So given that Halloween is next week, I wanted to bring up the topic of monsters.
In the earlier days of cinema, monsters (vampires, mummies, werewolfs, etc.) were introduced in a production as a definite evil and a threat to all life. When these creatures were introduced, people did not know too much about their origins or what made them tick. All they knew was they were not (or no longer were) human or normal animals, they were most comfortable with the dark, and they want to kill/eat humans. Those were the basic elements of fear that made this monsters iconic: the unknown, the threat, and the danger.
As time went on, many of the iconic monsters still pertained a lot of their fearful characteristics, but were also injected with adrenaline to really get our hearts beating (The Mummy, Blade, etc.). It made monster more of a threat and made them relevant in the constantly accelerating future that the world was racing towards.
Then the Twilight series hit the big screen, and we might as well act like we no longer knew what vampires were. Instead of blood thirsty, violent, night hunters, that would hunt humanity into extinction if they could, and feared garlic, silver, wooden steaks, crosses, and sunlight, the 'new, hip' vampires live where the sun don't shine (pun intended), are constantly brooding, feel that establishing emotional relationships are more important than feeding, and they sparkle in the sunlight (seriously. AND they don't die). I won't bag on the werewolfs because they are at least somewhat accurate portrayals of werewolfs (yet they are seen more as tween eye candy than fearful canine beasts).
Seriously, I get that monsters are sometimes tragic, misunderstood creatures, and if anything, this series is just fulfilling a need (flipping tweens). Yet, the fact that shows are popping up like daisies (The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, etc.) really irritates me. Plenty of people liked Scott Pilgrim and I don't see a vs. The Animation series, or a cartoon based on the books, or shows with video game references being developed.
Fright Night was probably a good start to shattering the whole "My boyfriend is a vampire" joke , but we need more films and shows (maybe a Supernatural movie?) to further show that monsters are monsters and no matter how cute they may look or how badly you want one as a pet or a boyfriend, it can still bloody kill you!
So Escapists, your thoughts? Should vampires be menacing creatures of the night or someone you'd introduce to your parents at dinner (yes, double pun intended!)?
In the earlier days of cinema, monsters (vampires, mummies, werewolfs, etc.) were introduced in a production as a definite evil and a threat to all life. When these creatures were introduced, people did not know too much about their origins or what made them tick. All they knew was they were not (or no longer were) human or normal animals, they were most comfortable with the dark, and they want to kill/eat humans. Those were the basic elements of fear that made this monsters iconic: the unknown, the threat, and the danger.
As time went on, many of the iconic monsters still pertained a lot of their fearful characteristics, but were also injected with adrenaline to really get our hearts beating (The Mummy, Blade, etc.). It made monster more of a threat and made them relevant in the constantly accelerating future that the world was racing towards.
Then the Twilight series hit the big screen, and we might as well act like we no longer knew what vampires were. Instead of blood thirsty, violent, night hunters, that would hunt humanity into extinction if they could, and feared garlic, silver, wooden steaks, crosses, and sunlight, the 'new, hip' vampires live where the sun don't shine (pun intended), are constantly brooding, feel that establishing emotional relationships are more important than feeding, and they sparkle in the sunlight (seriously. AND they don't die). I won't bag on the werewolfs because they are at least somewhat accurate portrayals of werewolfs (yet they are seen more as tween eye candy than fearful canine beasts).
Seriously, I get that monsters are sometimes tragic, misunderstood creatures, and if anything, this series is just fulfilling a need (flipping tweens). Yet, the fact that shows are popping up like daisies (The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, etc.) really irritates me. Plenty of people liked Scott Pilgrim and I don't see a vs. The Animation series, or a cartoon based on the books, or shows with video game references being developed.
Fright Night was probably a good start to shattering the whole "My boyfriend is a vampire" joke , but we need more films and shows (maybe a Supernatural movie?) to further show that monsters are monsters and no matter how cute they may look or how badly you want one as a pet or a boyfriend, it can still bloody kill you!
So Escapists, your thoughts? Should vampires be menacing creatures of the night or someone you'd introduce to your parents at dinner (yes, double pun intended!)?
