Did Twilight really ruin vampires? (Death of Vamps/Zombies)
- Thread starter VanityGirl
- Start date
Oh god, yes it did. Or at least, it started the modern trend. Personally I don't mind the darkly gothic vampire (e.g: Angel) or the monster vamp (Dracula!), but seriously - Sparkly Vampires, said Vamp's don't need to drink blood...its like the creator threw everything integral to a Vamp out - and came up with the worse possible replacements.
I don't mind emotional vampires. I don't even mind sexy vampires.
I just don't get how such a thinly veiled commercial product became so popular by taking two concepts I don't mind, stripping them down to such a cliched core that it would make Hot Topic blush (if they weren't making loads of cash on merch), and tossing them at an even younger demographic than similar past efforts. In short, I feel the franchise is the most blatant, manufactured cash grab anything related to vampires has ever seen.
Even scarier, the feel of the whole thing does tug at me at times, despite knowing I'd be ultimately disappointed if I ever read a single book or watched a film. There's something sinister about it all.
I'd like to end with a quote from Mutant Reviewers From Hell [http://mutantreviewers.com/rtwilight.html], one which makes the targeting of youth very off-putting to me:
I just don't get how such a thinly veiled commercial product became so popular by taking two concepts I don't mind, stripping them down to such a cliched core that it would make Hot Topic blush (if they weren't making loads of cash on merch), and tossing them at an even younger demographic than similar past efforts. In short, I feel the franchise is the most blatant, manufactured cash grab anything related to vampires has ever seen.
Even scarier, the feel of the whole thing does tug at me at times, despite knowing I'd be ultimately disappointed if I ever read a single book or watched a film. There's something sinister about it all.
I'd like to end with a quote from Mutant Reviewers From Hell [http://mutantreviewers.com/rtwilight.html], one which makes the targeting of youth very off-putting to me:
Justin said:
I just don't like it
I'm a hobbyist novelist, and Twilight is just a fanfic of any other "modern day" Vampire flick, like Blade or something. Whatsherface just took the basics and changed it so 13 year old girls could get all emotional about it and say "Ommahgohd! Hee's Soooo HAWT" and woo over shizz.
And get this, "No Danger". She makes the Vampires indestructable (fair enough), Immortal (goes without saying, again, fair enough) but here's the problem:
What does everyone know kills vampires? Stake through the heart and sunlight
What does she do? Makes them sparkle, so they reveal themselves. They don't die or anything. She's too soppy about her characters to give them a constant handicap. The only problem they face is feeling incredibly "ashamed" of their powers, whilst climbing trees, surviving car crashes and living forever as attractive young adults
I'm a hobbyist novelist, and Twilight is just a fanfic of any other "modern day" Vampire flick, like Blade or something. Whatsherface just took the basics and changed it so 13 year old girls could get all emotional about it and say "Ommahgohd! Hee's Soooo HAWT" and woo over shizz.
And get this, "No Danger". She makes the Vampires indestructable (fair enough), Immortal (goes without saying, again, fair enough) but here's the problem:
What does everyone know kills vampires? Stake through the heart and sunlight
What does she do? Makes them sparkle, so they reveal themselves. They don't die or anything. She's too soppy about her characters to give them a constant handicap. The only problem they face is feeling incredibly "ashamed" of their powers, whilst climbing trees, surviving car crashes and living forever as attractive young adults
I have to agree with a number of previous posts, you can't blame one representation for the ruin of a whole race. The point is that vampires, werewolves, zombies etc. are myths and legends, myths and legends change and evolve over time. We've just sunk into a phase where even myths and legends have a mould and when it's broken we get a little rattled. Who says that a vampire can only die with a stake through the heart? Or that they're these beatiful, alluring creatures with charm and grace? Take for instance the lore behind Elves and Dwarves, who's modern image is taken form the likes of Tolkein, but who says that Elves are strictly woodland creatures, skilled in the art of marksmanship with a bow. No-one, it's just what todays world is used to.
Please. This fad will pass just like everything else. Teens don't have the attention span to monopolize/shit on anything for long. Just be patient--real vampires come to those who wait.
Ha your going to have to watch out now my love. As soon as we are alone your going to become your worst nightmare. Glitter gel is at the ready and the lights and camera are in action. You will become a sparkly vampire in the sunlight i can assure you that now.almightywabbit said:
OT: I love Twilight and i like how the author has twisted our beliefs of vampires into something new. As the paper points out, it is more for teenage girls whom arn't keen on blood and gore. I personally prefer vampires to be able to walk amongst us rather then in hiding and that they do not burn alive in the sunlight. Another thing i love about Twilight is that the vampires don't look hideous when transformed (only because there is no need for transformation). I like that.
The only thing about it all is, isn't it obvious that they all look alike with pale skin, dark rimmed eyes and the same butterscotch colour iris. Yeah that isn't going to look just a little bit strange. Ha
Oh and having seen some of the trailers for New Moon... What the hell have they done to the eyes... They are more golden then ever and also, Jasper looks hideous on the birthday clip scene on youtube. Urgh!
