  They are, essentially the others in the world now, and no longer have an other to look at in the mirror.  They are a set of limbs flailing about reaching for some semblance of wholeness.  They are no longer human and this symbolizes the absolute absence of humanity.

So you might be thinking, "What the heck does this have to do with apathetic youth?" and my answer once again refers back to the concept of identification, but this time we're back to the "real" world.  We, as a group, have no identity as shown by the previously discussed lack of defining characteristics.  So I think that it becomes easy to identify with these non-existent creatures who have always been somewhat illusive in their lore.

Hence the creation of the misunderstood vampire in the last decade or so.  Vampires with souls and the capability to love (yada yada yada.)  Young people can relate to these ideas of monsters who are just searching for their identity in the big bad world, because that's how they like to see themselves.  They look through the screen and see themselves as the enchanting characters who are simply trying to figure out who the hell they are.

Plus, Vampires are the teenagers of all monsters: They are always hungry, they answer to no one, they go through friends like toilet paper, and they sleep all day.  Anyone would feel connected, really.

More textual evidence about my fun little theory to be developed.  Stay tuned!

Talk About Infantilization:

... But really, I want to talk about it.  This seems to be a common theme in the Gothic, no?  A man takes control of a woman's life and forces her into the role of the child no matter the age, forming a somewhat incestuous bond.

We see it in Charlotte Gilman's, The Yellow Wallpaper, where the unnamed narrator is trapped in a nursery by her husband.  We are brought along as her mind deteriorates into the childish nature she's being forced to inhabit.  In this case she is a grown woman who's husband treats her as both his child and his wife, creating a more symbolic concept of incest.

Last night (early this morning) I watched Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994).  In this contemporary Gothic we see a physical representation of an infantilized woman.  Claudia is turned into a vampire by Lestat when she is only a young girl.  She is forced to grow older in years as her body remains in its prepubescent form.  Lestat "dresses [her] like a doll," even after she has been a vampire for thirty years.  As an adult, Claudia serves as a companion to Louis, however he calls her his daughter.  The line between familial and romantic love is blurred when she kisses him on the mouth in their last scene together.

These two stories represent the infantalized women in opposite ways.  One, a woman who's mind deteriorates to a childlike state, the other a child who has the mind of an adult.  Both are forced into these roles by the oppression of the men in their lives, and their need to feel superior and masculine in comparison.

That Fresh Country Air Must Make for Mighty Pure Blood

Just awoke to a thought: Why do vampires always live in small towns?

Answer: They don't, those are just the stories that get told.  Vampire killings in New York City are simply swept into the massive category of the unresolved, kinky, fucked-up everyday murders.  Small towns notice when the population rises from 600 to 601 and then suddenly drops to 590.  Seems a bit fishy don't it?

Plus their cops have nothing better to do...