Lol with the whole ghost thing if that's next it'll probably just be a guy in a sheet going boooooooooo! oh and he'll glitter, can't forget to make them glitter... in the dark or something...aarontg said:
I laughed so hard, it's quite accurate though... the only thing seperating Edward and that angsty little poet, living in his bedroom with his hair hung limply over one eye, writing a poem about dying puppies in his own blood, well the only thing that seperates them is the few vampiristic traits Stephanie Meyer left in...garbutt said:
Amnestic,I agree with you about the werewolf thing, there are no set guidelines. Anyway, the "werewolves" of old tales were just men who wore a wolf pelt, bathed in blood on a full moon and exhibited wolf-like characteristics. (I've read a lot about them and the earliest I've found is of mean who dressed in pelts.)Amnestic said:
I second this. I got through three pages before putting in away where it will never be seen again. And I read 'The Silmarillion' the whole way through.soladrin said:
With regards to the question posed by op. Yes and no. Vampires have been dying in fiction for quite a while as people seem to forget that they should be terrifing even if they are on your side.A bit like Riddick in 'Pitch Black'
Oh come on. They're bloody undead creatures of the night that if they are on your side are constantly fighting the urge to drain you dry. They are supposed to be the ultimate predators. This dose not mean that they are nessacerally souless, in fact vampires with souls and emotions can be even scarier if done well.
And I have to agree with this. The sun is supposed to be unbearably painful and cause death if exposure is to long (approx. 15-30 minutes. Ouch.)TheDoctor455 said:
Twilight didn't ruin vampires, stupid fan girls just made crappy pussy versions of vampires "cool"
Vampires usually are scary unless they're like Blade or something, even then they're pretty scary. Twilight just put romantic vampires into the mainstream. Vampires where always considered very romantic and seductive, Stephanie Mayer just made a dipshit move by taking the "romantic" vampires and turning them into total pussies.
Twilight vampires are just a new version of vamps for tween girls to get crazy over. They really should have just kept with the Underworld version of vampires, though. They were badass.
But with Zombies, I never saw them as scary except for in 28 Days Later. Zombies are slow, mindless weak humans basically and don't really pose much of a threat except for the fast, strong ones like in the 2004 Dawn of the Dead.
Vampires usually are scary unless they're like Blade or something, even then they're pretty scary. Twilight just put romantic vampires into the mainstream. Vampires where always considered very romantic and seductive, Stephanie Mayer just made a dipshit move by taking the "romantic" vampires and turning them into total pussies.
Twilight vampires are just a new version of vamps for tween girls to get crazy over. They really should have just kept with the Underworld version of vampires, though. They were badass.
But with Zombies, I never saw them as scary except for in 28 Days Later. Zombies are slow, mindless weak humans basically and don't really pose much of a threat except for the fast, strong ones like in the 2004 Dawn of the Dead.
Right, that's the problem most people have with it. A vampire, at least traditionally, wasn't about restraint, or fighting his animalistic instincts, or anything like that. A vampire's allure to the psyche and the universal subconscious is that they break away (and are able to break away) from the type of restraints normal people put on themselves.Mozared said:
If you want to make a teen drama, make a teen drama. I have no bones about that. If you want to make a cop show, make a cop show. But to make a vampire who (for all intents and purposes) acts the same way a traditional "bad boy with a heart of gold" breaks the trope. A sensitive hot guy, concerned with taking advantage of a girl, trying to do the right thing, tormented by his darker nature, his family/history, ect. and not wanting to put her in danger. That's all fine, and it's certainly rife with drama, but it's not a vampire.
A vampire doesn't have to be evil or scary, but to take the sex (active sex) out of a vampire is to basically take away his whole raison d'etre. If a vampire is all about the sexy stuff, all about being a man (or woman) without the kind of inhibitions and restraints of a normal person, all about the fear and trepidation of "bad" sexuality, to have him act the way we'd want almost any boyfriend to makes him a blue-balled vampire.
The vampire gentleman is an image we like to invoke, but it's mostly about the fashion, the seduction. The vampire gentleman isn't actually supposed to be about "he wants to take things slowly, doesn't want to take advantage of her, and goes one-hundred years without sex".
I dunno, there have been some pretty sexy vampires. The problem with Twilight, I feel, is that it makes vampires (or a least Mr. Cullen) seem... approachable? Definitely takes away the scary factor when prepubescent women think they can have a vampire.Orange Monkey said:
Every time I mention something about Twilight being bad, I'm always told I have to read the book (that's right, I didn't bother, what of it?). Erm, well... I don't see how that's suddenly going to make the movie sparkle in my eyes (SORRY!! Sorry... puns are bad).
Anne Rice started it. If you've ever read any of the Vampire Chronicles you'll see that page after page is spent describing their beautiful preternatural eyes, their beautiful white skin and their gorgeous hair and their incredible style and making them all pseudo bisexualbut at least Lestat was kind of fun but every other Vampire in the books is a whiny ***** with a hard on for him